A common sight at the Urban Farm, among the compost heaps and tidy beds, is our baby scale. A baby scale? I know! But it turns out to be the perfect-sized scale to weigh all of the produce we harvest from the farm.

We keep monthly records of our harvests for a few reasons. People will make notes about certain pests, which helps us adapt for future plantings. And it tells us what worked well last year and how we might mix things up for the coming season. We might remember that we planted way too much zucchini and too little potatoes, so we adjust for the coming year.

This year we can celebrate 6,500 pounds of food grown from students and volunteers at the farm. Our goal is education, not to be the highest producing farm. Regardless, it was a good haul! Here is a brief look at the biggest producers:

• Tomatoes – over 1,000 pounds
• Summer squash – over 700 pounds
• Beets, apples – over 500 pounds each
• Onions – over 300 pounds
• Lettuce, cabbage – about 300 pounds each
• Potatoes, pears, pumpkins, swiss chard – about 200 pounds each
• Broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, garlic, kale, leeks, shallots, spinach – all about 100-200 pounds each

Our produce goes home with volunteers and students in the class. When we have excess, we donate to local non-profits like Food for Lane County. It was a great year!