Filling in Holes and Digging up Roots

This week, the 7th Grade took part in some maintenance work, reconnecting to the farm with a lot of laughter and a little sweat!

 

One group gathered wheelbarrows and filled the fire pit with dirt from another area, rescuing it from it's recent role as a "mosquito birthing center" and bringing it back to fire pit glory by packing it down. How did they pack it so tightly? Jumping of course! You didn't have to twist their arm to do that. Much fun was had filling, jumping and stomping in the fire pit!

Another group faced the challenge of using teamwork to uproot a few deep weed roots in the horse field, first by hacking away around them, and then digging deep to shovel them out. Along the way, they discovered a small and harmless snake, and some interesting spiders.

A couple students connected with the chickens by finding some grubs for them. The wonderful thing about the chickens at Emerson Farm is that they are used to being around many children, so they are super friendly!

Photos and narration by Anne Haas.

New Farm Assistant

A hearty welcome to our new farm assistant, Kristin McGee.  Kristin has been helping regularly at the farm as a volunteer for over a year.  She was officially hired this summer and has already made a huge difference in how smoothly the farm operates.  Below is her photo and bio.  If you see her around campus, be sure to say hello!

Kristin McGee has had her hands in the earth since 1999 when she headed out to Perry-winkle Farm in Chatham County to learn a little about growing vegetables.  She took that knowledge to the Peace Corps where she was an agriculture volunteer in Kenya, training women's groups on sustainable farming practices and working with children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS.  Upon returning to the U.S in 2003., Kristin kept farming at an organic family farm while also pursuing her Masters of Social Work at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.  It was starting a family that brought her and her husband back to North Carolina.  Kristin is thrilled to be a part of the Emerson farm.  When she is not at the farm, Kristin can be found near the EWS Kindergarten with her daughter, in Morning Garden with her son, or at home working with her hands.

Why Compost?

The blog, From Scratch {Life on the Homestead} offered this short, sweet and informative article:

10 Reasons You Should Compost

Check it out!

Visit From Pickard's Mountain Interns

Last Monday group of interns came out to visit us from Pickard's Mountain Eco-Institute.  We spent a little time going over the basics of Biodynamic Agriculture.  

 Then they pitched in and provided some much appreciated help.  One of the things we learned about was keeping the insect population in balance with fermented nettle tea and milk and honey.  This is me setting out containers of nettle to be flung in the garden to discourage munching insects.

 

And here is Lindsay flinging droplets of nettle over the garden with a paint brush.

 

While some of us flung the nettle, others stirred the milk and honey prep.  

Milk and honey prep is exactly what it sounds like, milk and honey mixed with water and then sprayed over the garden.  The honey attracts pollinators and the milk attracts predatory bugs.  As if in testimony to this prep, we had a huge hatching of assassin bugs in the garden the week before.  While spraying , we could see groupings of assassin bugs hanging out on the tomatoes and green beans just waiting for a tasty muncher to become their lunch.  

After both preps were sprayed, the interns made short work of harvesting the potatoes.

 

I had to include this picture of the potato harvest because we had just finished week after week of what seemed like endless rain when this picture was taken.  Blue sky, what a blessing!

And here is the harvested crop laid out to cure in the greenhouse.  These are All Purple potatoes, smallish and packed with flavor.  Yum! 

 We also harvested garlic and made garlic braids.

Beautiful finished braids.

Thank you Pickard's Mountain interns for all of your enthusiastic help!!

Tomato Day in Carrboro

Carrboro Farmer' Market Hosts Annual Tomato Tasting Event – TOMATO DAY on Saturday July 13^th!

Shoppers can sample a selection of the over 70 varieties of tomatoes at Market as well as tomato dishes from Acme and Pazzo!, and local businesses pitch in more than 35 prizes for a town-wide raffle in the week leading up to the event!

Saturday, July 13^th, Event starts 8:30 a.m.

