Farm Work Log

May 2007

GREENHOUSE WORK PARTIES
Every Wednesday at 4:30 pm
6th Street Greenhouses on Campus

Friday, May 11: ALL DAY HOOPHOUSE CONSTRUCTION DAY!!...Your help is desperately needed so we can get this puppy up and growing! Remember to bring yourself some water and sunscreen. And if any of you have a CORDLESS drill, please bring it along
9:00 am on at Parker Farm...click here for directions!

Friday, May 4: Soil Stewards End of Semester Potluck Party...Mountain View park - If driving, take Mountain View Ave north. The street has a sharp right turn about a quarter of a mile after the Aquatic Center. About a quarter of a mile after the curve in the road, you will see the park on your right.

March & April 2007

FRIDAY, MARCH 30: Vandal Friday at the Kibbie Dome, we still need bodies from 8:45-9:45, and 2 people from 10:45-11:45, who would also be responsible for taking down the display (a 10 min job). This is a great opportunity to meet future Vandals (and their parents!)

SATURDAY, MARCH 31: Strawberry Weeding at the Farm, 9:00 am. Come get your hands dirty for an hour and see what's going on in our plots. The farm is located 2 miles east of town on Highway 8 towards Troy. Look for the signs for "Plant Science Research Farm" and turn off on your right. Our plots are the first thing you'll see on your left. See you there!

MONDAY, APRIL 2: Greenhouse Planting, 5:30 pm. Join us for an evening at the greenhouses (6th Street on Campus across from the Wallace Complex). We'll be planting spring greens and more. Bring snacks to share!

March 2007

Wednesday, March 21, 5:30 pm, 6th Street Greenhouses, UI Campus
Planting onions and transplanting perennial flowers in the greenhouse. If you're lucky, you may get to learn how to make cuttings from scented geraniums!

Friday, March 23, 5:30 pm, One World Cafe, 6th & Main, Downtown Moscow
Monthly Soil Stewards Meeting. Join us to discuss upcoming plans for production and the hoophouse building project.

February 2007

North-Central Idaho Regional Food Forum - February 6, 2007 (download brochure)
The North-Central Idaho Food Sustainability Collaborative invites you or a representative from your organization to participate in the North-Central Idaho Food Forum. The Forum will be held in Lewiston at the Williams Conference Center on the Lewis-Clark State College Campus on Tuesday, February 6, 2007 from 10 am to 3:30 pm.

The purpose of the forum is to consider the sobering statistics on local food anxiety, expand the stakeholder group of the North-Central Idaho Food Sustainability Collaborative, and to form working groups to increase efficiency and effectiveness in addressing food issues in three areas. 1.) Advocacy for the Hungry 2.) Food Nutrition and Preparation 3.) Local Food Production

REGISTRATION IS $10.

Wednesday, Feb. 7th: Student Involvement Fair 11:30 to 2:30 at the Commons Clearwater/Whitewater Room. If you signed up for a slot, great! All are welcome to come by and help recruit new manual laborers, oops, I mean, valued Soil Stewards members!

Wednesday, February 7th, is the CALS Career Fair, sponsored by AgSAC in conjuction with the student councils for CNR and WSU's CAHNRS. Please urge students to attend. The CALS Career Fair starts at 10 a.m. and continues until 3 p.m. in the SUB Ballroom. Door prizes will be given away at the Career Fair!

Please note that AgSAC is hosting a BBQ for employers and all CALS students on Tuesday evening beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the BioTech Interaction Court (Mark your

calendars and please join us).

Saturday, Feb. 10th: Winter Market from 10:00-2:00 in the 1912 Building downtown. Thanks Heidi Schmalz for organizing this! Again, if you agreed to a shift, you'll have a great time! This is an opportunity for us to share our organization with the community and possibly recruit new CSA shareholders!

