As May turns to June, the interns have been busy harvesting the last of our spring cash crops and working with our summer crops more. With our spring crops near the end of their life cycle, interns are getting to experience succession planting and cover cropping!
Summer Cash Crops
Tomatoes aren’t the only crop that gets trellised on the farm! Interns have been hard at work installing trellis systems for our flower field, adding trellis netting to our bean plants, and trellising our peppers! Peppers can become quite top-heavy and fall over if exposed to high winds or intense rain. The interns trellised the peppers at the perfect time; a few days after the farm was hit with a heavy rainstorm that would have knocked the plants over had they not been taken care of.
First of Many Harvests
On July 9th, our high tunnel cherry tomatoes were ready for their first harvest! Darin led a short harvesting demo for our interns, and after lunch we got to work. This was the first of many tomato harvests to come this season! The tomato plants are still growing rapidly, and interns have been diligently pruning and trellising them.
In addition to our first tomato harvest, we also celebrated our first cut flower harvest of the season! We grow a variety of flowers, including snapdragons, bachelors’ buttons, sunflowers, dahlias, and feverfew. Interns have quickly learned the basics of floral arranging and now arrange beautiful bouquets of fresh flowers weekly!
Community Events
The farm has been very busy with community events this month!
We welcomed over ninety alumni to enjoy mocktails on the farm during We Are Weekend!
Alumni were able to explore the farm, interns led tours, and everyone enjoyed spending
some time in the sun!
Additionally, we celebrated the longest day of the year with our seventh annual Summer Solstice Celebration! Members of the campus and community enjoyed live music, food trucks, and activities at this free event. Event goers were able to explore the farm on their own, or go on guided tours led by our very own staff members. Guests made their own smoothies using our smoothie bike, visited the craft station led by the Center for Arts and Crafts, and had a great time enjoying the solstice!
Additionally, we celebrated the longest day of the year with our seventh annual Summer Solstice Celebration! Members of the campus and community enjoyed live music, food trucks, and activities at this free event. Event goers were able to explore the farm on their own, or go on guided tours led by our very own staff members. Guests made their own smoothies using our smoothie bike, visited the craft station led by the Center for Arts and
Crafts, and had a great time enjoying the solstice!
With all the events and collaborations occurring, it’s clear that the Student Farm is making the most out of this summer! Catch you in the July Recap of Field Notes from the Farm!