A Gardener's Retreat

Not too many people showed up for the July workdays which was unsurprising given the weather.  Dora reported that no one was around for Thursday morning while on Sunday afternoon, there were four of us.  Not a problem.  We had fun.

Dora and Chris whacked grass with scythes, clearing walkways all around the right side of the garden and some of the front.  I did not do community sports but weeded our own plot of endless tiny grasslets.

Chris took pictures and we admired everyone’s gardens.

Birds sang, Tom showed up and we chatted for a bit, then we harvested a few things and went home.  Very quiet, peaceful and pleasant.

See you next time!

The garden looking scenic

Beans and a blue sky

Members met out at the garden on June 24 to kibbitz, compare notes, and talk about garden matters. Among our accomplishments, we narrowed down the list of possible garden names and decided to request votes by July 10. We also set garden workdays for July and a July meeting date. Read on for the straight dope:

Voting On A Garden Name

The group narrowed down the list of names to four possible choices that most people were amenable to. Those names are:

• Horse & Goose Community Garden
• Community Garden At Upper Dummerston Road
• Green Meadows Community Garden
• Green Goose Community Garden

Workdays and Meetings

The group also decided on dates for next work days and garden meeting.

July 8, 2009 – 9-11 AM – Workday

July 12, 2009 - 1-3 PM – Workday

July 22, 2009 – 5:30 PM Meet and Greet, 6:00 PM Meeting

According to Dora, the biggest maintenance issue right now is grass which is growing everywhere with great vigor. There will be need of weeding in the perennial plot. And Carole wants to put in a cutting garden in Plot 1 by the water barrels so she’ll need help clearing that bed. (Carole rec’d a plant donation from Walker Farm on behalf of the garden.)

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Attending the meeting were Dora, Nancy, Lise, Francis, Chris, and Heather.

Come one, come all, to one of two garden workdays scheduled at the community garden for the month of June.  This is a great way to work off your hour a month chore duty while enjoying the camaraderie of your fellow gardeners.  The June workdays are scheduled for the following dates:

• Sunday, June 14, 2009 – 3:00 – 6:00 pm
• Thursday, June 18, 2009 – 9:00 – 12:00 noon

Be there or be square (I’ve got all the clichés today)…But really, last time it was fun.

Assorted short and tall members of the community garden assembled for another “workday” on April 30 to put up the deer fence. Fortunately, the call for tall gardeners was heeded and there were plenty of people of sufficient height to staple deer fencing to the poles. Work commenced at 4pm and was finished by shortly after 5. Which was good because just about then it started to rain.

There were so many gardeners on hand that some of us were freed up to do other things. Dora and Carole enlarged the rhubarb plot and transplanted two healthy specimens from an empty plot. The new rhubarbs are huge so hopefully they’ll like being with the others in their new location.

Joe got out his trusty human-powered push mower and mowed more of the perimeter. We expect to get a lawn mower this season so gardeners will be able to mow whenever the mood strikes them.

Over in the herb garden, me and new gardener Ian weeded out grass. We found that grass likes to throw out roots close to the surface making it relatively easy to weed. That said, we only managed to clear about 15 square feet of garden so the project will continue. New plants are welcome but respect old plants. Hopefully, the weeding process will make it more apparent where the old plants are.

So there you have it. A lot of work was accomplished in a short time, and everyone seemed to enjoy the camaraderie of being there, working together toward a common goal. Meanwhile, the garden is the better for it.

The Community Gardens had their first workday on April 26 to start putting up the deer fence.  About six people were on hand to do the actual work of digging the holes and putting up the fence posts.  By noon, all the fence posts were up and ready for the final task of attaching the mesh fencing.  At our next workday on April 30, we’ll be finishing the deer fence.  Tall people are encouraged to attend for the height-sensitive work of stapling the fencing to the polls.  

Nancy brought lots of seedlings and others brought seedlings and seeds.  There were a variety of vegetables and flowers to sample.

Nancy also spent part of the workday cultivating the center plot (one of the garden common areas) and planting out strawberry plants.  We’ll all enjoy nibbling on those, once they start to bear fruit.

In other good news, Joe and Carol loaned the garden their push mower.  Dora mowed the perimeter of the garden and Chris mowed pathways. A permanent mower for the garden is still on the list.

Dora and Chris contemplate the rhubarb