 Here comes the corn! As we transition into mid-summer, we have realized the change in crops that are offered for donation from our partner farms. Similar to the early season crops mentioned in the Gleaning Log from July 8, 2015, corn is also planted in successive plantings. Often, farmers will pick only the first ears from the stalks of a planting, leaving the second and third ears to be gleaned. Or, a farmer will have two plantings (called ‘blocks’) come ripe at the same time, leaving an entire block to be gleaned.
In addition to corn, we have started to glean a lot of zucchini, summer squash, and cucumbers, as well as smaller amounts of peas, green beans, and some spring plantings of carrots, beets, and scallions. It is also the time for the first few fruit tree gleans (peaches and early apple crops)! Farms that donated these crops in July include: Alprilla Farm, Appleton Farms, Hutchins Farm, Kimball Fruit Farm, Langwater Farm, Medway Community Farm (new partner!), Newton Community Farm, Powissett Farm (new partner!), and Silverwood Organic Farm (new partner!), among others. Our partner food pantries love it when we have this much variety to bring them, as they are able to ensure that their clients get a healthy variety of produce. In addition, working with our distribution partners (the Greater Boston Food Bank and Food for Free) ensures that a large amount of the commodity items that we glean, such as corn and zucchini, is donated to over 500 hunger relief agencies across eastern Massachusetts that are in these organizations’ hunger relief network. Help us as we harvest this surplus for donation! Visit our website to volunteer in the fields with us, or visit our donation webpage to support our work financially. The more resources we have, the more produce we can glean! To the Harvest! Posted by Matt Crawford, Lead Gleaning Coordinator
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