Week 11, Fall ‘21
On Monday, the first day of November, the group did what they do best: gathered in ATR and harvested a whole lot of beans. Afterwards, the harvest herd proceeded to pick snow peas and gather squash. All in all, it was quite the bounty! In the afternoon Joey and Maya packed for market while Eric and Maranda harvested lacinato kale. Joey and Maya were so efficient at packing that they were able to help out with the hefty kale harvest. All the while, Marya fluxed. For dinner, Maranda and Joey made two bean chili with quinoa and roasted peppers.
On Tuesday Eric, Maya, Jooey, and Maranda sorted and cleaned squash. Marya began SARE agroforestry measurements, and Joey fluxxed in the field. Maya then dropped off our good good veggies for market. Julia worked diligently on Communications tasks all morning before linking up with Maranda and Maya to check in and synergize. In the afternoon Marya continued to do SARE, Joey continued to flux, and Maya, Maranda, and Julia continued to scheme incredible media plans. Eric packed up the squash, did a horticulture walkthrough, and prepared plastic tarps to keep our precious plants safe during the nightly frost. In the evening Eric and Maya made roasted chickpea tacos with Peruvian green sauce and shredded kale and carrots. The kale was especially delicious because, well, you know what they say: “sweeter after frost.” We can confirm.
On Wednesday morning, Maya and Maranda set out to deliver a crate of acorn, sweet dumpling, and spaghetti squash to the folks at the food pantry. When they got back to the farm, Maya joined up with Eric to work on a final clean and organization of the walk-in fridge (fondly nicknamed Giussepe’s Ice Palace or GIP as dedicated readers might remember), and Maranda met up with Marya to do SARE agroforestry measurements. All the while, Joey did what Joey does: fluxxed. Lexi arrived in the afternoon just in time to help Maya, Eric, Julia, and JR build a low tunnel to provide our overwintering spinach babies a safe and warm shelter. Maranda and Marya continued to check on all of our trees in their walkthrough, and, yes, Joey continued to flux. For dinner, Lexi and Eric made a hearty everything-but-the-kitchen-sink stew that included, but was not limited to barley, eggplants, potato, kale, and carrots all in a savory broth. The stew was served with babaganoush and bread leavened with our homemade hard apple cider.
On Thursday, Marya and Lexi counted trees for reordering and finished SARE with a little help from Eric. Joey got started on building a mini greenhouse, which will be connected to the tool shed. All the while, Maranda, Julia, and Maya planned out farm photos that needed to be taken and updated the website. In the afternoon everyone hopped in the car for a field trip to Kankakee State Park and to visit JR’s childhood friend. We saw a beaver dam, an agroforestry project, and many many goats. It was a good time all around, and we ended the day by eating delicious Mexican food in Kankakee. 10 out of 10; we recommend.
Friday began with Maya, Julia, and Maranda simultaneously harvesting radishes and taking high resolution photos for the Instagram and website. Eric helped out with the radish harvest and washed, sorted, and bunched over 20 pounds of cherry belles. Marya counted trees and finished harvesting squash. When she was done with that, she helped Lexi and Julia cultivate mushroom spawn. Meanwhile, Joey and JR put up conifer cages in the shelterbelt. In the afternoon Lexi led us in spirituality programming where we had a debriefing conversation about the talks on indigenous history and ecology that we had participated in. We reflected on our takeaways, related what we learned to the work we do on the farm, and developed an action plan on how to be better allies to local indigenous communities. Then, we continued mushroom cultivation and made lavender candles. In the evening, Marya and Maranda made spinach soup with a side of sweet dumpling squash. Overall, it was another busy and fruitful week in the books at Zumwalt Acres.
