Et cetera : AmeriCorps NCCC Oak 6 team assists DeLano Farms during crucial growing season

Rain never stops the team, families are looking forward to fresh food!

Covering the onions protect them from insects, weeds and losing moisture

By Mitchel Duran

Oak 6 began service on May 1 at the start of The Delano Farms growing season in Michigan. The farm has been in working order since 2011, when it was acquired by the Kalamazoo Nature Center (KNC). Oak 6 is learning that farmers work early and hard without a vacation. The team has spent four weeks seeding in the green house, planting vegetables rain or shine, and cultivating all of the rows that weeds try to overtake.

Every day there are new varieties of vegetables that need to be planted, including but not limited to fennel, kohlrabi, boc choy, tomatillos, and salanova. Currently the team has helped plant on three fields to support over 100 families directly and another 100 through donations at a food bank. The team has accomplished planting 3,850 potatoes, 6,300 onions, 1,300 peppers and 1,450 tomatoes. Oak 6 expects to maintain a strong and steady pace as the summer heat approaches rapidly.

Maeve Kirk from Texas shares, "I never farmed at this size before, so the new process of digging holes, hundreds at a time, by hand and all measured apart is hard for me but I know all the vegetables will grow and taste good."

Oak 6 plans on having a community day of service on June 6 by calling the local residents to help weed the fields and learn more about the sustainable agriculture that takes place on the farm. The team's goal is to encourage healthier diet habits and to become more active using KNC’s recreational options.