hi everyone,

here's just a note to let everyone know that we weathered the storm pretty well, and also to see if there are any folks out there who could come help with tomorrow's harvest. We expect a smaller than normal harvest crew tomorrow and are looking for replacements. Some of our workers are quarantining (don't worry- there was no covid exposure at the farm), and we expect a number of others to be busy with storm clean-up. (if you are interested in helping, see more details below).

have you noticed that we have a lot of CUCUMBERS this year??

There's a lot of unpredictability in farming. Some crops are doing more poorly this year (onions and potato yields are perhaps half of normal). Others are doing better than normal. The cucumbers are doing extremely well.

Do you have too many cucumbers? Let us know, but also, please give away your extra food to anyone else who might be in need. We are donating a lot of cucumbers to all our donation sites.

DO YOU WANT MORE CUCUMBERS?

hi friends,

summer is in full swing. We have been working very hard out on the farm!
every week we are harvesting more vegetables to share with so many people. This year, with the pandemic, it's been harder to schedule volunteers, and the weeds are taking advantage of our labor shortage.

would you like to help us weed?
weeding is easy to learn and so satisfying!

young Compass plants!

prairie plants are ready for sale!

YES, WE WILL HAVE PLANTS FOR SALE IN 2025:
PRAIRIE, GARDEN, AND SUCCULENTS

(note added 4/3/2025) We have started a lot of seeds! We will have garden kits and veggie plants for sale starting at the May 10th Ames downtown farmers' market, and for gift (at seed and plant sharing events April 19 and May 17). We will have prairie plants for sale after our last frost date and as soon as the plants are healthy and strong enough to face the world. We will probably take online orders and sell at market. Please check back for a 2025 inventory and order info soon

Here's the new hand-out that Matt Mitchell made for us for our harvest mornings and workshares.
Our pandemic committee has been hard at work trying to figure out how to safely work on the farm with our interns and workshares and we have been practicing these new guidelines for the past month and slowly working up to full harvest crews.

Dear friends,

Hello friends,
Like everyone, we are trying to make plans in this pandemic, figuring out what is essential and what is not. Both Nate and Alice work at a grocery store and are continuing to go to work while our health is good and taking our best sanitation precautions.
It's springtime and there's a very large amount of work to be done to start the growing season, and we do think growing food is an essential service, but I'm confused about if we should have visitors on the farm to help us.