Notes from the Field

Happy August (tomorrow)! This turning of the month marks another transition at the farm. We’re still planting new crops for the fall (carrots, beets, storage radishes, chard, kale, collards, quick greens, spinach, and lettuce) and working on getting our weeds under control before the heavy tomato harvest starts.
But! We’ve begun “harvest season” at the farm! This means we’re starting to do our once-a-year harvests where we harvest in one or two days an entire crop that has been growing for months. Last week Emmy and Tim led a group of wonderful volunteers in bringing in all our garlic! It’s curing in the greenhouse. Poke your head in this week to check it out.

Hauling in pound after pound of these bulk harvests is satisfying work and always makes me feel especially grateful for our bounty and our ability to share it with those in need.
Every Monday and Friday we donate hundreds of pounds of our harvest to food rescue organizations FoodLink and Lovin Spoonfuls (see above photos). On Sunday the Boston Area Gleaners came out to the farm and harvested 320 pounds of zucchini and summer squash for distribution to area food banks! We are lucky to have such wonderful organizations to partner with, so that we can keep working on the farm while knowing our produce is being distributed effectively.

This year, we’re getting even more help with our food access efforts. Check out this update from Executive Director Tim:
“LexFarm is excited to announce we were awarded a grant through the Foundation for MetroWest’s Hunger Relief Fund. The $3600 award will help LexFarm buy a barrel root washer. A root washer will help staff efficiently wash fall storage vegetables in October and November, when the crew is smaller. With this increased efficiency in the wash room, the off-season staff will be able to quickly pick and pack fall vegetables for donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the labor needed to plant and harvest vegetables for donation.” Thanks to Tim for writing the grant application and to Foundation for MetroWest for the opportunity!

To see a barrel root washer in action, check out this post from our Instagram featuring LexFarm alum Micah!