IN THE GARDEN, Week of August 21st

We've been busy weeding, pea-staking perennials, transplanting baby kale, mulching, collecting harlequin bugs in a jar of soapy water, harvesting and donating lots of vegetables.  I spotted a few more of those strange mushrooms and finally got a good picture of them (below).  Here, one is shown with its white spores which are soft and look a bit like little eggs. 

This week we've harvested over 51 pounds of tomatoes, butternut squash, leeks, red onions, beets, okra, green onions, kale, jalapenos, hot peppers, rhubarb and lots of herbs, such as basil, sage, thyme, chives and mint. So far this summer, we've harvested and donated 412 pounds of produce to the local and regional food banks!

IN THE GARDEN, Week of August 14th

This week, we harvested and donated over 56 pounds of veggies!  This included butternut squash, zucchini, rhubarb, 2 kinds of kale, okra, leeks, peppers, herbs, and LOTS of tomatoes despite many being split by the torrential rainstorms as of late.

Work included preparing the former potato beds with more compost and transplanting baby kale (pictured above).  After watering the new transplants, we watered them and mulched around them with grass clippings to reduce weeds. It was exciting to see new growth where seeds were planted just a week and a half ago (pictured below).

We uncovered lots of grubs and smooshed them to reduce the future numbers of Japanese Beetles.  Also dug up some interesting mushrooms (still working on a good picture), that are about 4 inches long and stick up straight out of the ground.  They are red/yellow/orange in color.  The white spores, pictured below, hide just beneath the soil around the mushroom.

IN THE GARDEN, Week of August 7th

VOLUNTEER DAY
This week we held a volunteer day on Saturday, August 13th.  The crew worked hard in the garden and did a great job!  Thank you for all of your time and effort!  While digging up and harvesting the purple potatoes, one of our volunteers uncovered a large toad hiding under the ground!  We also spotted a baby bunny which the kids just loved!  Some of the volunteers worked on laying a fresh layer of newspapers and wood chips on the weeded pathways throughout the garden, while others worked on weeding and harvesting.

This week, we also removed the fading broccoli plants, cleaned out and prepared the beds, and planted lots of new seeds to sow next year.  We also did some pea-staking of pepper plants and some flowering perennials. 

THE HARVEST
We had over a whopping 60 pounds of vegetables to harvest and donate this week!  Lots of tomatoes, green onions, purple potatoes (above), peppers, zucchini, rhubarb, kale, okra, cabbage, leeks, basil and rosemary.

PESTS IN THE GARDEN

Well, it seems we have an unwanted pest in the garden:  the harlequin bug, Murgantia histrionica (adult with eggs, pictured above, courtesy of The Kemper Center for Home Gardening).  Even though they cause damage to blackberry, cabbage & other members of the mustard family, corn, tomato, eggplant, bean, soybean, and trees such as apple, peach, pecan, and cherry, they are concentrated on our kale plants.  So today I walked through the garden with a cup of soapy water and captured quite a few (see below).  Here is the jar of soapy water that I put the bugs in once I plucked them off the plants.

IN THE GARDEN, Week of July 31st

It's exciting to see the flowers on the butternut squash come to life as they begin to bear fruit (top left).  The okra is doing well too and it's interesting to see the lovely flowers it bears since it's in the hibiscus family (above center).  Cherry tomatoes (pictured below) are in abundance as well.  We even had a couple of cute kholrabi (middle below).  The hot peppers are multiplying exponentially too!  They are well adept at hiding amongst the foliage of the pepper plants.  We're still harvesting some kale, rhubarb and beets too.  Check out the cheery sunflowers in the garden (bottom photo)!

This week, we've been busy with the usual work in the garden:  harvesting & donating produce, weeding, deadheading, watering, mulching, etc.  We also had to add additional stakes to a couple of the asparagus beds that were becoming unwieldy.  Some strong yarn was tied to the stakes and wrapped around the asparagus for extra support.

We harvested over 30 pounds of veggies for the local and regional food banks this week!

We're hoping for a great turn-out for the upcoming volunteer day on Saturday August 13.  Please lend us a hand if you can, anytime from 9 am to noon. We appreciate all of your efforts!