Workday Recap: November 2020

It was a beautiful day to be at the garden!

Our main focus was harvesting! We had a lot to harvest! Now is the time to remove any of your summer crops—we anticipate a freeze sometime soon, and the cold temperatures will zap your plant and turn your harvest into inedible jelly. Remember you can donate whatever you don’t need — area food banks really need the help!

Check out the mega squash! 23 pounds! Wow!

We had a bountiful harvest from just community plots and the gardeners who were able to attend. Thank you!

Our cabbage and broccoli crops are loving the cool weather.

Now is a good time to plant cover crops like black-eyed peas or plan for winter crops. Make sure to turn your soil and add compost.

We also worked hard on mulching our paths. It’s a constant effort but helps keep our garden tidy!

Volunteers help with harvest and mulching paths

Please remember to DRAIN your water tower and disconnect the hoses. When we get a freeze, any connected hoses on these towers will burst, ruining the tower. We put a lot of work into these this year — help us keep them around!

Disconnect and drain your water tower

Please also be mindful of hoses and faucets as it gets cold. Do water your plants — just be sure to help us maintain our water system!

Disconnect faucets and hoses to prevent freeze damage

We will select new plots in January, so plan ahead now! Please continue to follow safe covid guidelines. We are currently planning to meet outdoors December 12. Please wear a mask and dress for the cool weather.

Thanks to Mike for our first Garden Wine, created with Grow & Share grapes!

Good Garden News

Our garden was the focus on a “good news” piece by the Synod of the Sun, the regional Presbyterian leadership organization.

Congrats on our celebrity! Way to grow, gardeners!

Read the article: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Good-News-Stories—Grow-and-Share.html?soid=1113711098704&aid=itwuuEnazsU

Garden Workday & Harvest Celebration

Join us for our garden workday, Saturday, November, 14th from 9-11 AM. We will harvest the last of the summer crops, and talk about our fall and winter gardening…Then join us Saturday evening for a bonfire Harvest Celebration from 6:30-8:00 PM. We will have samples of our “homegrown” Spanish grape wine, s’mores, and more. Bring a chair, some garden recipes, and any family or friends. See you around the campfire!

Harvest Celebration

Celebrate your year at the garden!

Saturday, November 14th

6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

Join us in the garden for a Harvest Celebration! We will mark a successful gardening season with an outdoor bonfire and s’mores.

Please bring a guest, your chair, your drink, and your mask for this socially distanced, outdoor event. Bring six copies of your favorite garden recipe to share with your fellow gardeners in our recipe swap. How did you prepare all that okra?

Come sit and relax fireside after our Saturday workday (in the evening). Enjoy a crisp Autumn night as we discuss the harvest year we are completing and develop plans for the Grow and Share Garden in 2021. Plan to share your best garden stories. Tell us about your favorite crop. What was a success and what was your biggest failure? We hope you will be able to join us!

Remember, we will assign garden plots on Saturday, January 9, so this is a good time to plan ahead with your fellow gardeners!

Workday Recap: Oct. 2020

The garden was lush, the weather was great, and everyone was happy to be at the garden!

We focused on harvesting: sweet potatoes and leaves, eggplant, okra, and more! Thank goodness we had the YMSL volunteers: we had a lot to do!

A sea of sweet potato vines

Even before our HUGE harvest today, we had donated 2,100 pounds to local food banks. We’ve had an incredible year!

Massive donations!

Best bets right now are switching over to our winter crops. If your summer crops are looking sickly, give up on them now to make room for our winter cole crops. Keep harvesting okra!

Tool time

A moment for tools: be sure you use the new sprayers correctly—turn the water on and off using the blue metal poles (not at the hose), and use the gasket when adjusting the water. Avoid changing the setting while spraying!

As frost season approaches, be sure to turn off the water AND remove the sprayer to avoid ice damage.

Gardening brings us together

In many ways, a garden workday is more important to us right now. Many of us have cleared schedules and nowhere to go. We don’t get to see anyone’s smiles or chitchat in the office. While we still require masks for safety, the garden gives us an opportunity to see others, to move our bodies, and feel the sunshine. And we get to do all that while helping others.

Thank you for the help, YMSL!

Thank you, gardeners. Our next workday is November 14 at 9. We will be there, whatever the weather!

Digging for sweet treasure this Saturday!

Join us for our next Garden Workday

Digging for treasure.

Join us this Saturday October 10th, as we dig for buried treasures! We will meet from 9-11 am for our next Garden Workday…activities include harvesting sweet potatoes, planting fall crops, and discussing upcoming activities!

Garden Water: Tapped Out!

NOTICE: the leaks in the garden have gotten more severe. We will be turning the water to the garden on and off, to try to reduce the flood. If you go to the garden and the water is turned off, please return at another time. The water will be on intermittently as we work to quickly repair our leak(s). Now is a good time to use your water tower!

Use your water tower to passively water your plot while we repair our faucets.

Special thanks to Bill, Daryl, and Scott for bravely accepting the water repair challenge!

Thank you gardeners for your patience!

Workday Recap: Sept. 2020

Finally a cool morning! It felt great to be in the garden, and we had lots to do!

The garden is looking great! Please do not trim the grapevine; it needs the space!

The garden is lush with our summer sunshine and rain. Our first focus was harvest! So far this year, we have donated 1,800 pounds of produce to area food banks! (And that doesn’t include our melon harvest at the workday!)

We had a large group at the garden

We had a large group of volunteers, so we divided into groups. We had a brave group of compost-carers, water-tower construction crew, and a herd of “buffalo” in our wildflower prairie.

“Buffalo” hard at work in Parr’s Prairie

Our wildflower patch supports native wildflowers, which would have been trampled by herds of buffalo before we all moved in. To replicate the buffalo, gardeners grabbed hoes and shovels to break up the soil. These “hoof prints” make a great place for the wildflower seeds to germinate. The bees appreciate the efforts!

New water towers are “on the level” thanks to our efforts!

We are working to add new water towers to each plot. Remember, a water tower is not a replacement for regular watering; they help even out the water and keep our soil moist even on hot days. Additionally, some of our water spigots are leaking. We are aware and will make time to repair them all at once; unfortunately the repairs will be a challenge and will require shutting off all water to the garden, so please be patient and avoid using the damaged faucets for now.

Thank you to the hardworking compost crew!

Now is the time to plant “cole crops,” such as cabbage, kale, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. It’s nearly time to harvest summer crops like black-eyed peas and basil. If you were able to keep your tomatoes alive this summer, look for a fall harvest soon. Keep harvesting okra! Remember, okra is the only crop that we can help our neighbor gardeners harvest—some will be ready to pick every day!

Pull up diseased and damaged crops, or to make room for new cole crops

Our next workday will be Oct. 10, 9-11 a.m. See you there, and happy harvesting!

See you at the next workday!

Ode to a Community Garden

Ahhh…Cool at last!

Beautiful cool weather is predicted for our upcoming garden workday, this Saturday, September 12th, from 8-10. Join us as we work to place the bases to our water towers, swap seeds, plant wildflowers, and discuss fall crops.