Week 4, Summer 2023
Nadav here! 👋
Week 4 came & went in a blur (well, more like a haze with the Canadian wildfires) and we made the most of what we could with the poor air quality. Let me share what we were up to:
People & Pets:
Lexi (our mushroom / mental health guru & collective best friend) came back from a trip to New Mexico, bringing back wisdom and taking in Phoebe for a bit. Phoebe's leg is still not fully healed, so Lexi took her to Watseka for some indoor healing & relaxation. We miss Phoebe and wish for her quick healing 😭
Many people were gone last week & weekend, so on Monday (with our entire family present) we shared our favorite moments so far (mentions include ATR, our abundance of fireflies, dance parties and plenty of fun moments together).
We're going to miss Zoe, who left for 10 days to spend time with family, and El, who's heading off to Italy this weekend. Hoping they have fun!!
Plants:
Our mushrooms (not plants, but pleurotus!) are going strong -- we found an errant bucket hanging out in the greenhouse with a crazy broad mushroom fruiting out the side! We collected 4.5lb on Monday, 1.5lb on Wednesday and 5lb on Friday (some amazing harvests!), and cleaned our larger grow tent (shoutout to Zoe for taking on the mopping process).
In ATR (our bed Across The Road) we noticed some grass sneaking through our mulch cover, so we took some time to weed & re-seed any plots where seeds didn't germinate. The ATR bed is expansive (~100 seed plots) which means huge group weeding parties out there. It took awhile but the grass now knows who it's dealing with (and we know what we're up against!).
Malia gained trube (tree tube) expertise last week and is spearheading trube maintenance throughout the farm. She shared her skillset with several people this week & made sure the trees were happy in their temporary shelters!
The water lines we use for watering the beds ("drip") needed some fixing this week all across the farm. We cut tubes, added new connectors, finished moving lines to our sunchokes (fun fact: Jerusalem artichokes aren't actually artichokes!), and problem-solved issues with our main connection point in Bayit.
We added cucumber fencing to help them grow out of their plots, thinned turnips & beets growing to give them space to get to their largest & best versions of themselves, and "thought about trellis management in Bayit" (lots of what we do here is problem solving, and often that requires understanding the problem before taking action).
Two weeks ago we went to see a presentation on farming techniques from The Land Institute, and learned about weed mats & their ability to suppress competitor weeds near a tree. We DIY'd some mats by cutting old cardboard boxes into 3x3' squares and cutting a circle in the middle. It took us 2 days to collect the boxes (thank you Murphy's Food Market), cut the mats, place them on the trees & cover with soil. They'll last 6-18mo and help the tree develop strong roots in their earlier years!
By Tuesday afternoon, the AQI got worse & made it difficult to spend too many hours outside. We moved inside, deep cleaned the kitchen (shoutout to Miriam for finding jars left behind by previous cohorts), and handled our online lives for a bit. We finally made our Community Guidelines for the season as well! Thursday evening’s air improved with an incoming thunderstorm so (once it was safe) we went back out to care for our plants.
On Saturday, Daniel will be attending our first farmer’s market of the summer, so we harvested over 20 pounds of turnips, beets (red & golden), mint, sage, kohlrabi, and mushrooms! 🙏
We've been spending a ton of time looking for grants & other ways to fund what we do on the farm. If you have ideas, send them our way (community@zumwaltacres.org).
Research
Supporting our basalt research project, 4 of us went into the areas the cows are currently pasturing in to collect soil samples. Within an hour of sampling, our teammates had to leave soil samples & augers behind to give the cows space & avoid a showdown. They came back later in the week and, having improved their cow-herding tactics, found a way to finish their sampling work!
Fundraiser Message
I also want to take a moment to acknowledge an exciting opportunity we have with the Good People Fund. Without the financial support we receive at Zumwalt Acres, we would not be able to accomplish the incredible work we do. From training apprentices to become passionate champions for sustainability, equity, and resilience in our food systems, to cultivating a vibrant and inclusive Jewish community, and engaging in groundbreaking climate change research, every achievement is made possible by your generosity. We currently have a $10,000 matching grant with the Good People Fund. They are an amazing organization committed to tzedakah, the Jewish practice of charitable giving, and are giving us $1 for every $1 we raise. We are over halfway to our goal, and would appreciate any support!! To make your tax-deductible donation and have it doubled, donate at https://www.goodpeoplefund.org/how-can-you-help/mitzvah-donate/ and mention Zumwalt Acres in the comments. We would like to thank you all for being here, for supporting our work, and for being a part of our ever-growing community. We would not be where we are right now without you!
Good People Fund Mission: https://www.goodpeoplefund.org/about-us/mission/
