First Full Year

From Willow Daly (Hosting Coordinator and Farm Crew)

In March 2023, it was my first time coming to the farm. It was a tree pruning event. I learned how to prune apple trees, determine what first year growth vs second year growth was, the difference between the fruiting and vegetation branches, and the process of how much energy goes into producing one apple. On that same day, I also learned how to make hominy from the white flint corn grown on the farm. Hominy has now returned as a staple food in my diet. 

In June 2023, I learned another way to process corn, grinding it up for cornmeal. The corn harvested from the year prior gets stored to dry out. When making cornmeal you take the cob, shell the kernels off and then winnow. To winnow is essentially pouring the shelled corn from one bucket to the other with the wind or even a fan behind where you’re pouring. The wind separates the chaff and any hollow or bad pieces from the corn. The winnowed corn is what is put in the mill to make cornmeal. 

In July 2023, I ate my first blueberry slump! A blueberry compote or sauce with cornmeal dumplings cooked in it. The blueberries were picked at a neighbor's farm and the dumplings were made from cornmeal and milk we got from the Farm School. Blueberry slump with a scoop of ice cream is now a top tier dessert for me. 

In early September 2023, I participated in my first bean harvest. We harvested cranberry, marfax, black, pinto and Jacob’s cattle beans. I learned the process of this harvest, how you get from a plant in the field to beans you can eat. We pulled the plants out of the ground, depodded them, threshed and winnowed. I learned that once all the pods are picked off the bush you can put the rest of the plant back into the field to return some nutrients back to the soil. 

Willow in the corn field.

Late September 2023 was my first corn harvest. A harvest that gathers many of our community to come harvest, work together, celebrate and feast together. We pick the corn off the stalk, husk it and either put it in mesh onion bags or use the husks to form a corn braid. This experience opened my eyes to seeing where the hominy and the cornmeal came from. In addition to seeing a community with many differences come together as a collective to share such an experience. 

Willow holding a handful of hominy made from white flint corn grown and harvested at Pequoig Farm.

Fast forward to now. I finished my first full year of working here and got to celebrate one full cycle by being a part of the hosting crew for our corn harvest weekend. Another full circle moment that illuminated the effort it takes to create such an experience for a large group of people. I learned a lot about my role as host and how to organize people to harvest as a community. This event takes months to coordinate and set up but I see how much it’s worth. From watching the corn grow from seed, to walking through the field with admiration, to the bittersweet feeling of harvesting, to the satisfaction of producing food for our community. In my time here I’ve learned there is always something new to learn and how important the process of growing our foods is and how vital it is for us to do this work.