Update: End of June

New post over on our Facebook page with pictures and an update.

Deer fence and gate are up

With some great volunteer help, we got a ton of work done this afternoon, including putting up trellises for the tomatoes and beans and getting the water tank up and running. The biggest improvement is the addition of the deer fence. It consists of an outer ring of fishing line, which runs at three different heights. The inner ring is a twine rope about 3 feet off the ground. This post from last year explains the reasoning behind it. We didn't have any deer damage after it went up so we're trying it again.

To enter the garden, you will now need to use the gate. One side is a metal post, the other is a wooden post. The wooden post is anchored to a metal post with two pieces of twine. Lift the twine loop off the top and untie the twine at the bottom. You can then lay the gate down on the ground to enter the garden. The string that makes up the inner ring ring can also be lifted up in the section right in from of the gate. Each end is a loop, so just lift one off.

Please make sure you put the twine and gate back up before you leave. Also, use caution in walking around the garden, it is getting more crowded and you will need to keep an eye out for the fence.

Here are the latest pictures:

This one shows the fence. There are blue flags tied to the fishing line to draw your attention to it.

This shows the community side of the garden. The trellises are in and everything is mulched.

This is the individual/family side of the garden. After this Friday, it should all be filled in.

Harvest report: 9/4

It was another great haul this weekend. This harvest was shared with the Johnstown-Northridge Food Pantry. There are still a few tomatoes to come as well as lots more beans and some peppers. Aphids have finished off the cucumbers and all of the summer squash succumbed to squash vine borer, but we did pick more than in previous summers.

There is still a lot to do in the garden, so please take some time to come out this Sunday night between 6 and 8pm to help us work. Your help is really needed.

Sunday recap (8/21)

We had a group of helpers from New Albany United Methodist come over to help, and we were able to get a lot done. We picked our largest harvest yet, including: two types of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and several types of beans. We also weeded and fertilized, and the garden is looking better than it has in weeks. The volunteers had just returned from a mission trip to Jamaica where for part of the time they worked on an organic farm. The farm trains people in organic methods and hopes to send several to school to become inspectors for other organic farms. I'm sure there is much we could learn from them and NAUMC hops to have one of the people from the organization visit in the near future.

This harvest will be shared as part of the Back-to-School Kick-off to be held at the Westerville Estates Clubhouse this Tuesday night beginning at 5pm. More info here.

Updates: harvest and more

Last week we had a nice enough harvest to make our first drop at the Johnstown/Northridge Food Pantry, and the beans, cucumbers, and squash are still coming in.

Also, I noticed that some helpful people have been out in the garden weeding and doing other work (including adding another level to the pole bean trellis.) Great work!

I saw this cross out in the patch that one of our volunteers has and thought it looked pretty nice. Turns out, it is the frame for a scarecrow. I'll post some pictures of it soon.

We had the kids from the summer program over for a day in the garden and a vegetarian lunch. More details on that later, too.

We'll meet again next Sunday night for more work. If you can't make it, come by any time and pull some weeds.

First harvest 2011: It's on

It wasn't the biggest haul of vegetables, a handful of beans and this nice summer squash, but it's a sign that our hard work has paid off. We'll pick more this Sunday and next week. By the end of next week, we should have enough beans and squash to make a drop at one of the food pantries.

Sunday work recap (7/17): Trellises are up

It was so hot in the garden that I waited about an hour to head out and work. The evening actually turned out pretty nice and I was able to get a lot done. In particular, I set up two trellises: one for the pole beans and one for some tomatoes that didn't have cages. They went in very easily and I think they will be something we can use for years to come. I got the idea for it here, if anyone else wants to try it. I used some fence posts we had laying around instead of bamboo poles and twine for the beans to climb. I'll add another couple layers later.

It made me think about how much I've learned working in the garden. I really didn't know anything about gardening when I started (and still don't know very much). But by trying things, and learning what works, I've made a lot of progress. For anyone who is interested in trying their own hand at it, this should give you hope. It doesn't take know-how, just a willingness to try.

Sunday work recap (7/10)

Some of the children in the Souled Out youth group came out to help weed the garden. I stayed to mulch the peppers, fix some broken fishing line, fertilize, and spray Liquid Fence. There are some blossoms on the beans and squash and some green tomatoes are already on the plants. We'll be harvesting in no time, so stay tuned.

