Author Archives: Staff

Drumlin Farm Friday to Friday: September 9–23

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Staff

Fall is fast approaching. We’re already noticing some leaves turning, and baby snapping turtles are making their way to our ponds. With the end of summer comes the start of school, and the urge to get outdoors and enjoy the cooler air and brilliant fall hues.

Here’s how you can soak up the new season:

Wednesday, September 14

Parents Outdoors! | Adult+Backpack Baby | 9:30 am
Get outside with your child and connect with other like-minded parents. We will walk and talk and learn about the world we live in and how truly fascinating it is.

Thursday, September 15

Fall Hawk Migration: Lecture| Adult | 7 pm
Hawks provide a number of identification challenges. Luckily, we can use general shape and behavior to categorize types of hawks. Field trip to follow on Saturday, September 17.

Friday, September 16

Kimchi at Home | Ages 12+ | 7 pm
Learn how Asian communities preserve their food using salt, garlic, and spices, sample our Drumlin Farm kimchi, and take home your own fermented project to carry you through the winter months.

Saturday, September 17

Fall Hawk Migration: Field Trip | Adult | 8 am
We’ll travel to the hawk watch on 2290-ft Pack Monadnock in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Thursday lecture recommended.

Teen Birders: Hawk Watch Birding Weekend | Teens | 9 am
We’ll head to Mt. Watatic in New Hampshire for a hike and hawk watch, then head to Wildwood for a canoe trip, birding, dinner, and smore’s. On Sunday, we’ll drive to Pack Monadnock for a hawk watch with New Hampshire Audubon.

Naturalist Walk | Adult | 1 pm
These excursions will focus on observing, exploring, and appreciating the world around us. Email [email protected] to be added to the mailing list and receive details on each walk!

Sunday, September 18

Sunday Morning Birds at Drumlin | Adult | 8 am
Drumlin Farm has a great variety of habitats and gets a mix of migrants and residents every fall. These walks are ideal for beginning birders.

Thursday, September 22

Thursday Morning Bird Walk | Adult | 7:30 am
Join us as we explore Drumlin Farm and other local hotspots in search of fall migrants.

Friday, September 23

Apple Honey Harvest | Family | 3:30 pm
Visit the bees and taste delicious honey-and-apple combinations! We’ll share stories and songs, then finish the afternoon with apple crafts.

Teen Night at Drumlin Farm | Teen | 7 pm
Explore Drumlin Farm’s trails by moonlight, stargaze at the top of the drumlin, and listen for owls and night creatures. Learn about natural history, play games, listen to music, and bring a snack to share by the fireside.

For all of our upcoming programs, visit massaudubon.org/drumlinprograms.

Summer Crops Update: August 30

Posted on August 30, 2016 by Staff

Crops Updates are written by Drumlin Farm Crops Manager Matt Celona

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Mighty Crops
It’s surprising that any plants are thriving under these hot and dry conditions. But the soil retains some moisture, and we’ve had a great melon and tomato season. We are reaching the end of our sweet corn harvest. We have white corn available at the stand today and perhaps for a few days more. We’re also beginning to harvest our last watermelon variety of the season—little baby flower. It’s red-fleshed and meant to be small or personal-sized. You can find a bunch at the farm stand.

The Greenhouse
During last Friday’s quick shower of .15 inches, we sheltered in the greenhouse and seeded the next round of lettuce while waiting it out. Lettuce and bok choi are the only crops we’re still starting in the greenhouse at this point in the season. The greenhouse is now primarily a place of storage for winter squash, pumpkins and sweet potatoes. Feel free to step inside and take a look during your next visit.

Keeping Up with Demand
Mid-August through September is the busiest time at Union Square Farmers Market. People are back from vacation and eager to buy all the summer favorites. Each Saturday, we mount an intricate and large display under three tents, including a whole table devoted to cut flowers. Farmers Sarah, Jessica, Katie, Cara, and Erin have been doing a great job keeping up with long lines of customers on some scorching days on the pavement in the city. Thanks to you all and to the market volunteers for doing such a good job representing the farm and Mass Audubon!

