Season's End

Hello Folks,

It seems this year's growing season came to an end pretty quick. We really enjoyed providing fresh produce "grown by the pack for the pack" to campus dining and hope to continue to do so in the future. This year we met many challenges as one does in this line of work. 

The first issue we encountered was the rain. It never seemed to stop this year. Every other day it poured and this had a huge impact on all of our crops. The produce that suffered most is anything that grows on vines like tomatoes, beans, melons, squash, cucumbers etc. These guys just couldn't handle the extreme amount of water thrown at them this year and far too many of crops split.

Of course with the rain came mildews galore. We had a few different types of mildews that attacked our plants this year which we did not experience last year. 

Another problem we encountered was pest issues. Beetles and other pests seemed to have doubled their numbers this year. They were relentless. It's possible the water may have helped them proliferate. 

Now we face a much larger problem...funding. The future is uncertain at the farm at the moment due to budget cuts and sequestration. Many of our staff members are moving on to new opportunities and we lack the funding to continue our work for much longer. 

All in all, this year was great though. It was the first year exploring our partnership with University Dining Services and we believe it was a fantastic experience. 

Cheers,

Agroecology Education Farm Staff.

Art at the Farm

Hello Readers,

This year we have a pretty special staff member. Will Hildreth is working at the farm this summer and has contributed immensely to the success of sales to campus dining. Each Tuesday he spends hours, along side our Farm Manager, Stephen Ratasky, harvesting produce. He then helps weigh, wash, pack, load, and unload the crops for dining services.


This ex-CEFS intern has
also put the skills and techniques learned from the internship to good use out at the farm. From weeding plants, to pruning tomatoes and basil, to helping to diagnose plant disease issues, he does it all. Thanks to him and our Farm Manager, the farm has produced over 700 lbs of food earning over $1,000 towards farm maintenance.

However Will is not only a farmer, he is also an artist. Luckily for us, he will soon paint a large mural on our water tank. Plans are still in the air as to what themes might be explored but it is certain to be fantastic! Agriculture is not only about growing plants and selling crops. There is a community aspect to it as well. Part of community is visual expression through various artistic forms. You could say that we are bringing more components of community to the farm.

Photos soon to come of his work of art's progress.

Cheers,
-Agroecology Education Farm Staff

Volunteer Day and Dining Food Delivery

Hello Readers!

Things have been very busy out at the farm. We've had tons of rain and, of course, this has posed quite a problem. It seems our little plants are constantly struggling against pests, mildews, and other plant diseases. That is the life of an organically grown plant
though. They all just need a little help from their human stewards and we know just how to make that happen.

Recently, we hosted a volunteer event with NCSU Dining Services. Quite a few people came out and spent their entire morning working on various projects including spreading mulch/compost and weeding. Folks from NCSU Sustainability, Campus Dining, and NCSU Library Services made it out that morning and really worked hard to get the farm in tip-top shape. Also, Green Planet Catering brought a few folks out which definitely contributed to the overall success of the morning.

NCSU Campus Dining Services has really taken a proactive role in the success of the garden this year. In addition to coming out and working on the farm, Dining Services now purchases food from us. Each week we deliver a variety of tomatoes, chard, beets, basil, peppers, okra, carrots, among other crops. In return, dining services pays us which goes to help continue the development of the farm. We hope to progress more into the educational components in the future.

So if you are at campus anytime soon...stop by the dining halls and try a bit of our delicious produce. Let dining know that you think food grown by the pack for the pack is awesome so we can continue this fantastic partnership.

Cheers,
Agroecology Education Staff

Food Grown by the Pack, For the Pack!

Hello Readers!

Exciting things are the air. We have officially established a formal relationship with University Dining! June 25th was our first delivery and we believe the folks over in dining services were very pleased.

The hope is this partnership remains a constant and students will begin to eat more food grown by the pack for the pack. All our crops are grown organically by students from NCSU. Talk about local...you can't get much more local than that.

This is monumental and has the power to influence to student food choices.
More updates to come.

Cheers,
Agroecology Education Farm Staff

15 Things to do with Chard (Green Delight).

Hello Readers!

Chard!