Wednesday, Feb. 21: Annual Coop Growers Meeting, 3-5 pm at "The Attic", which is located at 314 E. 2nd Street: Rub shoulders with local growers and find out how we can sell our produce to those great guys and gals at the Coop. Most of the producers are excited about what we're doing and very supportive...they'd love to meet you.

November 6-10

Enjoy a week off! But remember next week we'll harvest for the last Harvest Baskets and put them together at our meeting on Thursday evening! TBA...

October 30-Nov.3

Friday, Nov. 3: Garlic Planting at the farm at 3:00 pm

October 23-28

Tuesday, October 24, at 5:30 pm we are having a potluck meeting/end of season celebration in Ag Sci room 62. Come early, we have a lot to talk about (and eat) and only an hour reserved in the room.
Please bring a dish to share, and if you can, your own plate/bowl/cup/flatware to use! (We'll have some if you forget...)

Thursday pm/Friday am: we have one harvest basket to prepare for this week.

Saturday, October 28 is the campus wide Saturday of Service. We expect to see everyone out there to put away the plots for the fall. Plan to be out at the farm by 9:00 am! It will be a fun day, we will provide beverages and lunch, and be able to go home knowing that field work is really done for the season!

October 16-21

Saturday, Oct. 21, we will have a general cleanup and carrot harvest for Sodexho (100 pounds, cleaned and trimmed!) out at the farm. This carrot harvest is bringing in much needed late season cash flow, so thanks to everyone who is keeping this going! We will need a volunteer with a car or truck to haul carrots to Sodexho and potatoes to the cooler.

Other tasks we can begin this weekend and hopefully finish by next weekend:

Disassembling the trellises on the beans and tomatoes
Harvesting Potatoes (don't wash them)
Harvesting the rest of the onions
General clean up and composting of dead plants

We will also get the irrigation supplies cleaned up as soon as we have the storage supplies to put them away properly.

October 9-14

Saturday, Oct. 14, we will have a general cleanup and carrot harvest for Sodexho (100 pounds, cleaned and trimmed!) out at the farm. This carrot harvest is bringing in much needed late season cash flow, so thanks to everyone who is keeping this going! We will need a volunteer with a car or truck to haul carrots to Sodexho and potatoes to the cooler.

Other tasks we can begin this weekend:

Disassembling the trellises on the beans and tomatoes
Harvesting Potatoes (don't wash them)
Harvesting the rest of the onions
General clean up and composting of dead plants

We will also get the irrigation supplies cleaned up as soon as we have the storage supplies to put them away properly.

October 4-7

Wednesday, Oct 4: LAST WEEK OF HARVESTING FOR SHARES!!! We will harvest at 4:00 pm as usual out at the farm.

Thursday, Oct. 4: CSA share packing at 9:00 am in the Biotech interaction court. Farmstand will be from 3:30 to 5:30, outside if the weather holds, inside if it doesn't!

Saturday, Oct.7: Still tentative...check back for details.

September 25-30

Wednesday, Sept. 27: TWO WEEKS LEFT OF HARVESTING FOR SHARES!!! We will harvest at 4:00 pm as usual out at the farm.

Thursday, Sept. 28: CSA share packing at 9:00 am in the Biotech interaction court. Farmstand will be from 3:30 to 5:30, outside if the weather holds, inside if it doesn't!

Saturday, Sept. 30: we will need to harvest 100 lbs. of carrots for Sodexho again, unless we have extra hands on Wednesday and can do it then. We will also need to begin cleaning up our irrigation and perhaps planting our perennial herbs, too!

September 18-23

Wednesday, Sept. 20: Harvest. If you want to head out to the farm (be prepared for a little shock) earlier than 4:00 pm, please do so. We need to get all the squash out of the field so it doesn't rot, we need to pick green tomatoes and put them in single layers in the harvest crates, and we need to dig, dig, dig for our shares. Please wear warm clothes and gloves and potato digging shoes!

Thursday, Sept. 21: CSA Share packing at 9:00 am in the Ag Biotech court. Farmstand will return to it's normal time and place this week...3:30 pm to 5:30 pm just outside the AG Sci building.

