We have come a long way since the second week of May!
In just a few weeks, we have transformed the farm from a bunch of empty fields, to a thriving place where we will soon have veggies to harvest!
Summer production field May 15, 2014: Transplanting Eggplant
Summer Production field june 6, 2014: Eli bloch, nicolle tanuchi, and ian back Interseeding cover crops into a full field!
The Student Farm trials summer production:
As we work our way through June, we have just finished planting all of our crops for the student farm’s first ever summer production! Growing about an acre of crops, our main market will be UMass Dining who ill be using our vegetables for the summer New Students’ Orientations that occur throughout the summer. We are so excited to show the incoming students what the student farm is all about, growing food for a growing campus!
Here is a list of our summer crops:
- Broccoli
- Eggplant
- Basil
- Cilantro
- Cucumber
- Cantaloupe
- Honey Dew
- Summer Squash
- Zucchini
- Carrots
The Student Farm Expands to the Agricultural Learning Center:
As we begin to fill up our 3.75 acres of planned production land in South Deerfield, we at the student farm are more than ready to begin planting at the new Agricultural Learning Center this week! With about 3.5 more acres at our disposal this season, we have been working hard to get these new fields prepped and ready for planting.
Eli Bloch Spreading fertilizer on our fields at the Alc june 4, 2014
We are not only expanding production area at the ALC, we are also expanding our processes and techniques! This year we are experimenting with a no-till patch to grow our pumpkins:
Rolling the rye for our no till pumpkin patch june 4, 2014
As you can see, the student farm is up and running. With a crew of six full time farm hands, the possibilities are endless!
Summer 2014 crew: (top row,l-r) Eli Bloch, Ben Goudreau, chris raabe, Ian back. (bottom row, l-r) Duncan Fuchise, Nicolle tanuchi
If you’d like to be a part of our story don’t worry, there is still PLENTY of work to do! Stay tuned for a list of volunteer days where you can join us out in the field for a day filled with dirt, laughs, plants, and more dirt!
Remember: “In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” -Margaret Atwood
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