Welcome to 2012

Welcome to the 2012 growing season!

Plans are underway to get the garden up and running for this summer and we are very excited.  This year we are expecting to have even more families growing in plots and are very excited to announce our partnership with Ophelia's Place and Cafe 407.

Check out this article that appeared in today's newspaper: Cafe @ 407, Community Growth Project team up to bring local produce to the menu.

We will be having an informational meeting for anyone interested in the garden and this new partnership at Cafe @407 on Tuesday, May 1st at 5:00pm.  Spread the word to your family and friends, then come out for some great coffee and conversation!

Corn, Lettuce, and Swiss Chard ready to share!

Hi everyone,

The bigger portion of our community garden is ready to start harvesting.  The items on this side are for everyone to share so please help yourself (but be sure to leave some for others!).  The first round of sweet corn should be ready any day now as well as the popcorn so be sure to check for some next time you’re there.  The corn that is shorter is the regular sweet corn and the taller variety is popcorn.

There is also some green lettuce and swiss chard ready if anyone is interested in those.  The lettuce is near the Sparks’ plot and the swiss chard is hiding in between some of the younger corn and the sunflowers.

I made a diagram so you all know what’s what.  Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or aren’t sure about anything.

Hope you’re all enjoying your harvest!

Things are Growing!

Hi everyone,

I know I haven't posted here in a while, but I was at the garden watering this morning and snapped a few photos that I thought would be fun to share.

On our community side, the corn is getting high and the potatoes are looking good.  I'm not sure we'll get any berries this year, but the strawberry flowers are pretty!  There's also a row of lettuce and swiss chard coming up.  Right now, it looks like the lady bugs are enjoying the chard, but in a few weeks it should be ready to harvest for anyone interested in trying it.  Also, the sunflowers along the fence are about four feet high and almost ready to bloom!

Everybody's individual plots are looking great too!  Erin and Greg have the cutest little watermelon as well as a delicious smelling basil plant growing strong in their plot. 

 

While I would normally make a joke about the baseball sized zucchini's growing in the Sparks' plot, I noticed that they also have the biggest green pepper growing in their plot. 

Kevin and Sarah have some amazing looking tomatoes and I was especially excited to see their first tomatillo growing today!

The Edgars and the Browns are looking good too.  I'm amazed at how green everything is despite this recent heat wave!

Although everything is getting to be huge, the Mauro's corn is winning the race.  It's taller than I am now!

And finally, Katie and I picked our first spaghetti squash today.  We've had so much zucchini lately, it's nice to have something new!

Okay everyone, now that we're harvesting some different things now, let's share some recipes!  What are you cooking with your produce this weekend???

I'm planning on trying this vegetarian lasagna that uses strips of zucchini in place of noodles!

Pictures

We have about four or five plots still available if anyone is interested but hasn't paid yet.  Just let us know.  If you have paid, feel free to head on down to the garden and get started!

Here's some pictures from our work days this past weekend.  Thanks again for everyone who helped!

 

The Garden is Open!

A big thank you to everyone who helped out this weekend! Sarah F., the Brown family, the Sparks family, Chris C, Pastor Art, and (of course) our wonderful husbands Ryan and Levi. The fence is up, the pathways are mulched, the water system is in place, and the plots are staked out.

Once you've paid for a plot, feel free to head down, pick a plot, and START PLANTING!!!

Call or email with any questions and check back later today for some pictures of all the work we did this weekend.

Happy Memorial Day!
- Jen and Katie

Almost time to plant - sign up for your plot this week!

Hi everyone – our garden plans are underway!

We are hoping to collect the rest of the money for garden plots this week so we can purchase some fencing. If you have already paid…thanks!  If you are still interested in a plot but have not yet paid please get that into either Katie or myself by this Sunday (we’ll have a table set up in the foyer).

We are also planning a few workdays to get us ready for the planting season.  We’d love to get as many people involved in this as possible.  We scheduled two times to help accommodate people’s schedules. 

            On Thursday, May 26^th we will be staking out the individual plots and starting to put up some fencing.

            On Friday, May 27^th we will be mulching the pathways between the plots and finishing up the fence.

Plan on helping out at the garden site anytime between 4:00 and 6:00 on those days.  Then Saturday, May 28^th is the official GRAND OPENING of the garden.  Feel free to start planting and tending to your garden anytime after the 28^th.

We will be installing 4 ft. snow fencing around the perimeter of the garden to keep the deer out.  I’ve been informed that rabbits and other small critters can chew through that fencing.  We’re planning on spraying the fence with a Tabasco sauce mixture to try and deter them.  The individual plots will be marked off with twine.  If you are concerned about smaller animals, you are more than welcome to purchase and install 1 or 2 ft high chicken wire fencing around your individual plots. Since this is the first year we’re gardening at the site, I’m not sure how much trouble we should expect from critters.

Also, keep in mind, we are trying to maintain an organic garden, which means not using chemical fertilizers and pest control methods.  We are putting together a list of approved and non-approved products that can be used in the garden.  If you have particular products that you are interested in, feel free to contact us and we’ll look into it for you.

As always, feel free to contact us if you have any questions!

-       Jen (magnusonjd@gmail.com 603-508-7149) & Katie (katieholland07@gmail.com 585-506-6196) 

Reserve your plot by 4/30!

For those of you who have not seen the garden space yet...here it is!!!

We had about 50ft x 300ft of the land tilled in the fall and are planning on tilling again this month (as soon as we get some fertilizer spread).  A big thanks to October Rose Farm and Daniluck Farm and Stables for donating composted chicken and horse manure to use as natural fertilizers.  Katie and I tested the soil this week and are very happy with the results.  The soil's pH level is right around 6.0 and the fertility estimate is high!  We've also seen plenty of worms working in the soil which is always a good sign.

One of our concerns at this point is maintaining an sufficient water source.  There is a small pond a few yards away from the garden site.  We're looking into testing the quality of the water and finding out if it is a sustainable source of water for us.  We'd also like to get a few rain barrels to add to our water supply.  Does anyone know of a place that might donate a barrel or two to the garden project?

In other news, we are planning on holding a work day to get things started for the season.  Mark you calendars for April 16th around 1:00.  Our plans for this day include bringing in trucks with the manure, getting started on the fence, and building a compost bin out of the pallets donated by Green Planet Grocery (thanks Kevin!).  If you're interested in seeing the garden or have time to lend a hand feel free to stop by.

Also, I wanted to pass along this great resource that Sarah shared:

hey hey everyone! Getting uber pumped for the growing season. Here is a handy tool that lets you plan out your plot, see what families of plants are good to rotate together, get all the info you need on individual veggies and fruits and see the growing cycle for all in a handy chart. It comes with a free thirty day trial!

Check out the site here: Interactive Vegetable Garden Planner

And finally, don't forget to contact Katie (katieholland07@gmail.com) or me (magnusonjd@gmail.com) to reserve your plot soon!  We asking for a one-time donation of $25 for a 10ft x 10ft plot for the summer.  Our season will run from Memorial Day to Halloween so there's plenty of time to grow a variety of plants.

• If you think you'll need more space than that we can combine two plots into one for $45.
• If you think you'll need less than 10ft x 10ft let us know and we'll try to work something out for you too! 
• We've had several people already request a plot so email us soon to reserve your spot before we run out of space!

Hope to hear from you soon!