Saturday, July 30, 2011

IN THE GARDEN, Week of July 24th



This week we've done a lot of harvesting, weeding, pea-staking perennials, cleaning out beds, transplanting new crops, watering new transplants and taking lots of photos of the garden.


THE HARVESTS

For the local food bank, we harvested over 10 lbs of garlic, hot peppers, okra, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, golden & red beets, leeks and kale.  For the regional food bank (Philabundance), we had almost 13 lbs of rhubarb, garlic, leeks, beets, okra, tomatoes and kale. 








Saturday, July 23, 2011

In the Garden, Week of July 17th



This week we transplanted many new food crops into the garden. The new crops included kale, oregano, dill, fennel and broccoli. Hay was laid around the new plants to help keep them moist and deter weeds from popping up.



Other garden work included watering new transplants, weeding, taking inventory of herbs, harvesting and cleaning up older beds to make room for new plants.







PHILABUNDANCE HARVEST


Today we harvested over 30 lbs of veggies and donated them to the region's largest food bank, Philabundance. The harvest included garden fresh cherry tomatoes, kale, okra, golden & red beets, rhubarb, zucchini, broccoli and kolhrabi.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Summer of 2011
















We've been busy in the vegetable garden this summer and it's growing by leaps and bounds!

VOLUNTEER DAY
A couple of Saturdays ago, we held a volunteer day and had a great turnout. Those attending helped weed the garden, add compost to potato plants and harvest some veggies. A special thanks to all those who generously gave of their time and efforts.



THE HARVEST
We've been donating the harvested veggies to the local food bank. On July 5th, we had harvested over 27 pounds of rhubarb, kale, zucchini, green beans, lettuce and parsley. For the July 11th donation, we had almost 41 pounds of cherry tomatoes, broccoli, rhubarb, kale, green beans, zucchini, mint and basil. Today, we harvested almost 29 lbs of red & golden beets, leeks, red onion, hot peppers, cherry tomatoes, kale, rhubarb and zucchini.

GARDEN TASKS
In addition to harvesting many vegetables, we have been transplanting many crops, such as kale, tomatoes and basil into the garden. Holes were dug and stakes were placed around the tomatoes to provide support as they grow big and heavy with ripe fruit. We've done a lot of mulching around plants, many times laying down newspaper and then hay or grass clippings to deter the weeds. We've pulled LOTS of weeds too, most of which go to the compost bin. Some plants, such as artemesia, have been cut down and the cuttings used as mulch.



FUTURE EVENTS
Please come out and join us for the next volunteer day scheduled for Saturday, August 13, from 9 am until noon. We could really use your help! Another upcoming event will take place on Saturday, September 18. from 3 to 6pm. It will be the dedication ceremony of the summer internship program supported by the John Paul Endicott Memorial Fund in memory of a horticulture student at Temple Ambler whose life ended tragically too soon.