Cape Abilities Farm Tour
On the morning of May 24th, HCT and Cape Abilities partnered to provide a tour of the Cape Abilities Farm in Dennis, led by James Barnes, Vice President of Philanthropy & Engagement at Cape Abilities. The farm is looking beautiful and is fully stocked with a variety of flowers in time for Memorial Day.
James taught about the history of Cape Abilities and its important role in the community, including providing services to people with disabilities and providing locally grown, pesticide-free produce and flowers. While wandering around the greenhouses, we learned about tomato-growing techniques, pesticide-free insect prevention methods, propagation, pollination, watering, lighting systems, and more! We peeked into the tomato greenhouses to see their impressive operation, which produces between 10,000-12,000 pounds of tomatoes each year. We also peered into the cucumber greenhouse and discovered that cucumbers are prone to a variety of insects. Cape Abilities’ environmentally friendly insect prevention measures are put to good use while growing these plants.
A hydroponics system is one method used by Cape Abilities to grow lettuce heads in one of their greenhouses as well. It takes 6 weeks to grow a full-sized head of lettuce from seed to harvest (and it takes 4-5 weeks for a mini head of lettuce). Each week, Cape Abilities harvests a section and plants a new section so there is a continuous supply of lettuce throughout the season.
Thank you, James, for leading this incredible educational tour of the farm. For more information on Cape Abilities, you can visit their main website: Cape Abilities, or their farm website: Organic & Local – Food, Flowers, Gifts | Cape Abilities Farm.
Pictures by Halley Steinmetz, HCT Outreach & Administrative Coordinator
