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.

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.

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.

Caution!: New fence and gate

The title might seem a little dramatic, but I really do encourage caution when approaching the garden. I have put up the first row of fishing line on the outer fence around the garden. The fishing line is very difficult to see until you get very close. The idea is that deer will bump into the fishing line and feel nervous about jumping over. There is also an inner fence with a visible row of twine which creates an optical problem for deer trying to figure out how far to jump. There were lots of deer prints visible last night, so I'm glad to get the fence started.

The only safe way to access the garden is the new gate which is on the the west end of the garden. It is really the old gate that provided access to the pea patch. The right side is a metal fence post and the left side is a wooden post that is attached with two pieces of twine to another metal fence post. To access the garden, simply untie the twine and lay the gate down.

Of course, it is very important to put the gate back up when you are finished. Just use a knot that is easy to untie for the next person. In this case below, I just used a bow knot.

As a bonus, here is a look at the new black plastic to keep the weeds off of the ends of the rows. While no one donated any new straw, I found an old mound of straw and borrowed some to create a little traction for walking on it. There is still a lot of mulching to do, but I'll save that for another post.

Sunday night work update

I worked from 6 until it was dark and was able to get a lot done:

• laid down black plastic over the unplanted ends of the rows
• used newspaper to mulch one of the rows of beans
• put up some of the fishing line fence
• took down the gate from the pea patch and set it up in the deer fence
• fertilized with Milorganite and Miracle Grow (not organic, but at least it's local)
• sprayed another coat of Liquid Fence
• stuffed my face with raspberries

There were some deer prints, so I really wanted to get most of the fence done. There is more to do this week for people who can come out on their own, but I'll post that later.