July 2024
Volunteer Impact
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July at the farm was hot, humid, and full of projects and activity with hundreds of visitors stopping by. Despite some challenges, the vegetables look and taste great, and the flowers and beds are thriving. It has been wonderful to have so many people pitch in during their summer breaks, and learn new skills in the field with us.
Looking back at the flurry of activity, more than 86 volunteers shared over 316 hours of their time in June with weeding, mulching, harvesting vegetables and seeds, and gleaning veggies for our pantry partners. We have officially surpassed over 4,400 lbs of donated food, after so much time spent weeding and gleaning. Amazing!
The success of the farm's potatoes, raspberries, currants, rhubarb, native plants and flowers are all thanks in part to volunteer efforts. Thank you for all of your hard work!
See you at the farm,
Cynthia
HHF Food Donation + Volunteer Coordinator
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"The plants have enough spirit to transform our limited vision."
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Community Farm Work Days are all about many hands making light work of bigger projects on the farm.
The next Community Farm Work Day is Saturday, August 10th from 10am - 1pm: join the annual onion harvest! Volunteers will help pull up and trim red, yellow and white onion varieties in this once-a-year project. Sign Up Today.
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July's Community Farm Work Day
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Garlic: an almost universal aromatic, key to many different cultures and cuisines, and easy to grow! Hilltop's largest garlic planting to date needed lots of help to harvest, and we were thrilled so many came out to join us in this task.
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The light rain ended just as our project began, and sun was peeking out by the time we finished up. Volunteers pulled, trimmed, and spread these bulbs out to cure
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As bins filled, they were brought to the upper dairy barn where ideal conditions are for curing.
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Garlic can either be eaten fresh, plucked from the ground and cooked without any wait time, or left to dry in order to develop the protective papery shell that will prolong their shelf life.
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Volunteers who helped plant potatoes a few months ago -and who helped with weeding and pest removal in the meantime- should be happy to see that the crop thrived this year!
Volunteers from White Plains Youth Bureau Green Team helped collect these spuds, and found lots of large potatoes, and a few interesting ones!
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Also growing quickly to large heights are the weeds. A fistful of removed amaranth makes a lovely bouquet, and a large leafed plant makes a good umbrella as the rain drops start to fall.
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While some crops came to an end in July, that only made room for planting more varieties for the coming fall.
Volunteers worked alongside farmers in transplanting new successions of cucumbers and squash, so that we can keep enjoying these veggies while the weather cools.
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July was by far the busiest month at the farm, and we are so grateful for such help at this important time! With all the space in the field- 9 acres!- it's usually rare for two groups to meet.
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When the days are unbearably hot or stormy, our work turns indoors. Volunteers have been working hard on sanitizing planting trays, so that we can reuse these for new seedings in the future.
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Likewise, when it's time to seek shade there's a great activity waiting: garlic processing! Now that some time has passed since the garlic harvest, volunteers and farmers are trimming and cleaning these bulbs before they are basketed up for sale in the farm stand.
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Weeding continues, especially in key plots serving as living seed banks.
Some varieties of native plants have already produced flowers, and seeds, which has ripened for collection.
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Another round of native seeds were ready for collection: Zizia aurea, or Golden Alexanders.
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The first mantis specimens were finally spotted on the farm this past month.
And as always, Nori calls the copilot seat as farmers shuttle back and forth!
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Watching the radar is typical for the summer, especially when a menacing red dot-level of weather is headed this way.
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