Saturday, Sept. 23: We need all available hands to continue to salvage tomatoes and get the rest of our squashes indoors. We can also harvest tasty treats for ourselves, too. 8:00 am to 10:00 or so? More details later.

September 11-15

This week is already off to a busy start, but we need your help! Here
is the new schedule, scroll down for details:

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 13: HARVEST AT 4

THURSDAY, SEPT. 14: SHARE PACKING STARTS AT 8:00 AM THIS WEEK

THURSDAY, SEPT. 14: AG DAYS FOOD FAIR/FARMSTAND/SHARE PICKUP 11:00 AM
TO 2:00 PM (please see attached sign up sheet)

THURSDAY, SEPT. 14: FIRST SOIL STEWARDS OFFICIAL MEETING OF THE
SEMESTER 4:30 PM AT THE 6TH STREET GREENHOUSES (across the street from
the Wallace Complex on 6th Street...you can't miss it).

An executive decision was made to hold share pickup and Farmstand
during the Ag Days Food Fair on this Thursday from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.
That means share packing has to start at 8:00 am and set up for Ag Days
start around 10:00 or 10:30 at the latest. We are going to sell our
fantastic veggies as well as fresh squeezed juice.

A few things we will need: paper (preferable compostable) cups and
napkins, plastic or glass pitchers for the juice, a box of app
les, and some paring knives and cutting boards. I can bring a couple
cutting boards, latex gloves (yes, it's weird, but I have a stockpile),
and a couple knives, any volunteers for the rest?

Wednesday harvest will need to be beefed up to include harvesting extra
carrots, parsley, tomatoes, beets and anything else we think would make
tasty juice. Not eggplant or spaghetti squash, probably. Harvest is at
the normal time of 4:00 pm at the farm.

AND! Our meeting! Our first meeting of the semester! This requires
absolutely no farm work. Promise. After some deliberation and
scheduling conflicts, we have decided that the meeting will be held
Thursday, (the same Thursday as the above events) at 4:30 pm at the
Greenhouse. We'll have snacks and refreshments. This will be a great
time for us to share our experiences of the summer, welcome new
members, and talk about what is coming up for the fall.

September 4-8

Tuesday, Sept. 5 we may have an impromptu harvest for Sodexho, plus we have the opportunity to set up an informational booth at the Tuesday night Grower's Market at the Co-op. We would like to be set up by 4:30 with a modified farmstand-type set up. We can sell produce there, but the primary goal would be exposure and outreach. This should only last a couple of hours. There will be live music, other farmers, and a bbq at the Coop that night as well.

Wednesday, Sept. 6 is the first Ag Student Affairs Council meeting. Pending no other volunteers, Meagan has agreed to attend this first meeting to get us signed up for Ag Days. If you have a burning desire to be our AgSac Rep instead, please let us know.

We also have harvest at 4:00 pm on Wednesday, as usual.

Thursday, Sept. 7: Share packing in the Ag Biotech Court at 9:00 am, Farmstand setup starts at 3:00.

Right after farmstand is the AgSci Annual Picnic. The plan is to pack up farmstand and transport it straight out to the farm. We may invite picnic guests to take a tour out to our plots at some point in the evening. This is a fun event with free food and great people. We can carpool over after farmstand.

A busy week, but lots of opportunities to get involved and share our work with others.

August 30-Sept. 2

Wed. Aug. 30: Harvest begins at 4:00 pm at the farm. Contact me beforehand if you need a ride or check out the map if you've never been out. We should be finished by 6:30-7:00 pm at the latest. This is the fun part!

Thurs. Aug. 31: Packing the shares begins at 9:00 am in the Ag Biotech Interaction Court in the Ag Sci Building. This is usually done by 10:30 am. Stop by and see how it all comes together.

Thurs. Aug. 31: Farmstand setup starts at 2:45 pm. We need extra hands for set up, for customer assistance throughout the sale and takedown at 5:30 pm.

