The bounty of summer: squash, tomatoes, plums, greens, and flowers!

In March of 2020, the whole world turned upside down. Everything was cancelled, and people were told to stay in their homes. This meant that the Urban Farm class, which is based almost exclusively in hands-on learning, was cancelled. Students had spent the previous fall and winter terms prepping for the spring: in the fall adding nutrients to the soil and putting the garden beds to rest, and in the winter getting starts ready to spread their roots in the ground. But without a class of a hundred students to do the important work of tending to a spring garden, how could everything on the two acre farm get done? And since there wouldn’t be students coming through twice a week to take home the fresh produce, where would the harvest go? 

A number of students, faculty, and community members took on the task of running the farm without the help of Urban Farm students. Twice a week, a harvest team (including myself) came to the farm to prepare produce for the Student Food Pantry. We pulled fava beans, plucked kale leaves, searched for summer squash, dug up beets, and collected every last ripe cherry tomato. We soaked, rinsed, and spun dry lettuce and bunched up collard greens. Every week, there was a bountiful harvest, full of color and variety. Along the way, we documented the harvest and at the end of the summer came up with quite an impressive data set of the growing season’s food production (see charts below!).

I feel really lucky to have been able to be a part of watching the farm change and grow from April through September. Every week there was more and more happening — more foliage bursting from the ground, more fruits dripping from the trees, more flowers decorating the landscape and making everything feel alive. When so much in the world felt complicated and confusing, the simplicity of working on the farm and harvesting produce was extremely grounding. 

Luckily, this spring Urban Farm class will be in session, and students will be able to do their part in working the land and collecting the harvest.