New Garden Work!

It is official!  After a year hiatus our garden has officially moved to our new school location in Clintonville.  We are excited about the opportunity to start a new garden and create an Outdoor Learning Lab for the students at Indianola Informal K-8.

Please join us on Tuesday evenings at 7pm for garden maintenance and planning for the upcoming school year.

Garden Planning Meeting

It is official!  We will be meeting Thursday, March 17th at 7pm at Surly Girl to plan the garden at Everett for the next growing season. Bring your ideas and think about installing a Victorian shaped kitchen garden bed in front of the greenhouses.  Sheet composting anyone?

The student body from 5th Ave. Elementary school will be moving to Everett in August.  The school has an international focus.  I had the opportunity to meet some parents and teachers last Thursday.  They are very excited about the opportunity to have a community garden at their school.  Can't wait to work with them.

Greenhouse repair postponed

Due to the rain, the repair on the greenhouse will have to wait until a sunshiny day.  Maybe Friday, maybe next week.  Oh well!

Ahh Sunshine!

The snow is melting around the garden.  Unfortunately, a lot of dogs have been visiting the front lawn.  Please be careful when you walk through the garden.
 
Winter has been good!  The leaf compost is warm and smells incredible, garlic is green and growing, the herbs are starting to stretch their leaves.  Looks like rosemary, chives and parsley will need to be replaced.  The canvas on one of the greenhouses has been torn but looks like it can be repaired.  We will meet next Wednesday at 10:00am to finish the repairs.

This past school year the Everett School building was empty.  Next fall a new group of students from 5th Ave. Elementary School will attend school at Everett.  It is the intention of those involved with the Community Garden to create a beautiful garden for these school children.  One of the designs being considered is a more traditional Victorian Garden using square footage techniques to squeeze as many plants and veggies into the beds.  Coffee bags filled with potatoes will also be growing around the greenhouses. 

As the weather gets warmer dates will be planned to work in the garden.  Please email us at evtgarden@yahoo.com if you have questions or would like to get involved.

January Update

As the wind blows outside and snow is flying through the air, things are growing in the garden.  Green shoots from garlic planted this fall can be found among the herbs and winter rye.  A fresh layer of straw has been added to help moderate the soil temperature.  The greenhouse with the leaf mulch has been repaired;  it was damaged by a local.  Cabbages, brussel spouts, kale, still seem to be growing while the arugula looks frozen.  Thyme, oregano, and sage love the warm brick walls of the building.

This growing season beds will be planted with the intentions of growing more food.  Over the summer a number of "street people" used the garden as a source of nutrition.  When the planting is done, extra plants will be put into the garden to help feed these people.  Next fall a new school program will move into the Everett building and the teachers will have the opportunity to take over the garden for the students. 

Here is to a great growing season in 2010!

BRRRRRR! Still Growing

Saturday, November 28; 11am

The snow is falling and I still have a bag of winter rye to plant. Please join us Saturday, November 28th at 11am to plant the rest of the winter rye. Bring shovels, or better yet, a roto-tiller. The weather forecast looks beautiful. Have a great weekend; hope to see you in the garden.

Fall Radishes

The fall veggies planted in the garden love this weather. Radishes, kohlrabi, cabbage, brussel sprouts, and two surviving plants of kale! Peas were also planted and will be dug under to add nitrogen to the soil. We will meet again on Wednesday at 1pm to rake leaves for the leaf compost and plant winter rye. It is time to add organic matter to the soil.

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!

Watered today

I watered a bit this morning before the short rain. The plants around the lawn were really dry but the straw seems to help. When we only receive a small amount of rain the plants on the west side of the lawn under the trees are well protected and do not receive any water. They were thirsty.

June 8th gardening

Nine volunteers met at Everett to work in the garden. It was a beautiful evening and very productive. The rest of the plants from the greenhouses were planted into the existing beds, straw was put under plants for mulch and water retention, all of the tomato plants now have cages.

Next week the raised bed will be plowed into the front lawn right by the greenhouses. These beds will be planted with additional veggies and some summer rye. It is our hope to grow enough food to supply the students with some snacks in the fall.

When working in the garden please bring gloves. The poison ivy has spread and really likes the soil in the garden.

A water schedule was created last night and will be updated on a weekly basis during our Monday evening events. Volunteers will post when they have watered to the blog.

The garden was a beautiful place for babies this week. Three baby bunnies were born behind the sage bushes and two baby cardinals were out on their first walk through the flowers. A few ducks have also decided to use the front lawn as an early morning gathering place.

June 1st

We had a beautiful evening in the garden. Seven volunteers planted most of the veggies in the garden. The plants were grown from seed in the greenhouses(planted by students) along with some plants donated by Wayward Seed Farm.

Next Monday there are sunflowers, sage, marigolds, along with other herbs to be planted. Straw will be used as mulch to keep the soil moist and encourage the worms to start their job of composting.

Hot Weather Veggies

The verdict is in; this summer we will focus on three main veggie types for the garden. Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants will be planted on the south side of the Everett School. These beds get hot, hot, hot and these plants love heat. Basil will be companion planted along with the veggies. The garden currently has eight different types of herbs and some beautiful perennials.

There are also two different types of sunflowers ready to be planted along with marigolds.

We will plant these on June 1st at 7pm. Bring your shovel and join the fun!

Thank you to students at Indianola Informal School who constructed the greenhouses and started the seeds. The Community Garden Club at Everett School has also received donations from Wayward Seed farm (thanks for the greenhouses,) and parents and community members in Columbus! Here's to a great growing season.

This and that

This past month has flown by and not much has been published...we have all been in the garden watching the herbs grow, waiting for the soil to warm up and playing games of spud, tag and jackpot. The students have taken advantage of every moment it is not raining.

The camp fire group Beyond the Flowers has adopted a portion of the garden to add more herbs. They are meeting every Monday at 4pm to garden; volunteers are welcome - the more people, the more fun!

In the green houses we have tomatoes, sunflowers, peppers, leeks, basil, broccoli, marigolds, carrots, chard, lettuce and more. The k/1 classes seeded the flats and have been keeping all of the seeds happy. Volunteers have kept all of the plants well watered.

Right now Columbus Public Schools have given us the OK to garden at Everett through the summer. In August the students from Indianola Informal School will be moved to Crestview School on Webber Rd. Everett Community Garden Club will meet throughout the summer on Monday evenings at 7pm beginning June 1st.