Sat. Sept. 2: No work

August 23-26

Wednesday, Aug. 23: Harvest out at the farm beginning at 4:00 pm. We need all the help we can get harvesting, washing and packing. I'll be leaving from Ag Sci and could give someone (or up to 3 someones) a ride out to the farm. Just let me know.

Thursday, Aug. 24: Share Packaging at 9:00 am in the Ag Science Biotech Interaction Court. This usually lasts until about 10:30.

Thursday, Aug. 24: Farmstand and share pickup from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. We need a lot of help at farmstand, too...setting up, retrieving bags, meeting the shareholders, and selling our beautiful excess produce. No one goes home from farmstand empty handed, and it's a great place to interact and share your love of fresh organic veggies with the campus community.

Saturday, Aug. 26: WORK DAY!! 10:00 AM TO 1:00 PM! SEE YOU THERE...CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS

August 14-19

MON: Farm Work from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm

WED: Harvest begins at 4:00 pm. WE HAVE A WASHING STATION AT THE FARM NOW!!

THURS: CSA Share Packing at 9:00 am in the Ag Biotech Interaction Court

THURS: Farmstand from 3:30 to 5:30 outside the Ag Sci building (between Ag Sci and CNR)

FRI: To Be Announced

SAT: Palouzafest from 4:30 to 8:30 on the Tower Lawn, UI Campus. We need help with making pesto, setup, takedown and staffing the booth...

August 7-11

Monday, Aug. 7: Farm work at 5:30 pm...with Strawberry weeding.

Wednesday, Aug. 9: Harvest begins at 4:00 pm. Many hands make light work so please come out, even if just for an hour or two!

Thursday, Aug. 10: Share packing starts at 9:00 am in the Ag Biotech Court and Farmstand set up starts at 3:15 pm. We are going to be shorthanded this week on Farmstand so PLEASE chip in if you can...the bonus is you get to take home whatever doesn't sell!

Friday, Aug. 11: TBA

Saturday, Aug. 12: WORKPARTY!! Come help us stake tomatoes and beans...and take home some fresh produce in return!!

July 31- August 4

Monday, July 31: I'll be heading out to the farm around 4:00 to assess the harvest possibilities for the week, turn on the overnight watering system, and to try to pull a few weeds.

Tuesday, August 1: I'll be out at the farm before 8:00 am to plant some bok choy and chard, weed, turn off the water and do some general maintenance. I would love an hour or so of your time, if you have it!

Wednesday, August 2: HARVEST!! This has been going well, and each week we'll get more efficient. If you can help, PLEASE let me know. I can schedule this earlier or later depending on the labor available. I'm thinking of starting earlier this week so we can get done sooner. Tentatively I will set this at 4 pm at the farm, to be followed by prepping at the Greenhouse (unless our sink out at the farm gets set up).

Thursday, August 3: Assembling shares in the am (between 9:00 am and 11...this went so fast last week with all the additional help!)

Share pickup and Farmstand
from 3:30 - 5:30 pm

July 24-29

MONDAY, July 24: 8:00 am - 10:30 am

TUESDAY, July 25: Same thing...about 8-10:30...quick and dirty and
we're out of there!

WEDNESDAY, July 36: 6 pm HARVEST Looks like we'll have summer squash for everyone, lettuce mix, more scallions (actual scallions this time), more kale, herbs, baby bok choy and perhaps beet thinnings.
Last week we had about 7 people at harvest. This is a great number. Please let me know if you can come out so I can plan accordingly. And those of you who have been putting in the hours it's about time for you to start taking home some veggies, too!

THURSDAY, July 26:

Field trip to the WSU Organic Farm 9:30 am - 11 am.
SHARE PACKING in the am. Last week it only took us about two hours (for two of us). An extra hand would probably cut this
in half! Starting around 11:15 am in the Ag Biotech court kitchen.
FARMSTAND and SHARE PICKUP. This went really well
last week and a HUGE THANK YOU to Lisa, Lydia, Karen, Dan, Heidi and
Jodi for helping out. This week we'll try to stay between 3:30 and 5:30
pm...set up around 3:15...need to change the posters!

