Do you know why corn is considered a “community crop”?
July is an exciting time of year at the farm! It’s one of the only times in the season where we have volunteers out to harvest and plant at the same time. The crops we put into the fields early in the year are looking beautiful, and volunteers are hard at work harvesting kale, onions, collards, corn, zucchini, and cucumbers. Our tree fruits like peaches, plums, and nectarines are beginning to ripen as well. At the same time, we have groups coming out to plant our second crops of zucchini and cucumbers, which will ensure a long harvest season and extend the time period that we are able to get produce directly from our farm to our neighbors in need!
Just as our planting and harvesting seasons are colliding, we are also fortunate enough to have folks of all ages and from all walks of life come together at the farm. July is a time when we have corporate teams, summer camp kids, community volunteers, folks who receive produce, and our Grow-a-Row Kids Farm Days visitors all in the fields at the same time!
One of our favorite crops that starts to mature for harvesting in July is corn. When children from under-resourced communities come out to the farm for our Kids Farm Days (a day of learning about agriculture, harvesting for their families, and giving back to others), we always explain how corn is a community crop. It’s planted in big fields all together because the pollen from the tassels needs to pollinate each silk to help the kernels mature.
We explain to the children that corn needs to be surrounded by its “friends” in a community to grow beautiful food that can nourish us, and this narrative parallels our volunteers’ efforts. Folks from all different backgrounds come together to help plant and harvest food to nourish our neighbors – and we too get a different kind of nourishment through volunteering in the fresh air. The key difference? Our amazing volunteers aren’t brought here on a whim by a gust of wind. They make a decision – a commitment – to come out and make a change that has a ripple effect that goes well beyond their own communities.
