Our community garden is open! My spouse planted our onion plants yesterday.
For all those thinking of gardening, I wanted to give you a little peek into the community garden in Binghamton, New York where my spouse (with a small amount of help from me) does his vegetable gardening.
It's a large community garden - here is some of it.
The agency that now runs it, VINES, has expanded the raised beds section. This will give opportunities to disabled people to be able to garden.
The new agency also tilled in a lot of organic material. As you can see, a major crop in the garden is rocks. My spouse has to rake and rake to get all the large rocks out.
What is that yellow stuff? For beds where weeds have not yet sprouted and you are planting PLANTS, not seeds, we have used (for years) something called corn gluten. It is a high nitrogen organic fertilizer (the bag we currently have is labeled as being organic) and it will prevent many seeds from germinating for up to six weeks, according to what we have read.
Now the hard work really begins - the raking, the picking out of large stones, working in compost or manure, the planting of the seeds, the weeding, the watering - but, eventually, the eating.
It will taste so good, those vegetables that will taste like they should taste. And the flowers that will brighten our table.
Here's to the beginning of a fantastic gardening season. We can only hope, because it's more important than ever to be able to "eat local".
Would you like a gardening feature on my blog, to learn more about gardening?
Hi Alana - what a wonderful opportunity you have there - VINES is (and its predecessor owner/s) doing a great job for the community. Enjoy it - Hilary
ReplyDeleteWe are grateful for that opportunity. VINES runs other community gardens and their focus is on lessor served, poorer communities. Their gardens are mostly urban, and they even have an urban farm they run.
DeleteThat is too cool!!! I like to read more about it, Alana. Is Broome opening on Friday? Steuben is suppose too, I doubt Hornell will.
ReplyDeleteBroome is opening "level 1" on Friday. Cuomo's press conference was in Johnson City today. I missed it because it was on late. I am not sure Hornell will be excepted - I believe you've had a major problem with a nursing home? Perhaps you'll still be allowed to open. I hope so.
DeleteWow. Good for you and best of luck!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteGreat garden, Alana. I hope you get lots of good produce from it!
ReplyDeleteLinda, what region are you in? Finger Lakes, Southern Tier and Mohawk Valley regions have been given the go-ahead to open, there’s been significant compliance with social distancing there and infection rates have fallen dramatically.
Here in NYC/Long Island, where we’ve been hit harder, we aren’t even close to being ready to reopen.
Thanks, Songbird. That one distance picture is about half the community garden. We have one 20 x 25 foot plot.
DeleteHow is the security on your community garden maintained? That's been a real problem around here.
ReplyDeleteGood question. As you can see, the garden is not fenced, like others here are. We have had some theft problems (one year, someone was harvesting our gardens and then was caught selling the produce, would you believe?) but the county keeps equipment right across from our garden, and so there are county employees right across from us, especially during the week.
DeleteGood luck with your garden.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteWhen we lived in Lake Oswego OR for 20+ years we had a community garden and I grew our veggies there. It was so close to us I could walk over- such a lovely garden. I do miss it,but there isn't one nearby and we do not get enough direct sun to grow much here. So I frequent the Farmers Market! Have fun growing!
ReplyDelete