SATURDAY, JULY 28: 7:00 am - 10:00 am beat the heat and help string up the bean and tomato plants!

That's about it. If none of these times work for you but you want to be
involved, send me a message...or just stop out at the farm with a friend for a few minutes of weeding when you get the time...we've got a nasty gang of bindweed hanging out in the cucumbers...for starters!

July 2006

July 17-21

Wednesday, July 19, from 6 pm to...9 pm(This is a guess...this week is a trial run!)

Harvest at the farm, transport back to the greenhouse, wash and prep produce.

Thursday, July 20:

6:30 am - 11 am (just guessing) Strawberry and Basil harvest on the farm with Heidi...then proceed to Ag Biotech court to pack shares. We should be back on campus by 9 or so.
2:30 - 6:30 (again, this is a test week): FARMSTAND! Show up to help set up at 2:30...stay to hand out shares to our CSA shareholders and to sell produce to the campus community. It will be slow to start, but as we harvest more and word gets out, this should be a fun and busy job for friendly, outgoing members. Plus it's a way to connect what you grow with who eats it! Neat!

July 10-14

Monday July 11: Farm Work 9:30 am - noon

Wednesday July 12: 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm Farm Work

Thursday July 13: 6:30 am STRAWBERRY HARVEST, carrot thinning, general farm work...until around 12:00 noon

We plan to start harvesting for the shares on Wednesday, July 19. This means that we will be starting the CSA and the FARMSTAND on Thursday, July 20. It's coming up fast and we are going to need all the help we can get to harvest, wash and weigh produce, and assemble the share bags. But it will be so much fun! Be thinking about how and when you can help, and we'll assign you some duties!

July 3-7

Wednesday July 5: We'll be weeding, composting, and using the rototiller. Come by and help from about 6:00 to 8:00 or so.

Thursday July 6: we'll be out early in the morning and will be repeating the above tasks, plus planting seeds with the seeder (a fun activity! really!) and planting swiss chard.

June 2006

JUNE 26-July 1

Wednesday, June 28: Meet at the Greenhouse at 5:30 or the farm by 6:15 or so to plant plant plant plant squash squash squash squash. I repeat myself. We decided to push it back so we all have time for a little dinner and can get out there as the heat is waning. Plus, it stays light for so long! If we can get them planted now we don't have to come out Saturday!

Thursday, June 29: The directed study class will be meeting at 9 am to begin SOIL TESTING out on our plots. This is very exciting because we will now have some information on our soil fertility and be able to start making a plan to improve it. If you'd like to learn how to do this, you are more than welcome! You don't have to have any experience.

There may be another strawberry harvest this week...we'll keep you posted.

We don't know if there will be a Saturday work party...unless we just can't get enough planted this week.

___________________________________

JUNE 19-24

Mon, 6/19: FARM WORK 10 am-12 pm
Tues, 6/20: No Work
Wed, 6/21: FARM WORK 3:30 pm - 6
Thurs, 6/22: FARM WORK 9:30 am - 3 pm
Sat, 6/24: FARM WORK 9:30 am-1:00 pm

___________________________________

JUNE 12-17

MON, June 12: FARM WORK 9:30 am-12 pm
TUES, June 13: FARM WORK 9:30 am-12 pm
WED, June 14: Cancelled due to mud!

No Work Party This Saturday!

