Greetings readers! We hope you have been enjoying this pleasant change in outdoor conditions we have been experiencing lately. The farmers certainly have, and so has the farm!
Today, we were lucky to host a volunteer group, from Whole Foods in Willowbrook, to help us with our first harvest of potatoes this season. It was a great group who really enjoyed the chance to get into the dirt with us, which they quite literally did! More surprising than the willingness of volunteers to come here and roll up their sleeves for some good-old-fashioned farm work was what I saw in the soil. This experience connects to the whole of what we do, as well as every one of you, so I thought it would be nice to share.
As we arrived in the freshly dug potato field, we were greeted by rows of spuds laid nicely in and around the hills that they have called home since April, a fine sight to see. One of the strange things about potatoes as a crop is that they are one of the few crops that hides their bounty until the plants are gone and the tubers below are finally unearthed. It can be quite unnerving for farmers who depend on those tubers for their livelihoods. I can’t imagine the stress of being solely a potato farmer. Acres of a single crop being planted every spring, only to sit peacefully as a short little plant for the next several months, with no indication of what’s to come. With carrots and beets, you can judge how they’re growing by the shoulders that pop out of the ground as they mature; lettuce heads get bigger; leaf crops can be estimated; and fruiting crops like tomatoes and peppers show you clearly throughout the season what exactly it is that they are doing out there. A field of potatoes though, is a field of mystery.
Gratefully this season, despite a heavy population of Colorado Potato Beetles and erratic heat and rains throughout spring and early summer, our potato crop looks pretty good. Not the best we have seen, but certainly not the worst when it comes to yield. The best thing about this year’s potato harvest, however, was that it is the first time that I have noticed the prolific presence of mycorrhizal fungi throughout the soil and around the roots and tubers of the potato plants, and that is exciting! (Trust me.) Mycorrhizae are fine white fungal filaments that grow beneath the soil, and physically connect a network of living things together through their mutualistic relationships with trees, shrubs, forbs, grasses, bacteria, other fungus, and yes, potatoes. You may be more familiar with the fruiting bodies of these types of fungus — we call them mushrooms. However, the real magic happens in the dark.
When digging out spuds, it was clear that the beneficial fungal organisms in our soil were doing exactly what they are best at: Making connections. These species of fungus will literally connect with plants and other soil fungi to create a network of communication and sharing. Mycelium stretch through the soil locating nutrients and partners to connect. Through these connections, unrelated plants, insects, and other soil organisms are able to share in a broad pool of resources like water, sugars, and other compounds produced by the individuals in the network. Potatoes are able to link into this network to gain access to soil nutrients and moisture that would be otherwise unavailable to their annual root growth. In return, potatoes and other plants will feed carbohydrates produced through photosynthesis to the fungi and other organisms that are unable to produce their own food, or are unable to produce enough of it for themselves — kind of like we do. 
Our findings in the potato field were more than just interesting science. The presence of so much mycelium means that we have been doing a great job of maintaining the soil health on this property. Mycelium are easily damaged through tillage and exposure of bare soil to the elements, and are not nearly as common in cultivated areas as they are in the wild. However, today we were able to see that the organic matter we add, the cover crops we grow, and the care we take to minimize soil disturbance is really paying off. Mycelium can increase the reach of plants by up to 100 times, meaning each plant we grow can have a root system that is 100 times more effective at providing nourishment to the plant. Now that’s efficiency no one can argue with. Best of all, we know this benefit is not coming from a product. It can’t be purchased on Amazon (at least not yet), but here it is, finding a home in the soil at McDonald Farm because the community here respects and understands the value of connections and sharing for the benefit of all.
In a way, it made me realize that as amazing as mycelium are, it is really us, people, who have the ability and the responsibility to act as the mycelium of the above ground world. We are clever, we can move, and for the most part, we are natural networkers. If some thin fungal filaments growing underground can make natural systems 100 times more effective, 100 times healthier, and 100 times more vigorous, can you imagine what we could do on this planet if we worked through connection more than competition? Supporting each other along with our communities and all of the plants, animals, insects, and natural resources that all of us depend on — what a wonderful world that could be.
So really, at the end of the day, as amazed at what I witnessed in the soil of our potato field, the real magic was the realization that in reality — at least, the reality I would like for us all — we are the mycelium, the networkers, the connectors, the healers, and supporters, who,under the right circumstances, can truly transform the world we inhabit for the betterment of all.
Thank you all for supporting the work we do every day. Believe me, to provide the quality, choice, and quantities of food we grow for our members and pantry partners, is no small feat. So many factors play into what we offer here that it can be very difficult to do what we do. However, with a mycelial network of our own, one of veggie subscribers, open spaces, farmland, and everything in between, we can continue growing together into a new and healthier future that we can all appreciate. Heck, if a mushroom can do it, why can’t we?
—Farmer Russ