It gushes. Vegetables are bursting at the seams of every corner of the field. The grape vines are weighed down as fruits turn a dark purple, ready for harvest. Sunflowers have reached their maximum height and bloom in the balmy air. This is August. It’s at this point in…
End of summer at Merry Lea’s Rieth Village is a strange series of highs and lows. The Agroeocology Summer Intensive ends, then comes a lull when students are not around. And just when we think things are getting too quiet around the farm, the return of undergraduate students enrolling…
The month of July began with violent storms blowing through northern Indiana. After the storm’s passing we were grateful that the greenhouse was undamaged, and we got out our shovels and used compost to prop up the sweet corn and popcorn plants that had blown over from straight line…
Long days, warm nights, humidity, plentiful rainfall, and the frequent engagement of students, interns, and summer researchers at Rieth Village. This is June, the pinnacle calendar month for our beloved Agroecology Summer Intensive and an important month for Merry Lea Sustainable Farm. June began with the move-in of…
Although the germination and planting of crops has been a bit behind this May, the usual blessing of lush green did not fail us. And like clockwork, our resident female snapping turtle appeared one sunny morning on the driveway at Rieth Village, having made the long journey uphill to…
Keeping our chickens and guineas healthy, planning infrastructure projects for the farm, meeting with prospective student researchers, and lunchtime games of broomball kept us busy in January. What was most noteworthy was the extreme cold and snow that arrived right after the New Year. In early January Jon got…
One may not normally think of December as a transition month on the farm. But at Merry Lea Sustainable Farm, December has been just that, with lingering fall crops inside the greenhouse despite the blast of outdoor cold killing all remnants of the market garden for the season. Our…
As predicted, cold weather meant slowed outdoor activities at the farm, but certainly didn’t mean it wasn’t hoppin’ at Merry Lea’s Rieth Village. The last of the fall brassicas were harvested (see photo of Brussels sprouts showing some signs of bleaching caused by frost), though a few kale plants…
October was a blessing, giving us just enough warm weather at its outset to finish end-of-season tasks around the farm. Fall foliage at Rieth Village was stunning, as red and silver maples gave way to a burst of color near the north entrance parking lot. And although our Agroecology…
Weeks just fly by! So much has happened since the last blog. We finished the first half of the program and we have started with the second pair of classes: Agroecology and Small Farm Management. Unfortunately, that also meant we had to say bye to Andre. But thankfully we…
