We're getting deeper into July and we've got tomato fever! The cherry tomatoes are starting to ripen (they're always first) and we're watching the slicers like a hawk. Read on to know more about all the work that goes into getting tomatoes onto your table.
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We're also excited to be joining dozens of Maine farms in our effort to help raise funds to assist in Liberation Farms, the farm of the Somali Bantu Community Association, farm acquisition.
Farm tenure or ownership is one of the greatest obstacles to new farmers, small farms, and family farms across the country - farmland is expensive, difficult to find, and for most, purchase capital is beyond reach. Beyond that, there is a long history of excluding people of color and black Americans from farmland ownership. We are excited and grateful for this fundraiser and opportunity to act locally. We hope you will join us in donating to the Somali Bantu Community Association's efforts to raise funds to secure farmland for their farmers, so they and their families and community can farm in Maine for the very long term.
We are matching donations from our members up to $500 and are donating 20% of sales from our farm stand this weekend to support these new Mainers efforts to farm long term.
You can donate directly through your CSA customization page by clicking "Add Extras" and adding donations in $10.00 increments. This will charge the card you have on file for the donation.
We will match all donations made by our members!
If you would like to learn more about the project your can visit their website here: https://somalibantumaine.org/liberation-farms/
If you prefer to donate directly, you can do so here: https://agrariantrust.org/agrariancommons/little-jubba/ (let us know so we can match it!)
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Tomato Work!
Tomatoes are a labor intensive crop. For us the labor starts way back at the beginning of March when we seed the tomatoes in teeny tiny little cells. Tomatoes are a very heat sensitive crop when germinating, so we put them into our "germination chamber" which is a hot, humid, insulated box that keeps them warm and damp until they pop through the soil.
And then - many of our tomatoes are "grafted" meaning that we slice two varieties of tomato together to improve yield and health. In this process the tomatoes are literally cut in half and put back together with the fruiting part on top (where we get the yummy tomatoes) and the disease resistant part on the bottom. They then have to heal over nearly two weeks, first starting in a very dark, very humid environment, then they are slow reintriduced to light and less humid air.
Once they are healed - they wait in the greenhouse until the threat of frost is passed, and then they are planted in our high tunnels which are prepped with compost, fertilizer, and landscape fabric to keep the weeds down.
AND THEN, they are slowly trellised and pruned week by week up a string so they get lots of light and put energy into producing fruit. This is the most labor intensive park - it takes lots of hours and training to have staff to this. And with over 2000 tomatoes in the ground, it's just plain a lot of work. It's been tough to keep up with this this year, as we've been struggling with staffing due to all craziness of life these days. But we're nearly caught up and it's inching closer to tomato harvest season on the farm....
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Extras this week:
Coffee!!!! We have a medium and dark roast available from Moses Dyer! If you haven't treated yourself to this coffee yet - give it a try! Bags are packed to a full lb. so are heftier than your average coffee bag which is usually only 3/4 lb. $15.00/bag
Thank you all!
Beth and Eric
