Interns with the Native Plant program volunteer their time for six weeks, but leave with a wealth of knowledge. This year's interns have helped out all across the farm as our programs expand.

Much of May was devoted to really working in the dirt, as we cleaned up beds and edged new areas after taking stock of what survived the winter and what new weeds popped up. The most popular areas to volunteer in were Native Plants, closely followed by event assistance: the spring plant sale was better than ever thanks to all your help! Volunteers pitched in over 305 hours of their time: a new May record!

Most of our regular summer volunteer opportunities are now live on the Volunteer Calendar. Some special one-off projects will be made available soon, such as creating new native plant beds, and will be announced in the weekly volunteer emails. 

As we look toward the summer months and the temperatures rise, there are a few safety reminders to keep in mind: please keep the list below in mind when you visit. 

We are so grateful for every volunteer who helps out, especially during the busiest growing season of summer!

See you at the farm,
Cynthia
HHF Food Donation + Volunteer Coordinator

- Wendell Berry

Our next Community Work Day will take place on Saturday, June 10th from 9am - 12pm. This will include spring cleaning our first founder's plot in the field, the oldest established area for native plants. This will include removing landscape fabric, 'stapling' down the remaining fabric, and laying cardboard mulch. This task focuses on helping native plants spread by seed and root, so that they continue to grow in number.

May's

Community

Work

Day

Our first true spring CWD on May 9th focused on kickstarting activity in our Education Garden. The day was filled with a lot of enthusiasm and good energy, with new and returning volunteers working together flawlessly and fearlessly as they faced down the large topsoil pile for the raised beds. The weather was perfect and everyone worked super hard throughout the morning as they wrangled shovels and wheelbarrows. Staff were so thankful for the group's help, done with pride and lots of laughing. The day ended in typical farm fashion- when we ran out of topsoil!

Beds were waterproofed with linseed oil, and the areas inside and around the beds were weed-whacked, in order to prep for the morning's activity.

Volunteer P is a regular helper, who doesn't complain even when putting dozens of tools away at the end of the day. Thank you!

Interns from County Executive George Latimer's office volunteered in mid-May, and literally dug into the dirt with us to plant strawberries.

Bundles of strawberries are first soaked in water, which helps prepare it for planting.

The planting was a huge success, and the group completed an entire bed in an exciting step forward for our strawberry fields. Thank you, county office interns!

Another volunteer group helped pot up the remaining strawberries into pots, which were used in a few of the farm's educational classes. 

The price of planting and potting up: trays need to be washed and sanitized!

A great group of Westchester Youth Alliance and Federated Conservationists of Westchester County youth joined us in a big effort to weed our native plots and garlic beds. They also helped move the tables for our plant sale, setting up the event for success in record time!

One of the farm's most visible beds, the raised Pollinator Garden, was drowning in weeds. During the first volunteer weeding session of the season, two helpers worked hard to make a fresh start in this area.

Thistle, teasel, mugwort, trumpet vines, and bindweed were the main culprits that were removed from this garden.

This pile was one of three that headed to the compost once the task was done!

Thank you, volunteers P and A!

Now thoroughly weeded, it was time to lay down cardboard in order to make a solid barrier against weeds regrowing. The farm's interns picked up the project from volunteers, and took the final step of laying mulch over the cardboard.  

The final result of all this hard work is a solid (but ecofriendly) defense to protect the plants within the garden. The next step is to fill in the cleared areas with native specimens. And, of course, to stay on top of weeding as the season goes on!

Even though almost all of our produce comes from the growing fields, we do have regular trays of microgreens in the greenhouse which are brought to the Farm Stand's Wash + Pack operation each week. Volunteers have been harvesting these greens with care, and have helped ensure a steady supply for Farm Stand customers to enjoy.

Native volunteers help with all stages of plant care, which during May included potting up as many seedlings as possible. Their regular help ensures we can care for and grow more native species than ever, which will eventually find homes all across Westchester.

Natives Volunteer D poses with an exceptionally long root.

The entire Natives volunteer team took charge of our cardboard mulch project across the farm: they collected cardboard, removed plastic tape/stickers and broke the boxes down, so that flat pieces could be placed around plants before getting covered in mulch.

It was a great project to start on while the weather was still chilly, and we hope the results will pay off throughout the summer by decreasing the weed pressure.

From seedlings to leafy greens, we aim to pass on as much food as possible to those in need. Throughout May volunteers helped meet this goal with multiple shifts focused on saving and potting up seedlings. Seedlings were donated to a few community initiatives, such as the Mount Kisco Elementary School garden and the Yorktown's Jack DeVito Veterans Memorial park. Seedlings also made their way to Mohegan Lake and Yorktown pantry partners, who handed out plants for folks to take and grow at home.

This team of four volunteers potted up 330 plants in one day, ensuring they could be easily passed along to one of our community partners. They also made labels for easy identification!

A successful volunteer visit in the greenhouse!

Mom Jennifer helped transport and plant as many Hilltop vegetable seedlings as could fit in her car for the Mount Kisco Elementary school garden.

This garden is taken care of by school volunteers and youngsters throughout the summer, and then donates the produce to the Interfaith food pantry down the block. On May 30th, the garden donated its first harvest to them!

The cows are ready for spring, with sleek summer coats and freshly trimmed hooves! Here, Cricket cooperates as the vet takes care of her during their annual visit.

The goats enjoy the fresh grass, and supervise the farm's water supply: the three black silos next to their pen contains water for the field, which gets to our plants via drip-tape and sprinklers. 

While working in the Pollinator Garden, a volunteer found an intact praying mantis egg case. We placed it on a nearby picnic table while we weeded: when we went to replace it within the garden 45 minutes later, we discovered tiny mantis running away from it!

- Robert Baden-Powell