Carrboro, NC – Seasonal eaters, gardeners, chefs, and farmers alike wait impatiently for the first ripe tomato of the season, and that time has finally arrived! The Carrboro Farmers’ Market offers the largest variety and abundance of local tomatoes in the Triangle, and the arrival of tomato season calls for the Market’s biggest annual celebration and tasting event, Tomato Day - scheduled for Saturday, July 13^th!  Last year over 5,000 eager tomato lovers flocked to this celebration, some even donning tomato-themed accessories and full costumes to celebrate the tasty goodness of local tomatoes.  Tomato Day is the same weekend as ACME Restaurant’s highly anticipated 11^th Annual Tomato Festival, making it a weekend of tomato goodness for the local community!

On Saturday, July 13^th, starting at 8:30am, the Market’s volunteer team will serve up an assortment of sliced tomato samples selected from over 70 different tomato varieties. Shoppers can experience the taste of local favorites like Sungolds, Romas, and Big Beefs, alongside truly unique varieties like Nebraska Wedding, Green Zebra, Black Krim, Lady Bug, Lemon Boy, and San Marzano - many of which can only be found at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market. The fresh slices will be paired alongside local breads, fresh cheeses and special tomato themed dishes prepared by Chef Kevin Callaghan of ACME and Seth Kingsbury of Pazzo! The Market will be calling on customers to tell us what they love best about local tomatoes; after sampling, shoppers will have a chance to share what word best describes their tomato tasting experience.

This year’s event will also include a town-wide raffle with over 35 awesome prizes from local businesses! The Market encourages shoppers to stop by participating local businesses July 7^th through 12^th and pick up free raffle tickets for chances to win prizes including dinner at Lantern Restaurant, a camping getaway courtesy of Townsend Bertram & Company, a $75 gift certificate to Back Alley Bikes, appetizers from Elaine’s on Franklin, dinner at the Spotted Dog, gift certificates from the Clean Machine, and much more! Other participating businesses include The Arts Center, Auto Logic, Balloons & Tunes, Beer Study, Carrboro Coffee Roasters, Carrburritos, Club Nova, NC Crafts Gallery, Neal’s Deli, Provence, Open Eye Café, Sandwhich, Tyler’s Taproom, Venable, Vespertine, Vimala’s Curryblossom Café, and more.  Raffle tickets should be turned in at Market on Tomato Day, and shoppers get extra tickets for every purchase at Market that day!

“Nothing says summer like a ripe juicy tomato,” says Market Assistant Manager Margaret Krome-Lukens. “Tomato Day is such a fun way to celebrate summertime, delicious food, and most importantly the wonderful community we’re lucky to share with each other.  We love the community’s enthusiasm for Tomato Day each year, and we can’t wait to see everyone out shopping locally and tasting fresh tomatoes this July!”

Additional festivities include live music by Craig Thompson, face painting, a photo display from Kidzu Children’s Museum recapping April’s Tomato Seedling Giveaway, recipes and more! Tomato Day takes place at Market from 8:30am-Noon on Saturday, July 13^th. Tastings will be offered while supplies last.

Printing for Tomato Day is generously donated by the Market’s Big Beef Sponsor, Laser Image Printing and Marketing! www.laserimagenc.com

In other Market News, we are delighted to announce that UNC Health Care has renewed their Healthy Food Incentives Sponsorship that enables the Carrboro Farmers’ Market to match the first $5 of customers’ EBT, WIC, and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program Benefits.  The Market looks forward to continuing and expanding this exciting program, and thanks UNC Health Care for making healthy food incentives possible at Market!

Homeschool Days

Last Wednesday was our first ever homeschool day.  Izabella and her mother came out to the farm to learn about weeds and what they tell us about a piece of land, its health and history.  They also learned, and taught me, some things about what some weeds are good for.  We learned why weeding is so important and even found some time to paint the chicken tractor.

Please come join us on Wednesdays, June 26, July 10 and July 17  

(note that we do not meet on July 3).  You do not need to be a homeschooler to join us, but this is a parent and child experience for children of all ages so do plan to stick around and learn something too.  Participation is free.  Please contact me (mmueller@emersonwaldorf.org) so that I know how many people to expect.  Next week we will be learning about insects and the roles they play in the garden.

Egg Tax!

Look who we caught in the hen house.  Twice now!  Both times she spit out an egg halfway in her mouth.  In spite of losing an egg or two, we are glad to see her around because she is certain to be eating some of the many mice who have been chowing on the chicken feed over the winter and on into the spring.