Beautiful Day

The sun was shining; a warm breeze rustled the leaves...garlic and strawberries are planted for next season. Leaves have been raked and moved into one of the greenhouses to start a leaf compost for the winter. We would still like to plant some winter rye, carrots and cone flowers. With weather permitting, we will meet again next Tuesday at 4:30pm. Has anyone seen our sign? It has disappeared.

Sunshine?

Looks like the weather will be clearing up this week. The sunshine has given us time to prepare the garden for the next season. Please join us in the garden this Tuesday at 4:30pm. Bring rakes,shovels and clippers with you. Tons of leaves are falling that can be used to create a beautiful leaf mulch. I also have strawberries and garlic to plant. The garden could use a winter cover crop..if anyone has seeds for green manure, we can take this time to plant them. Enjoy!

Beautiful Herbs

The herbs in the garden are beautiful. They are great plants to have in a community garden; perennials, sun loving, heat resistant, with good ground cover(straw, compost, leaves, etc) regular water is not necessary. The cool wet summer has really boosted the herbs in our garden. We have had a great season for basil, rosemary, lavender, spearmint, chocolate mint, thyme, oregano, marjoram, and flat leaf parsley. In the next couple of weeks the perennial herbs will be split and annuals potted. We would love to keep pots of herbs in the greenhouses over the winter. Can't wait to plant the herbs and perennial plants in the new garden at Indianola Informal School at Crestview. Our garden will then grow from one to two locations!

School Starts August 26th!

Columbus Public Schools start for the fall on August 26th. The students at Indianola Informal School K-8 will be starting school in a new location at the Crestview building on Weber Rd. A new chance for a new gardens. The garden at Everett will be kept up throughout the fall and hopefully into the winter. Another student body is not scheduled to use the building until 2012 and until then we have permission to continue to garden on the front lawn. The possibilities are endless for education and experimentation.

We continue to garden at Everett on Monday evenings at 7pm. Currently fall and winter veggies are being planted, summer tomatoes harvested and the greenhouses are being secured for the winter with the goal to plant lettuce and some cool weather crops. Students from Indianola will have the chance to field trip to Everett to work in that garden.

At Crestview, we have the opportunity to assist the students in planning the gardens for the spring. This will include measuring the sun, water and soil conditions; creating actual garden designs choosing plants accordingly. This will enable a program to become teacher/student initiated and support what is being taught in the classroom.

For more information or you would like to get involved email us at evtgarden@yahoo.com.

Meet us in the Garden

Come work in the garden on Monday, July 19th at 7pm. Monday night plants will be moved, new compost piles built and tomatoes re staked. Please bring shovels, twine and gloves. The plants look beautiful and the rain has kept them well watered.

On August 8th our garden will be on the Gears and Garden tour for the American Community Garden Conference. It is really an exciting opportunity to share the joy of the garden.

Last Monday, compost was placed over the existing beds at the garden and on the three new beds that were plowed a couple of weeks ago. The new beds will be shaped on Tuesday and then fall veggies will be planted for the students.

Thanks for all the good work!

Garden meeting, July 6th.

Just a reminder that we will meet on Monday evening at 7pm in the garden. With the rain, the beds look great and veggies are growing. This week will consist of lawn clean up, trimming and weeding. Please bring tools to trim the Rose of Sharon, weed around the greenhouses and shovels.

A free donation of compost has become available! It can be picked up on Mondays. We are just in need of a truck and a few volunteers to pick up the compost. Please email the garden at evtgarden@yahoo.com if you would like to help. The goal is to pick it up on Monday, July 13th and unload it that day/night in the garden.

Thanks to our farmers, the three beds have been tilled in the front lawn of Everett. The next step is to add compost, then shape the beds, and fill with fall veggies. These vegetables will be grown with the specific intention to serve to the students at Indianola Alternative School.

June 15th

All of the plants look beautiful and the straw is keeping the weeds at bay. The soil quality is reflected in the plant growth. The sections of the garden beds where green manure was planted over the winter has really beautiful soil; other parts of the garden beds, not so much! The front lawn was tilled then fertilizer was added to prepare the soil for raised beds.

Monday, June 22nd at 5pm compost will be added to the tilled soil. Later that evening the beds will be shaped and ready for veggies! What an amazing process. Needless to say, volunteers are needed to help spread compost. Bring shovels, wheel barrels, and gloves. These beds will be producing a lot of veggies that can be passed on to students in the fall. Students from Indianola Informal School will also have the opportunity to visit the garden and pick their own snacks.

Good Work!