What's happening at the farm this week?

In the back field, the pumpkin field was just cultivated and the field prepared for the winter rye cover crop. Some Waltham butternut squash is ready to be harvested.

In the north of cottage field, there's a lot that was ready for harvest this week: mustard greens, carrots, green beans, daikon and green meat radish. Come down to the farm stand to get some!
We also had a group of preschool children learning about harvest visit the field and pick green beans and carrots. They had a fabulous time finding out where their vegetables come from.

What's happening at the farm this week?

In the back field, the cabbage has all been picked. The summer squash, cucumbers, and eggplant are being harvested. And finally, the string beans are in flower and should be ready next week.

In the north of cottage field, it's time for some new plants. Red bunching onion and beet seeds have been planted.

For sale this week at the farm stand: eggplant, summer squash, cucumbers, cabbage, and garlic!

Aaah....rain!

The back field has no way of being watered except by rain or by hand (like, with buckets of water). The conditions had been very dry on those two acres, but finally the rains came this weekend and re-energized the field! Things are looking good for the squash, cucumbers, eggplant and other vegetables for now.

187 years ago, Christopher Gore was having similar issues with his farm. On July 3, 1823, in a letter to his friend Rufus King, he wrote:

Strawberries & cherries are abundant & fine. Indian corn very
backward and unless we have rain soon, our potatoes will be few.
The last rain we had, of any quantity, was in May.

The hidden farm at Gore Place

The "back field" is the area of land behind the animal enclosures, behind the trees. About 2 acres of it is farmed and this season it's been planted with cabbage, Pac choi, green beans, leeks, collard greens, eggplant, purple top turnips, five varieties of winter squash (Waltham butternut, Sibley, Pink banana, Delicata, and pumpkin), three varieties of summer squash (Raven, Soleil, and Bennings green tint), and two varieties of cucumber (Bush pickle and Marketmore 76).

Here's a peek of the back field as it looked on June 16:

Gleaning Gore Place

This summer and fall, crews from the Boston Area Gleaners came to Gore Place several times to harvest the crops and deliver them to area food pantries, meal programs, and homeless shelters.

From the field grown produce, crews picked approximately 10 boxes of green beans, 12 boxes of cabbage, 6 boxes of turnips, 12 boxes of sugar pumpkins, and 54 boxes of butternut squash. The squash boxes weighed 50 to 60 pounds, totaling well over two tons of produce for those in need! And from the garden, crews picked 6 boxes of beans, 15 boxes of collard greens, and 5 boxes of mustard greens.

All this produce from Gore Place was delivered to Rosie's Place in Boston, the Salvation Army food pantry and meal program in Waltham, the Red Cross Food Pantry and the Sandra's Lodge shelter in Waltham, and also to food pantries in Cambridge.

Picking butternut squash in early October

Waltham Butternut Squash

At the end of May and early June, Scott planted Waltham Butternut Squash in the back field. During the first week of September, he began to harvest the squash, and is still harvesting the vegetables. The Boston Area Gleaners also come to Gore Place to pick and collect the butternut squash, delivering them to food pantries and shelters. Scott has estimated that about 2400 pounds of produce will have been harvested by the end of the season.

The Waltham Butternut squash field on August 6, 2009

Waltham Butternut Squash was developed at the Waltham Field Station in 1972. It is a popular winter squash, with pale yellow skin and a slightly sweet-tasting orange flesh. It is called a winter squash because of its thick skin and long shelf life. In the past, people would store this squash, knowing that they could eat it well into the winter months.

Waltham Butternut squash growing on September 1, 2009

Come visit the Gore Place farmstand for some Waltham Butternut squash!

More on the Back Field

The field of Boston Marrow Squash has been doing well and should be ready for harvest later this week.

A couple of Boston Marrow squash vegetables.

This summer cover crop of buckwheat has been cultivated, and the field recently reseeded with oats. These cover crops, which are a method of sustainable agriculture, improve the quality of the soil and keep weeds from overtaking the field.

Harvesting the back field

Last week, the Boston Area Gleaners picked over a hundred pounds of beans and delivered them to Rosie's Place in Boston. They will return again this week for more beans and some cabbage.

The Back Field

The "back field" is the area of land behind the animal enclosures, behind the trees. In the fall it had been planted with winter rye, which suppresses spring weed growth and adds organic matter to the soil.

In May, while Scott was building the raised garden beds, he also was preparing the back field for planting. He applied a layer of compost and cultivated an 8,000 square foot area of soil. On May 25, he planted 4 rows of Boston Marrow Winter squash, a variety that was obtained from Native Americans in New York state and brought to Salem, MA in 1831. He also planted 4 rows of Waltham Butternut Squash, a variety developed at Waltham Field station in 1972.

In June, Scott planted 2 rows of bush beans (Provider variety), plowed the section of the field that was previously planted with winter rye, and seeded it with a summer cover crop of buckwheat. He mechanically and hand cultivated for weed control.

Scott began the month of July by cultivating a new area of the field to be used during next year's growing season. He planted it with a summer cover crop of buckwheat. As of this week, the Waltham Butternut squash and Boston Marrow Winter squash are doing well, with the winter squash in flower. The first planting of beans should be ready for harvest next week, though the second and third plantings of beans are not doing as well. The first planting of buckwheat cover crop is in full bloom! (Photos to come when the weather clears up.)