The calendar and the trees agree; it's October.  However, my outside thermometer returned to July temps - this was one warm week and a few days found us in the mid-80s!  I dragged the shorts and t-shirts to the front of the closet and enjoyed the warmth before chilly fall weather arrives in earnest.  I spent much of the week tidying up the EC and gathering supplies for Harvest Fest.  I also introduced fresh fennel flowers, dried sorghum and Vermont Dried Cranberry Beans to several EC visitors.

Sometimes the only way to see what's going on in the garden is to get down on all fours, or as close to all fours as one can manage.  Weeding is the perfect activity for checking a plant's health.  I was working along one of the perimeter beds and noticed some insect activity on the swamp milkweed.  The swamp milkweed is a compact perennial with slender, dark green leaves and brilliant orange blooms in the summer.  As a member of the milkweed family, it also sports milkweed pods.  The swamp milkweed pods, like their leaves, are slender and this time of year, have mostly released their feathery seeds.  

Had I not been on my knees, I could have missed a batch of Small Milkweed Bug (or Swamp Milkweed Bug) nymphs amassed in an empty pod.  These nymphs suck the liquid from the young seeds, killing the seed and thereby reducing next year's crop.  Because the swamp milkweed is a favorite among the pollinators, gardeners generally like to encourage its growth.  I snapped this photo of the young nymphs, and lone adult, and then removed them from the garden.  Please check out this link  if you'd like a bit more info on the Milkweed Bug (make sure to scroll down to see the Milkweed Bug info).

In addition to cleaning out several beds, I harvested some of the bamboo for the inner forms used to make scarecrows at HF.  Susan Curry introduced me to one of her neighbors who has a lovely, 20+ year old stand of bamboo in her backyard.  We met on Monday afternoon and selected several plants for harvesting.  Unsure as to which tool would be best, I brought loppers, clippers and a pruning saw.  Turns out our 1" wide pieces were easily cut into pieces using the loppers.  Harvesting was just the beginning - once I had the bamboo pieces, some easily 10' long, I stripped off the branches and cut 2' lengths.  I used reclaimed tomato twine to construct the final product - a T-shaped form.  In addition to the bamboo I harvested, one of our long-time greeters also harvested bamboo and prepared the pieces so they could be used to make the forms.

I mention the bamboo because it is indicative of how many things are accomplished at PFEC.  A call goes out for a hand on a discrete task and friends of PFEC respond, often in spades.  At any given time, there are scores of people working on projects related to the farms.  At our CSA, Community is woven into the fabric of the farms.  The collective efforts of our members allow our farms to grow and flourish.  Think of how we worked together after Hurricane Sandy tore through the Horsham hoop houses, how, when we needed help curtailing weed growth people came out and helped weed the vegetables.  And, just this past week, dozens of people worked together to make Harvest Fest 2013 a wonderful day spent with friends and family. Thank you for being part of Pennypack Farm & Education Center.