Succulent Swiss chard originated in Europe and is one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat. Botanically, it is related to the beet-family of vegetables which includes sugar beets and garden beets. It features distinctly large dark-green leaves with prominent petiole well-developed edible stalk. Chard, like spinach, is the store-house of phytonutrients that have health promotion and disease prevention properties. It's very low in calories and fat so is recommended in cholesterol control and weight reduction. It is an excellent source of vitamin-C, vitamin-K, vitamin-A, B-carotene, B-complex vitamins, copper, calcium, sodium, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorous. In other words, chard is "oh so good" for your body, specifically for your bones, blood, heart, colon, and prostate (if your a man).

Right now, in most of our gardens, we are awash in a sea of green. So much so, that you might not know exactly what to do with all of those delicious green leaves. Don't fret. We've got you covered. Just scroll down to find some interesting and delicious things to do with your chard

.

1) Saute with olive oil, garlic and add a dash of lemon juice as a great side.
2) Juice it with apples, carrots, a half a lemon for a healthy thirst quencher.
3) Make cabbage rolls substituting chard for cabbage.
4) Steam it then mix it into cream of broccoli soup.
5) Treat it like spinach.
6) Use it in a fancy pasta dish.
7) Cream it and make chard dip.

Chard is oh so good!

8)Make chard chips much the same way as you make kale chips.
9)Make a green smoothie. Combine bananas, apples, chard, pineapple or orange juice.
10)Make a chimichurri blend from it.
11) Use it as lettuce.
12) Prepare the stalks like asparagus.
13)Use it as a pizza topping.
14) Cook it with salmon using this recipe: http://goo.gl/b4F5P
15)Make a tart using this recipe: http://goo.gl/HVH7G

Cheers,
-Agroecology Education Farm Staff

Plant Debut 2013

Hello Readers,

This will be a short post this time. We just wanted to give the you and the rest of the world a glimpse of our first crops of the season!

Aren't they just beautiful?!

Earth Day Event

Volunteers! (Click to make larger)

Hello Readers,

On April 13, about 100 people came out to the farm to help plant transplants commencing NC State's annual week-long Earth Day festivities. Students, faculty, staff, and community members came together to plant seedlings that will eventually be harvested and served in campus dining halls. The event was co-hosted by the NCSU Agroecology Education Farm and Campus Dining. It serves as a great beginning for more local and sustainable foods on campus.

In addition to planting transplants, students and community members watered crops, spread soybean mill, pulled weeds, discussed sustainable agriculture, and provided assistance to Green Planet Catering in their plots. Campus Dining provided delicious food and beverages as well!

Volunteers Planting Seedlings. (Click to make larger)

It was fantastic to see so many people come together and work to support a great cause and new initiative. We thank everyone who came out and hope to see many of your faces out at the farm this summer!

Cheers,
-Agroecology Education Farm Staff

WRAL and Earth Day

                                                                         

Hello Readers!

Camera Man with Stephen Ratasky and Angel Cruz

It has certainly been a long time since we've written anything on here and, for that, we apologize. We are still in the process of getting all our social media outlets up to date and of course winter happened. There was not very much going on at the farm at the time but now the growing season is upon us once again.

Just a couple days ago, we organized a visit from WRAL news. Reporter Brian Shrader came out to the farm to talk to our director, Dr. Michelle Schroeder-Moreno, our Farm Manager, Stephen Ratasky, and our newest partner NCSU Campus Dining. The interviews went great and the story was even better. If you are interested in seeing the story, go here: http://goo.gl/UImkl . The best part of all is our farm was exposed to over 120,000 people across area. Let's hope that this means more interest, more volunteers, and possible donations of any kind!

Brian Shrader Speaking to Campus Dining and our Director

Another piece of fantastic news is the new partnership with NCSU Campus Dining I mentioned above. We've established a portion of the farm to grow food for campus dining. In other words, we have joined the campus dining My Roots Are At NC State program. When harvesting food later in the summer, a large portion of it will be served in the dining halls at NC State University. Students will be able to eat foods grown by the pack for the pack!

The last thing we'll announce in this blog post is our Earth Day event which will take place tomorrow. We know it's early but shouldn't every day be Earth Day? The farm will open from 1-4pm and anyone is invited to come out to help plant transplants! We will also serve some light snacks and there will be plenty of photo opportunities. You don't have to RSVP but if you'd like to let us know you are coming, go to http://go.ncsu.edu/plantingmyroots and sign-up.

We have lot's planned for this year so be sure and check back in every so often for great pics, recipes, growing advice, updates on the farm, and more.

-Agroecology Education Farm Staff