Hello everyone! I hope everyone is staying cool during another warm week. Thanks corn sweat! Although, I’m unsure why it’s even sweating like that… it’s not like the corn is really doing anything other than standing around in a field. So dramatic. Anyways, the farm is doing very well as of late! This week, the interns and the Meyers lab spent several hours harvesting and pre-processing onions to sit and cure for several weeks. We’ve also been looking forward to our first sweet pepper harvest. Personally, I can’t wait to snack on some sweet peppers. Our crops over at Meigs Research Farm are also doing well. We’ve harvested several bins of cucumbers and crook neck summer squash, and a concerningly large amount of watermelon are expected to be ripening a little later in the season. As Chris might say, prepare to be drowning in watermelon. Pack your spoons and snorkels everyone!
In other news, the University of Illinois Sustainable Student Farm came to visit on Tuesday. If you might remember, we travelled to Champaign-Urbana back in late-June to visit their farm and learn about how they operate their farm. This time they came to us! Chris took them on an extensive tour of the Student Farm and container gardens, where their interns were able to learn a bit about how we operate. In the later part of their visit, we all enjoyed a cookout lunch together while laughing and sharing our experiences as farm interns. Our visit to Illinois lent itself to an amazing tour and some hands-on experience, but this time we were able to connect a bit more with each other, having already met once before. I was a bit sad to see them go, knowing that I likely won’t be around the next time they visit, but I’m very thankful to have connected with like-minded people who could share their differing experiences, all the while being prepared to fight to the death farm versus farm style.