JUNE 5-10

MON, June 5: FARM WORK 9:30 am-12 pm
TUES, June 6: FARM WORK 9:30 am-12 pm
WED, June 7: FARM WORK 3:30-6:30 pm
THUR, June 8: Take A Break!
SAT, June 10: FARM WORK 9:30 am-1 pm

__________________________

May 29-June 3

MON, MAY 29: Holiday
TUES, MAY 30: Field work in the am
WED, MAY 31: Greenhouse Planting: 3:30
THUR, JUNE 1: TBA, depending on weather
FRI, JUNE 2,: TBA, depending on weather
SAT, JUNE 3: 9:30 am - 1 pm, FARM ____________________________________

May 24-27

WEDNESDAY, MAY 24: Greenhouse Planting, 4:30 - 6:00 pm

THURSDAY, MAY 25: Greenhouse Planting, 3:30 - 5:30

FRIDAY, MAY 26: Possible Field work...will be announced...come only if you want to learn the equipment or bury irrigation pipe.

SATURDAY, MAY 27: I know I said we'd schedule Saturdays ONLY when needed...well, we need it! If you can only do one thing this week to help, THIS IS IT!!!

We will be planting onions, broccoli, cabbage, kale, herbs and direct seeding some beets, arugula, lettuce, parsnips and others. We'll need lots of help planting, watering, raking, and other fun tasks. It should be mild, not too hot...we'll bring beverages, you bring your hat, your sturdy shoes, gloves, and a trowel it you've it!

________________________________

April 2006

Wednesday, April 19: Earth Week

We have a booth up at the Commons (outside by the entrance near the Coffee Shop) today to share information and opinions about local food, organics, and sustainable agriculture. It would be great to have a couple people up there at all times! Set up is at 10:30 am and we will be there until 2 pm. Don't be shy!

Wednesday, April 19: Planting Party

I will be at the greenhouse from 4:30 to 5:30 this afternoon to meet members for planting up herbs and sowing more seeds. Considering how much we were able to get done at our last meeting, we should get a lot done in an hour!

Sunday April 9
Meeting and Seed Planting Party
12 noon at the 6th Street Greenhouses
across the street from the Wallace Complex
Join us as we start early on the planting process...want to see what tomatoes, pepper and eggplants we'll be growing? Come spend an hour or two and find out!

Wednesday April 12
Club Meeting and Seed Planting Party
5:00 pm at the 6th Street Greenhouses across the street from the Wallace Complex
We will be planning for Earth Week, going over labor issues and production specifications for the upcoming season, assessing who will be here and in what ways they want to be involved, and we will be planting seeds! So bring your t-shirt money and your grubby jeans and we'll get started on spring! We'll have refreshments.
Download the Agenda

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March 2006

Wednesday March 22
Meeting and Potluck
5 to 7 pm in the Ag Biotech Courtyard in the Ag Sciences Building

We have invited Brad Jaeckel, local grower and farm manager for the WSU Student Organic Farm, Cinda Williams, UI Sustainable Ag Coordinator and Kelly Kingsland and Russell Poe, of Moscow's Affinity Farm, to speak to us about what local food, organic and sustainable agriculture, and farm planning mean for them. They will talk about their farms and philosophies as we share our individual ideas and form a vision and mission for the Soil Stewards.

This is an opportunity to learn from some very remarkable people who have made sustainable food systems their life's work, as well as clarifying our own vision as a group and determining our goals for the next season.

This will also be a potluck event, so bring a dish to share. We are asking that attendees bring their own dishes and silverware, too, so we don't have to use disposables!

Please bring a friend and join us for this night of food and farms!

Wednesday March 8: Club Meeting

We will be meeting at 5:00 pm at the 6th Street Greenhouses (across the street from the Wallace Complex). We will visit our seedlings, discuss upcoming events on campus, Earth Day, our production plan, as well as vote on T-shirt and Tote-bag designs. We will also begin to identify our roles in the club based on the committees we selected at the last meeting! Hope to see everyone there!

Proposed Earth Week Events & Activities

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February 2006

Wednesday, February 15:
ONION PLANTING

We will be meeting in the 6th Street Greenhouses at 3 pm to plant onion seed!

Wednesday, Feb. 8th:
First Meeting of the Semester!

We’ll be discussing crop selection for the coming planting season, a little club organization,
and possible outlets for fulfilling the advocacy/community outreach component of our constitution.
Download the 2-08-06 Agenda