A storm cell passes over the Hilltop, where intense lightning was quickly followed by blue skies.

July was a busy one at the farm! A big turnout of new and returning faces helped accomplish so many projects as we worked on keeping our crops protected, and thriving. 

Volunteers shared over 319 hours of their time in July and participated all over the farm, from field to farm stand. The most popular areas continue to be in the growing fields, with our monthly Community Work Day the second most popular turnout.  

We are so thankful for everyone who visited and volunteered, from a few hours to a few days, we can accomplish so much more when we work together. 

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

- Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance

Our next Community Work Day will take place on Saturday, August 12^th from 9am - 12pm as we finally tackle our annual Onion harvest! The onions are now caught up, and ready to be pulled up. A great activity for all ages and abilities, join us this morning as we harvest the largest onion crop yet: over 16,000 bulbs!

July's Community Work Day

New and returning volunteers joined us on a cool morning as together, we harvested three varieties of cabbage while learning about different grades and uses for imperfect specimens. In all, we harvested over 550 lbs of cabbage!

Once they were collected, we took farming full circle and broke down the infrastructure, clearing the way for an incoming cover crop. Other than a few surprise critters, the day wrapped up smoothly and ahead of schedule. A big thank you to all who came by to help: amazing work, everyone!

Farm Manager Ice demonstrates how to safely harvest these heads of cabbage, the different grades of quality, the difference between varieties, and how we preserve these for sale.  

Volunteers gently placed these into bins for storage, or into donation boxes. Most cabbage heads require peeling back a few of the outer layers for storing. Quite a few heads that initially looked inedible turned out to be perfect, once the outer layers were taken off! 

Last but not least, it was time to clean up and get even dustier. The field infrastructure includes a layer of irrigation and a plastic barrier that acts as mulch, all tucked in with a layer of soil over the edges to hold it in place. Great teamwork!

Our farmers are constantly rotating crops. Here, staff, interns, and volunteers worked together to break down the spring's pea beds, and make room for something new for the hot summer months. 

Weeding is another ever-present farm task during the summer.

One hot Friday, we welcomed a youth group from Camp MeetingHouse to pitch in with some farm work, includingweeding our chard bed.

CMH youth also helped glean some delicious radicchio, and found some great specimens: they collected 30 lbs of fresh radicchio that went to our pantry partner.

The White Plains Youth Bureau also joined us one afternoon. For this visit, our friend Jessica at WAC gave a brief intro to the Trees for Tribs space before the group made their way down to check on these plantings, post-storms.

WPYB righted a few saplings that had completely fallen over and replaced stakes and tubes, and then worked on removing the weed pressure from two dozen other trees.

At the end of the day, these young trees looked much tidier, and much better off!

Flower Appreciation Fridays have been popular, and volunteers have been crucial in getting these blooms to the Farm Stand, and our brand new flower bar!

Join us on Friday mornings to help care for these beds, or stop by the Farm Stand and create your favorite bouquet from these stems.

Every Wednesday, volunteers help with our harvest process by jumping into the wash + pack station or working in the field to collect crops like beans, squash, and other prolific vegetables.

The Founder's Plot of native plants underwent some rearranging this year, and natives staff and volunteers have worked together to tackle the many steps involved.

Here, our regular Tuesday volunteers tried something new and went to work weeding some empty beds in the Founder's Plot--

--which made the work much easier a few days later, when new seedlings were ready to be transplanted in!

These beds are now planted and mulched, and ready for visitors to admire them.

Our raised Pollinator Bed has some great specimens in bloom right now, with plenty of insect life visiting. There's still time to stop by and smell the pepperbush, left, and admire the coneflower color variation.

Peak farming season means more veggies to donate, and more connections with our food pantry partners.

We have continued to donate vegetable seedlings throughout our community, with well over 1,200 plants given away this month!

Here, a dedicated volunteer + board member fostered some seedlings before taking them to a mobile food pantry pop up right here in Yorktown, where visitors had the choice of picking a plant or two and trying their hand at growing food at home.

Every Monday, we invite Second Chance Foods to glean crops, or harvest directly for donation. Their team is passionate about rescuing food and minimizing waste, and we are always excited to see what meals they cook up with our produce. You can sign up through SCF and volunteer with them on Mondays to glean right here at the farm- or help them cook meals on Tuesdays, or clean, sort, or deliver nutritious meals!

Farm Stand crew help pass along donation boxes to one of our pantry partners, Allison from DIG Farm, center, for one of her endeavors cooking up meals for those in need. We love working with other local farms and supporting the great work they do!

July was for the birds: between working under the constant supervision of the resident red-tailed hawks, to welcoming the newest swallow fledglings in their nest by the Volunteer Office, we've enjoyed seeing our feathered brethren thrive across the farm.

- Robert Baden-Powell