See you in the field,
Your Farmers

Summer Crops Update: August 16

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Staff

Crops Updates are provided by Drumlin Farm Crops Manager Matt Celona.

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We Got Rain. We Need More.
We did get about one inch of rain on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Many crops look revived and happy. However, it’s a good bet that the warm weather will last, since the outlook is for 90s continuing into next week and beyond. That’s not good news for the farmers or the crops. According to Weather Underground, Lincoln received 16 inches below the precipitation average in 2015. To date in 2016, we are 19 inches below average! This drought is at least two years in the making.

How Are the Crops Doing?
The young bean plants that we watered through the driest stretch are now mature and looking good. The second round of eggplant is fairing much better than the first. These are perfect for grilling whole or sautéing. Our last round of sweet corn is beginning to mature, while storage beets, rutabaga, turnips, and radish have finally germinated. Unfortunately, it looks like the seedings of storage carrots are not going to come up. We’re in uncharted territory with the emergency carrot seedings that we tried over the following weeks —we hope that we can still get a good harvest out of these, but it’ll depend on how mild the fall is.

We’re going to have to take very good care of all fall crops in order to maximize yields from plants that are already stressed by the heat and lack of water. We’re hoeing and fertilizing storage crops, stringing the second succession of tomatoes, and preparing fields for fall cover-cropping.

Many Thanks to Our Volunteers and Workers
This morning, teacher-naturalist Sally Farrow brought a group of Lowell City Corps youth to help us harvest onions. The kids apply to the city for summer employment in environmental work, and thanks to Sally’s relationship with Lowell schools, they have come here for the past two years. Additionally, volunteers Anne and Sheila removed crab grass from the Brussels sprouts patch—not an easy job even when the weather is nice!

Last Friday, we said goodbye to fieldworker Maggie as she returns to Colby for her senior year. Thanks, Maggie, and all of our volunteers for your good work and positive energy!

See you in the field,
Your Farmers

Drumlin Farm Friday to Friday: August 19–26

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Staff

Upcoming programs at Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary.

Can you believe that summer is almost over? With only one session left of Drumlin Farm Camp, it’s time for all of us here to take a break before the fall programs start.

But that doesn’t mean that you can’t plan ahead! Take a look at all of our programs at the farm (and some out-of-state birding trips!).

Here’s what’s coming up:

Friday, August 19

Friday Evening Hayride and Campfire | All ages | 6 pm
Take a ride in our hay wagon while watching for birds flying at dusk and evening fireflies. We’ll stop at our campfire for stories, s’mores, and a special nighttime visitor.

Saturday, August 20

Naturalist Walk | Adults | 1 pm
These excursions focus on observing, exploring, and appreciating the world around us. Each walk will focus on one area or habitat as we build our understanding of ecological communities. Pre-registration is not available. Meet us at the Nature Center!

Friday, August 26

Fermentation 101 | Adults | 7 pm
Join us for a visually, aromatically, and gastronomically exciting event exploring all things fermentation.

Summer Crops Update: Special Water Zombies Edition

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Staff

Crops Updates are written by Drumlin Farm Crops Manager Matt Celona.

Photo by Pei Ren

Call Us Water Zombies
All day long and into the night we haul barrel after barrel of the precious ichor to our plant overlords, and yet they are forever thirsty. We became Water Zombies on Saturday, when yet another round of thunderstorms decided we could do without it: “They have so much organic matter at Drumlin Farm, they can get by on humidity! Let’s go rain on a place that really needs it.” (While it’s true that our soil is very rich, we still need at least some rain to keep our crops healthy!)

We’ve started watering the tomato patch to keep this important crop from flagging. In these relentlessly sunny and hot conditions, the precipitation we had last Tuesday didn’t go far. We’re encouraged by the forecast for thunderstorms over the next several days, but we will continue to water and seed until we get a real rain.

