Past, Present and Future

Accomplishments

So much as happened this past semester on Miller Farm. With a new season meant new ideas and visions. Some of our biggest accomplishments of the semester are welcoming a new farm manager to the team (Tony!) and successfully building a high tunnel and barn. Some other triumphs have been the strawberry and asparagus garden came in nice and full. We had a great harvest from the Loofah garden and are in the process of turning those into usable shower scrubs. We spent many hours, days and weeks experimenting with the soil and understanding what it needed. We planted a cover crop to manage the soil which aid in soil erosion, fertility and many other aspects that help create healthy crops.

Along with great achievements also comes tragic losses. The bee's in the beehive died this past month. It was a disappointing turn of events during an otherwise positive season. We are currently in the process of putting together a Beekeeping club for next semester, with hopes of creating a more cohesive group of people whose sole focus will be the bee's.

Visions

The Miller farm team has been working hard configuring new strategies and brainstorming crazy ideas for the future of the farm. We have many goals for the following season that we plan on carry out with even more passion and tenacity than before. Our production assistant Libby is focused on bringing chickens to the farm! Jumping off of that idea, we thought ducks and goats would also be an AWESOME edition. Our fabulous teammate Maya is leading a food forest class to design and build an elaborate, symbiotic, ecosystem right on the farm. There is a windmill in storage, hidden somewhere around Earlham that we plan on dusting off and putting back into commission. The Barn could definitely use some color. We want to bring a group of artists out to paint a mural on the barn as well as some flags and signs for around the garden. We’re going to forge a stronger connection to the Richmond Community by reaching out to local food banks and offering our fresh produce. We have a giant list of many more goals and visions for the farm but here are some of the most fun ones.