What we need to do this week (7/4)

The most pressing issue at the moment is weeding. The mulch is doing a great job in most of the garden, but the peppers really need help. At this point the grass is encroaching and we need to put down some newspaper underneath the edges of the hay. You can see this in the picture below.

You are welcome to come out any time and lend a hand. Just be sure to use the gate so you don't get caught in the fence. I've added another bundle of newspapers to the blue bin by the front door of the church that you are welcome to use.

In case you didn't know, the church installed a new playground this spring, so feel free to bring along the kids.

There is a work night scheduled for Thursday, but I won't be there. (I will be back for the Sunday night session.) But, again, you are welcome to come out anytime.

Sunday work recap (7/3)

It was a beautiful evening in the garden and I was able to get a lot done. I finished the fishing-line deer fence, mulched the beans with newspaper, and fertilized and applied Liquid Fence.

Some of the plants are looking really good. The tomatoes that were planted in compost are doing really great and there are some blossoms already.

 Someone came out during the week and did some great work mulching the tomatoes and squash with newspaper. Even this small amount of help really makes a big difference.

Work for this week (Thurs. and Sat.)

It's nice to see the buckwheat starting to sprout. We added it as a ground cover around the perimeter of the garden.

Here are the things we'll be working on the in garden. If you can't make it either of the nights, you are always welcome to come out on your own time to work as you please.

Thursday (6/23, 6pm):
I won't be out Thursday, but there are many things that we still hope to get done. The tomatoes and peppers are pretty well mulched with straw, but the beans need more mulch and mulch could also be better applied to fill in some of the space between the weed barrier and the plants. There is already grass sprouting up around many of the plants, so some judicious hoeing would really help. I've used up the straw that I brought and I have not heard of any donations, so you might need to bring a bale if you want to help. I'll post an update if anything changes.

Sunday (6/26, 6pm):

We'll be applying the fishing line to the deer fence, fertilizing, and adding black plastic to cover some of the parts of the garden we didn't use, including the parts of the rows that we didn't plant.

Our raspberries are really struggling so if anyone has any knowledge about growing them, it would be greatly appreciated.

Sunday work recap

To say the garden was muddy would be an understatement (note the boots below), but we were still able to get a lot of work done. Here's what we did:

• laid out weed control fabric
• planted a ring of buckwheat for groundcover
• put up the first of two deer fences
• added flower seeds (nasturtium and sunflowers)
• reapplied Liquid Fence deer repellant

Most of the seeds have sprouted, too, which is very exciting to see. Even with all of that done, there is still a lot to accomplish this Thursday. In particular, we need to add straw between the weed cover and add more straw to create a couple of paths at the ends of the garden. We'll also need to set up the 8' posts for the bean trellis and the outer deer fence. So if you do have even a little time on Thursday, we really hope you'll come out. I'll be there at 6pm but have to leave for a little bit for choir practice before I return.

Replanting the garden

For the first time we suffered some serious damage from deer. They ate most of the seedlings that were planted this Sat. Some hardy volunteers came out tonight to not only replant what was lost, but plant even more. They also worked to put in place some deer deterrents until we can work on a more permanent solution.

We've been fortunate to have some great volunteers who are willing to share not only their time, but also their expertise. Here is some advice on planting tomatoes and peppers from one of our garden mavens:

"Tomatoes and some peppers will form additional roots on their stem if the stem touches soil. So, if you have a leggy tomato seedling (which most are, by this time of year), the recommendation is to remove all but the top 3 or 4 branches/leaves and plant the tomato sideways in a trench with just the top 3 or 4 leaves above ground. This eventually gives the plant more root to gather nutrients and moisture.

Since 3 Sisters is so dry and the weather is so hot, I adjusted this technique and planted not only the rootball, but the first 6 to 9 inches of stem down into the ground. This got the rootball down into an area that still held some moisture and was cooler on the 90+ degree days.

The picture is of a couple of the tomato seedlings that we had to pull up because the deer had eaten them. Even only 3 days after being planted, you can see that roots are starting to form on the stem. The rootball has also started to loosen up and send out roots in all directions."

In the ground and underway

Thank you so much to everyone who showed up on Sat. to help get the garden planted. It has taken a lot of work and planning to get to this point, and your help is truly appreciated.

