Drumlin Farm Crops Update Vol. 3

By Crops Manager Matt Celona

How We Cope with the Heat

Last week, we were 2 degrees shy of our first heat wave. To avoid the harsh heat and sunlight, we have some tricks:

  1. Move harvest start times to 6:30 am to lessen the impact on our tender greens.
  2. Turn crates on their sides and stack bunches of radish or spring turnips in the shade that’s made.
  3. Begin each harvest by cutting all the leafy greens.
  4. Drive the greens to the wash station, where we float the leaves in cold water to remove field heat and rehydrate them.
  5. Put up a shade at the wash station to further keep the morning sun from beating directly on the crops while we wash and pack them.

This is how we get top-quality veggies to customers without needing to refrigerate them before delivery.

Somerville Schools CSA is Back

This spring, we’re supplying 10 Somerville schools with produce for their salad bars in CSA fashion (rather than ordering specific veggies, they receive whatever we harvest). We’ll be making four deliveries to the schools in the spring, and four more in the fall. Hopefully some strawberries will be ready for harvest by the time we make our last run to the schools in June.

Farmer’s Meeting

Drumlin Farm will be hosting a meeting on Wednesday, May 24, for area farmers on the topic of crop planning. We’ll be meeting in the Farm Life Center from 4:00–6:00 pm, and everyone is invited (even if you’re just thinking about sprucing up your home garden). Feel free to stop by!

See you in the field,

Your Farmers