Today was the last Sunday work day (next week is July 4th). The four-day-a-week schedule will start on Wednesday, July 7th.
Most of the plants are in the ground now, so workers have moved on to the next stage: weeding. Today's crew did plant beans and radish seeds in a few rows, but they spent most of the morning weeding out the thistles and grasses that are sprouting in the beds. The bad news is that the water pump that is supposed to run the drip tape irrigation system is broken. Replacing it will be costly, but fixing this problem is of utmost importance to the plants so it will be taken care of one way or another ASAP. On the other hand, the good news is that things are growing wonderfully! The U-pick flower garden is getting to be very colorful, and tomatoes are ripening on the vines. The electric fencing is completely set up as well. A sizable work force showed up at the farm this morning. A light, misty rain from nine to ten made for a very muddy work day, but we persevered. More tomatoes, basil, and leeks were planted in the U-Pick garden, but we also planted lots and lots of peppers in the LACS section! Work continued on and in the hoop house as well.
The work force this week included an enthusiastic student from Ithaca High School who "can't wait to go back!" and expressed a wish that IHS had a local food/farming movement. The usual LACS localvore crew was there as well. As an interesting note, LACSers are apparently barefInterestingly, all of the LACSers discarded their muddy shoes at some point during the morning. One final note: the Youth Farm Project was officially approved for a grant from the Park Foundation! Now that we have an assurance of funds for the summer, the project can really take off. Yesterday morning, a group of serious farmers ignored the Ithaca Festival and the approaching storm and showed up at the farm. They braved the torrential downpour to plant more flowers and basil. Now, that's dedication!
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