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More storms rolling through Lancaster the last few days.  They have ravaged our fence and possibly (or more likely due to vandalism) broken our gate!!  Alas, without a proper entrance, the veritable veggie show must go on.  We took hiatus from market this week because we were all out of town, but we are going to send our extra produce to the Earth and Environment Department for Professor Susanna Richter.  She will be testing whether our “organic” produce outmatches the “regular” or non-organically grown produce in terms of vitamins, nutrient count etc.  We’re excited to be a part of this project!!

Farm on!

Sorry we haven’t posted in a while.  We had a great day at market last Saturday.  We are one of the few vendors still able to grow lettuce and chard so we sold that fast.  Also, our peppers went within the first hour.

Many, Many, Many Thanks to Lime Valley Mills who donated a rain bucket to the DIRT ARMY!!!!! we’ll have that set up for the fall and be collecting agua year round.

It’s been a rainy two days here in the Lanc.  But boy did we need it. The dirt was really getting cracked and dusty.  This soaking is exactly what the veggie doctor ordered.

In other news, we have a tiny pumpkin coming in.  Still green and youthful, this little guy is being shaded nicely by the sprawling leaves of the pumpkin vine.

Still lots ‘o tomatoes!

Farm on.

Anywhoo, with their help the garden is again in tip-top shape.  Zucchini, squash, peppers, tomatoes, basil, rainbow chard, and Peter’s Pumpkins are all doing very well.  Our lonely eggplant is also looking lean, mean, and green.

We’ve pulled out a lot of the crops that didn’t do well or are finished (spinach, beats, radishes, carrots…) and planted cover crop — buckwheat– in their former beds.  Two days in a row we’ve had rain showers so we expect the buckwheat to take off.

In other news, we planted broccoli!!

fresh, local produce…support it!

This morning we planted some broccoli and weeded like no one’s business.  The soil is STILL moist from the storm a few days ago and with the heat the weeds are sprouting everywhere.  Unfortunately, the red lettuce has seen better days and we’ll be pulling it all up soon.  On a brighter note, the pumpkin seedlings have absolutely taken off.  Fingers crossed…could we have a pumpkin carving contest at the S-house?  Don’t want to jinx it but it WOULD BE AWESOME!!

Farm on!

Unfortunately the Nora-nator has returned to her nothern abode, escaping the heat but as she has said her self, missing the garden.  We can’t thank her enough and look forward to her return for the school year!

Soooo, it was a great day at market today (with pictures as proof).  It was a unique and wholly Lancaster City experience: reggaeton, acustic folk music, falafel, and relleno de pappa…and we haven’t even gotten to the veggies yet!!

In all, we sold spring onions, lemon balm, zucchini (huge this week), squash, chard, but no cherry tomatoes (which we donated to Make Food Not Bombs).

Awesome awesome awesome music this week with a lot of original songs.  A guitar/mandolin duo had all the vendors stompin their feet to the folksy beats.  And when they finished, the reggaeton

We’re looking forward to next week.  Thanks Eastern Market and all our customers.

Farm on!

took over!

ps. a delicious pasta sauce was made from these tomatoes!

Today I got to the garden for a routine water and weed and felt overwhelmed. I found myself unsure of where to start. There has been much transformation that the garden has underwent this summer and I was looking for the spinach in a location where it had only been long ago.

A summary of what plants we have planted and have success with: Lettuce, Peas, Beans, Tomatoes (see pictures!), Carrots, Turnips, Onions, Egyptian Onions, Radishes, Spinach, Zucchini, Squash, Sunflowers, Pumpkins, Basil, Wildflowers, Morning glories, Lemon Balm, Celery, Rainbow Chard, Eggplant… am I forgetting anything??

We have learned about deformities, varieties, recipes, and tricks of the trade from parents, farmers, friends, and peers. Learning experience, anyone? Growing experience? I would certainly say so. I have grown and transformed along with this garden.  I feel more responsible because of this garden. I feel more mature and increasingly capable.

The greatest accomplishment in my mind this summer was selling our produce at Eastern Market (which we haven’t fully described to you yet). The first weekend was two weekends ago on a very rainy day that ended what seemed to be the drought of the summer. Fitting? Definitely a relief!

So guess what.. WE SOLD OUT OF OUR PRODUCE. I’ll admit we didn’t have a lot, but batches of chard, lettuce, squash, zucchini, basil.. ALL GONE. At the end of the day we made around 15 dollars to put towards seeds for next year! We also were fortunate to have the support and advice of other vendors at Eastern Market to fill our day. It was a wonderful experience. This past weekend did not go as well in the way of sales for some reason, but the market experience makes me feel like a gardener. I love that. I sold a fellow two tomatoes for 25 cents each. Can’t get a bag of chips for that price. Best sell of the day.

So as I leave, I am sending love to the garden, love to all you Fummers who support the dirt army, particularly Carol deWet and Sarah Dawson and Tom Simpson for being relentless in their devotion, and love to Lancaster for this farming soil.

P.S. This fall we want some more manpower. So get ready!!!