What do we have to look forward to?

• tomatoes
• peppers
• pole and bush beans
• butternut squash
• summer squash
• cucumber

Also, we had some ingenious volunteers work on the pump to get it to work without overheating and shutting down.

We'll start our regular schedule of maintenance next Sunday. After that, we'll have group work times Sunday and Thursday evenings. Volunteers are also welcome to come out at other times to help with things.

This Sunday we'll be finishing off planting some flowers, doing some more mulching, and laying down weed barrier.

First harvest: Peas and lettuce

The peas are ready to pick as is the lettuce. Some of the lettuce was used for the meal that is served as part of Wide Open, a worship service and dinner that is ministered by Galena United Methodist at Westerville Estates. The youth group, Souled Out, at Church of the Saviour will pick the peas and the rest of the lettuce to eat as part of their Sunday night meetings. Hopefully the rest of the garden will turn out this nice. It is a great way to start the summer.

Rock and roll

Tonight we had some outstanding help from the youth group to gather rocks around the garden. The rocks will be used to hold down plastic tarps we hope will keep the weeds in check. Picking rocks was actually a lot more fun than it sounds. We found lots of wild strawberries and blackberry bushes we will return to later this summer.

(Pictured: the only two helpers who were brave enough to be pictured.)

Shoots and leaves!*

The peas and lettuce are up. We've also moved the water tank and set it up to collect rain water. It was completely full by last Sunday and sure didn't need any more of the rain we got this week. Photos soon.




*Bad joke referenced in the title:
A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons.

'Why?' asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

'Well, I'm a panda,' he says, at the door. 'Look it up.'

The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. 'Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.'

Peas and lettuce in the ground

While I've been working behind the scenes to get the new pump for the water system, a couple of our great volunteers have started a patch of peas and lettuce. The patch is planted in an area that was heavily composted last year to see how soil improvements would affect the plants. They have also added black plastic to stop the weeds, more compost, and some protection from the deer. We've been fortunate in avoiding problems the last two years, but some deer tracks were seen while they were planting. Can't wait to see how it goes.

Important group work session: Thursday, 22 July 6:30pm

Well, this morning's group session turned into a solo session. I was able to get a lot done, but there is still much to do. The session planned for Thursday is important to get the garden ready for harvesting. We have already lost some areas to weeds, and if we can't get the weeding done this week, we'll lose some more.

If you aren't able to make it on Thursday night, I encourage you to come out on your own during the week. I'll post some details at the bottom on what needs to be done. With a few people helping out, the work should not take long at all.

First I mowed down weeds around the tomatoes, peppers, squash, and melon. Then I hand weeded the squash and pumpkins which are doing really well. I also hand weeded the peppers which are small, but are still coming along.

Next I laid down black cloth around the peppers and squash to suppress further weed growth.

What still needs to be done (in order of priority):

1) Hand weed the melons, tomatoes, and beans. This would be easy to work on if you just have an hour some time during the week and want to come out on your own. The melons are in a short row just north of the squash (visible in the left hand side of the first picture.) The tomatoes are in two rows (seen in the picture below). The beans are in one long row and one short row just north of the family and individual plots. These are in serious need of weeding. I believe there are parts of these rows that have not been weeded since they were planted.

2) Lay down more black plastic around the tomatoes and melons. We'll work on this Thursday night.

3) Add more twine to the tomato trellises and time the rest of the tomatoes higher up on the stakes.

3) Start weeding around the two new rows of corn. This time the corn has germinated nicely. By picking up the drip tape and moving it out of the way, it should be easy to hoe the two rows to keep the weeds down. The soil was just tilled and the weeds are starting to creep back in.

4) Weed the raspberries and put up the trellis wires. Also, secure the grape vine to the metal posts.

Once all of this work is done, we can start worrying about how we will schedule picking the vegetables.

Garden updates

I'm behind in posting pictures from the garden. These are from a group work night a couple of weeks ago. The garden is really coming along.

We have had some really great help in several areas. We had some new friends of the garden come out to trellis up the remaining tomatoes and another volunteer tilled under a large section of the garden so we could replant corn.

We have also had a neighbor volunteer to water the garden as needed.

We still need lots of help weeding and soon we'll be picking vegetables.