by Sophia Chiparus
Welcome back to what has been another extraordinarily ordinary week on the Purdue student farm!
When people ask me, “Good news or bad news first?”, I always pick bad news. I think anticipation can be really powerful, and anticipating something bad always scares me more than whatever it ends up being. If I can get it out of the way, I like to do so. On the other hand, when I know good times are imminent, I try to sit in and savor that anticipation. If doom is impending, why suffer twice? But if exciting things are on the way, I love “borrowing” the fun to make me happier in the moment.
All this to say, here is the bad news from the farm this week:
All of the rain this season has led to some crop troubles. Bacterial rots are becoming more widespread among exposed crops, as it thrives in moisture. This issue has also hit the apples out at Meigs pretty hard. Apple harvests this year are looking lower than usual, with the apples we do have having lackluster flavors due to the early harvests necessitated by the disease.
We’ve also had more students than usual calling out of work this week as the semester picks up in intensity. I am one such guilty party, and have been appropriately sassed for it by those who did go to work.
Our next round of carrots unfortunately did not survive the latest series of violent vole attacks. With over half of them eaten and damaged, it made more sense to till the rest out, which Chris did this week.
But fear not, we have good news too!
Pepper productivity continues to skyrocket, as we continue harvesting over 17-20 varieties weekly as they just do not stop putting on fruits. The farm continues to look beautiful as more goldenrod blooms boom, and the sun hemp field goes to flower, filling corners of the farm with pockets of vivid yellow.
When one watermelon closes, another watermelon opens a few weeks later: Though watermelons are done for this season(another victim of the wet and disease), we will soon have watermelon radishes available, and their growth has been extremely successful this season.
We also had some cabbage that, aesthetically, left much to be desired. The outer leaves were mottled yellow-brown, with strange spots and scales(Bacterial Black Rot. This week, we processed these, pulling back their leaves to reveal glowing tender pale-green heads. We gave them the full spa treatment: a bath and makeover. They look delicious, and they will be yours in the coming weeks just not this one.
Our onions continue to amaze us. The student farm club processed over 600 pounds of onions during their weekly meeting, and now these bronze orbs are patiently glistening in storage, waiting to be delivered to their loving homes(you) throughout the rest of this program.
If you are a loyal email reader, 1. I love you, and 2: then you remember last weeks headline about our new furry friend on the farm. Well, that dog’s name is Max, and he belongs to Clay Watkins, one of the new interns on the farm, and this week’s spotlight:
I am a master’s student in the dietetics program and am finishing my last year as a dietetic intern. As the first dietetic intern at the student farm, I am completing my community rotation, which focuses on promoting healthy eating habits and preventing disease through nutrition at the population or community level. My goals for the internship are to better understand how the farm and food production can promote the health and well-being of Purdue students and the greater Lafayette area through community-supported agriculture (CSA). I am also interested in how CSA shares purchased by the cultural centers can increase fruit and vegetable consumption among marginalized groups that typically consume less than the average American.