First Watermelons in Two Years
We will begin harvesting storage onions and watermelon this week. We never watered these crops, but they still look good! The electric fence has so far kept the coyotes out of the melons. We are excited by the prospect of our first watermelon harvest in two years. We are now harvesting larger quantities of husk cherries, cherry tomatoes, and heirloom slicing tomatoes. Tomato flavors are intense this year as a result of the weather, so, if you’re a tomato lover, come to the stand today to sample one positive side of the drought.

See you in the field,
Your Water Zombies

Summer Crops Update: August 4

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Staff

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Rain!
Hooray! The light rain this past weekend amounted to only 0.1 inches in Lincoln, so Monday morning’s steady rain was a welcome sight. It appears the rain has worked its way below the soil surface. We had been watering via bucket brigade and by raising the transplanter above crops and driving over the plants with the water streaming down. We’ll see how the crops hold up this week!

Bucket Brigades Brought To You By
Volunteers helped us water beans and chard last Tuesday between harvesting potatoes. Food and Farm Educator Emma led groups of campers in hand-watering flowers and string beans in the front field. The whole team, with help from many volunteers, has been working hard to water melons, strawberries, eggplant, and peppers during the drought and heat wave. Thanks to all of them for their dedication and good cheer during this stretch of extreme weather!

Living with New England Wildlife
Now it’s time to catch up on other pressing jobs like stringing tomatoes and battling pests. We installed an electric fence around our watermelon patch to keep the coyotes out. Last year, they damaged almost every watermelon! The deer have been swiftly eating sweet potato vines, too, so we’ve sprayed garlic oil on the leaves to keep them away.

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Flower Harvest
Farmer Jessica has been doing a fabulous job leading the Friday flower harvest and making beautiful bouquets at the Union Square Farmers Market. Many thanks to last year’s CSA coordinator Katerina for taking the time to give Jessica pointers in flower arranging. For those who remember Katerina, she is now the head flower grower at Allandale Farm.

Drumlin Farm on WBUR
Reporter Andrea Shea of WBUR is a fan of our produce and frequents the Union Square Farmers Market. It was there that she made a connection with us and reported on the effects of the drought in Massachusetts. It’s a great story to read and hear, and paints a picture of how farmers across the state are handling the dry weather.

The Farm Stand: Designed by Farmer Katie
Farmer Katie has been responsible for setting up an attractive veggie display at the farm stand, and today you can find white corn, melons, and heirloom tomatoes. Note the impressive size of the corn and tomatoes! We were never able to water these crops by hand, so all that growth is the result of minimal rain and healthy soil maintained by our sustainable growing practices.

See you in the field,
Your Farmers

Summer Crops Update: July 27

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Staff

Good News: No More Potato Beetles!
We stopped the Colorado potato beetle from eating the eggplant! We spent part of each day last week removing the pests from every eggplant and pepper plant. The Mycotrol natural pesticide arrived last Wednesday, and by Saturday, few beetles remained. During the period of heaviest pest pressure, we got much-needed help from Drumlin campers, volunteers, and staff members. Thanks to everyone who helped with this work!

Bad News: The Drought
The plants are suffering terribly in the extreme heat and drought. The next push will be to water what we can using buckets and cans, or by driving the transplanter over crops and letting water trickle down. These are painfully slow ways of getting water to the field, but the need is immediate.

Good News: Our Soil is Magic
We’re alarmed by the weather and by the wilting and damage we’re seeing in some crops. At the same time, the soil continues to support most plants and produce beautiful food. There’s white sweet corn at the farm stand today, and tomatoes are beginning to come in. We’ll see how the fields continue to do their magic in the coming days.

Summer Crops Update: July 19

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Staff

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Potato Beetles: 1, Potatoes: 0
The potato plants are nearly gone now, having been entirely defoliated by the Colorado potato beetle. Much of the potato crop is still safe underground, but our yield may be smaller due to the early defoliation. Now the weeds are growing quickly with no competition from the crop, so it’s a good thing today is Weed Out #2 at camp. The work of the campers will make harvesting potatoes much easier. Thanks to Emma, Cara, Katie, and the counselors for organizing the weeding in a very buggy field.

