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.
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