We’re all relieved that the recent storm passed leaving relatively little damage compared to what was expected.  We are spending a lot of time raking on the farm, but we always do that this time of year.  The birds are back and visiting our feeders – Finches and Black Headed Chickadees, plus the geese, which I particularly like. They make a lot of racket, but I enjoy their company – especially while weeding some of our longest rows.

We still have lots of jalapenos to harvest.  Not as many pumpkins are turning orange this year.  We’re waiting to plant the garlic – weather needs to be a bit drier. When we’re ready, any day now, we can definitely use volunteer help to get the job done.

I’m saving seeds again this year.  I’ve collected basil seeds for the first time – the seeds are tiny!  Four varieties.  I’ve also saved green beans and a number of flower varieties.  We leave the sunflowers in the fields, however, so that the birds can get their fill.  We’ll be working to save broccoli, mizuna and argula seeds next.

The latest Eagle Scout project on the farm was just completed – a seeding station that will eventually expand to become a wash station for the Children’s Garden.  Speaking of children, we’ve enjoyed having hundreds of children tour the farm as part of our field trip program led by Andrew Ely this fall.  In just the past four weeks close to 400 kids have experienced the farm. Kids shouldn’t have all the fun – grownups are welcome to visit too. Take a walk on the farm or come by to help out someday soon.

I hope to write more farm  updates in the future and wanted to keep this brief, but need to mention that when you come tour, take a look near the apiary – we’ve had a prairie restoration specialist work on a seed propagation project on the mounds nearby.       — Mary Saleeby, Farmer