Other Plants in Danger of the Beetle
We noticed the potato beetles leaving the potato patch over the weekend in search of more food. They are now on every crop, with eggplant and tomatoes at high risk. We’ve spent hours over the past two days picking them off the eggplant as we wait for delivery of an organic pesticide: Mycotrol (made from the spores of Beauveria bassiana, a fungus). If it works, it will take several days for the fungus to multiply in the gut of the beetle. So we’ll be picking beetles off eggplant, and possibly tomatoes, until we get control of the situation (or until we wave the white flag).

Where’s the Rain?
Yesterday’s thunderstorms went to the south and north of Lincoln. We saw beautiful lightning, but received no rainfall. About a quarter-inch of rain has fallen in the past week—helpful for direct-seeded crops, but not reaching the roots of established plants. Drumlin Farm’s impressive soil keeps amazing us by producing healthy crops in these dry and dusty conditions. We put a lot of effort into building soil organic matter through fallowing fields and spreading compost. The organic matter holds what little moisture there is. We hope the plants can hang on until the fields get the soaking they need.

Volunteer Shoutouts
Last Friday, volunteers helped us harvest crops for Saturday’s Union Square Farmers Market. They picked string beans, cucumbers and eggplant before digging all the potatoes for Wednesday’s CSA distribution. Thanks also to the weekend farmstand volunteers who have sampled veggies and shared recipes to (hungry) curious visitors. Nice work, all!

See you in the field,
Your Farmers

Patio Dining + Drumlin Farm = Perfection

Posted on July 14, 2016 by Staff

One of the best perks of summer is when all of our favorite restaurants open their doors and break out the patio dining, serving up grilled eats, ice-cold drinks, and all the twinkle lights you can handle.

Did you know that nearly 20 restaurants in the Boston area receive produce from Drumlin Farm? And oh yes, some of them even have patio seating.

Here are four local spots that combine (what we think) is the best of summer: Patio dining and fresh Drumlin Farm produce!

The Independent | Somerville
Brunchers, get ready for an Irish breakfast, roasted beets, and baby kale salad. Sunscreen optional.

Bronwyn | Somerville
If you’re looking for a cozy, casual patio experience, stop at Bronwyn for some knödel with hakurei turnips, radicchio salat, and pickled eggs with beets.

Cambridge Brewing Company | Cambridge
The pizza specials at Cambridge Brewing Company are amazing: fig and arugula or peach and dandelion greens? One of each, please!

Brass Union | Somerville
People-watch your way through a meal at Somerville’s new Brass Union. Their brunch menu features roasted veggies, and chorizo with scallions. Pair that with coffee and orange juice and you’ll be set for the weekend.

Can’t get enough Drumlin Farm produce in your life? Feast at Moon Over Drumlin, where some of Boston’s top chefs will prepare our produce and meat to perfection. Tickets are going fast!

Summer Crops Update: July 13

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Staff

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Greetings from Mexico!
The winter squash and pumpkin crop are growing vigorously in the newly opened field we are calling “Mexico” (because it’s south of the field we call “Texas”). One advantage of growing crops in newly worked ground is that there is almost no weed pressure in the first year. Not having to manage weeds in Mexico allows us to devote more time to the harvest and to weed-control in the flower patch, perennial garden, and strawberries.

A Rough Year for Garlic
It looks like our entire garlic crop has failed. We’re not sure what the problem was, though many of the plants burned over two cold nights in April. It’s a big loss for us and for those of you who love garlic.

The Tomato Countdown
On a brighter note, the onion and shallot crops look bountiful, and the tomato patch continues to look excellent! We expect to begin harvesting cherry tomatoes next week. The cucumbers and eggplant harvests are about to reach a size when we can include them at the farm stand, our CSA, and restaurant deliveries.

We hope for rain in the coming days to keep our crops growing strong.

See you in the field,
Your farmers