Friends of the farm,

We hope you are well into the sounds and smells of summer. Ours is becoming fragrant with a garlic-filled pavilion and calendula drying in the prop house!

The summer months are some of our busiest, and most productive, months of the year. Tender greens have already given way to cucumbers, summer squash, onions, garlic, and potatoes. We plan to keep you in the loop with monthly summer newsletters and invites to a few happenings at the farm. Please keep reading for ways to stay involved and up to date!

That's all for now- I'll be running the DCF Instagram with day-to-day updates, so be sure to check there (@dukecampusfarm) for more on life at the farm. We'll leave you with a note from our crew member, Caroline, and a reminder to stay hydrated and eat well as the days grow longer and warmer.

Cheers,

Christina, Sloss Fellow

Our small but mighty summer crew!

Back row, from left to right: Harini Ilamurugu (MBA '26), Izzy Brace (Field Education Manager), Yiwen Gao (M-BME), Lauren Ballejos (Student Field Education Manager).

Front row, from left to right: Roo Jackson (McGinty Fellow), Abby Walden (T'26), Caroline Felker (T'28)

Hey everyone, and happy summer! I’m Caroline, a rising sophomore at Duke pursuing a degree in environmental science. I just started working at the farm, and despite growing up just a few minutes down the road from the farm in Orange County, I never really knew what was going on beyond the fence.

After coming to Duke, I finally made it to a DCF community workday one rainy Friday when my organic chemistry lab was canceled. With its focus on regenerative agriculture, connecting to the land, and helping Durham, I knew the farm was the place I wanted to be this summer.

Having worked at here for a whole month now, I can confidently say that it’s the best job I’ve ever had, hands down. I hate my alarm just a little when it goes off at 5:30 each morning, but the promise of great colleagues, warm dirt under my hands, and the sun on my back gets me out of bed without too much trouble. I feel so lucky to spend time outside every day, giving back to the town that helped raise me, and connecting with the land in a way I almost forgot in the sleepless hustle of college. If you can this summer, I urge you to come to a community workday, if only to remember how fun it is to play in the dirt!

The enormous Jernigan Cabbage Collard, Roo for scale. Seed pods are now drying in preparation to be winnowed in July.

This year marks our second season of partnership with the Heirloom Collard Project (HCP)! We've been cultivating the Jernigan Cabbage Collard for seed, and have found that it grows well in our high tunnel and produces fantastically large and tender leaves.

On July 10th from 5-8pm, we're inviting folks to join us in processing the seed pods from this variety to send back to the folks at HCP and preserve the legacy of the Jernigan collard. Seedkeeper and collard steward Chris Keeve will teach out four different seed saving methods, as well as offer the opportunity to experiment creatively with the collard chaff. This will be followed by dinner and a conversation to map our collective collard stories. 

Come join us in the fields to lose track of time, be outdoors, practice embodied work, and experience profound community with plants, soil, and humans! 

Our summer community workdays, held every Thursday morning from 9-12am, are an essential part of keeping things running at DCF. We harvested almost 850lbs of potatoes at a recent Community Work Day! They've filled our root cellar, and will cure until distribution to our community partners.

Our students, volunteers, and staff consistently say that their most memorable memories at DCF are the conversations they shared over a wheelbarrow of mulch or while tackling weeds in a bed of carrots together. Absolutely no farming experience is necessary, and all are warmly welcomed to attend.

Little sunshines in the sky, calendula drying in the greenhouse

At the Duke Campus Farm, we seek to catalyze positive change in the food system. In addition to offering healthy, seasonal, sustainable produce to our community, we work to grow climate and food systems  leaders with the tools to navigate a quickly changing landscape.

Now more than ever, we rely on the generosity of our community to continue offering sustainably grown food, and food systems education, to those in our network. If you are interested in supporting our work, we welcome your financial gift here.

Stay in touch with the Duke Campus Farm by following us on socials.