Wednesday night in the garden....in Pittsboro?

As mentioned earlier in the week, I will be touring the CCCC farm in Pittsboro for a seminar scheduled that should prove to be great (hope so since I am giving up "our" garden night together!) The event is free and according to this article http://www.greeneatsblog.com/2010/06/joel-salatin-speaking-at-cccc-june-30th/, when referencing refreshments, there is mention of a brick pizza oven on site-yum yum! The tour begins at 5:30 with the speaker Joel Salatin (funny VA farmer guy from Food, Inc.) presenting at 7pm.

"Our" garden WILL be open tonight for anyone that wants to enjoy a refreshing evening with cooler temps. Plenty of bugs to hunt, flowers to clip, and veggies to pick. The fence will be open (and turned off) with the water cooler and a task list set in place on the middle table.

Feel free to call me for more info if interested in joining me tonight in Pittsboro or if you have any questions while working in our garden this evening. 336 512-7434

Where ever God leads you, It WILL be good!

-Donna

Monday night in the garden (and short update)...

Life is good in the garden! All of the open areas have been recovered with hay, keeping the bugs under control (no sign of that nasty hornworm!), waiting for the tomatoes to ripen (a few huge ones are starting to along with the cherry tomatoes), the beans and jalapeno peppers are starting to produce, the swiss chard is still an amazing crop, the cantaloupes and watermelons are getting crazy, the basil is still screaming "pesto", the cucumbers are creeping, the corn is the tallest stalks I've ever seen, still some strawberries, little bit of lettuce, the Rose of Sharon in the prayer garden has beautiful white blooms, and the zinnias are spectacular (despite the japanese beetles!)

So what's up for tonight? Just a few tasks of trimming, trellising, and turning to work on. It WILL be good!

Can you believe that I am giving up a "hot" garden night to go visit another garden? I am SO excited about a seminar this Wednesday at the Central Carolina Community College-Pittsboro Campus presented by The Natural Chef program and the Sustainable Agriculture program. The topic is "Local Food to the Rescue" and the speaker is Joel Salatin, a Virgina Farmer, and is also (hilarious) in the movie "Food, Inc." I've promoted that documentary in the past and it is still my favorite and a must see for all my gardening and health conscious friends! I'm thinking that this seminar will prove to be equally inspiring!

Please consider joining me at 5:30pm for a tour of the CCCC student farm followed by refreshments at 6:30 and the seminar begins at 7pm. This seminar comes at a perfect time when we are pretty caught up in the garden and just waiting for the tomatoes to turn red! Since I "work" in Pittsboro, I'll be going directly there. Please let me know if you need a ride or I can help in organizing a car pool. Sorry for the short notice on this! The flyer that PJ gave me got buried under some gardening books!

For more info you can go to http://www.cccc.edu/news/viewStory.php?storyNum=396 Also www.cccc.edu/naturalchef and www.cccc.edu/sustainableag

It WILL BE GOOD!

-Donna

This Friday and Saturday morning hours in the garden...

beginning at 8am - it gets too hot! We have just a few things to work on or just come and enjoy our beautiful garden while sitting in the shade with a cold drink. It WILL be good!

-Donna

Pulling up Potates LATER tonight in the garden

Our Red Potatoes are ready! Bill and I sampled a couple and they are DEEELISH! Potatoes need to be dug up either on a cloudy day or as the sun sets so we will be digging them up tonight around 8:00(possibly earlier if it looks like rain). Please join us for our treasure hunt later this evening..it will be cooler then and It WILL be GOOD!

We will begin our garden hours as scheduled at 5:30 working on light tasks with plenty of water and body coolers available. Please let me know if you want us to save some potatoes for you to pick up on Friday or Saturday instead. We will have another potato harvest (Yukon Gold) next month.

Thank you for all of your help and incredible support of our garden!

-Donna

We'll be gellin' instead of meltin' in the garden on Monday...

We had some garden angels this past weekend, donate to the garden a supply of personal body coolers for use while we are hard at work in the garden. Thank you Debbie Cook and my mom and dad for your thoughtfulness and generosity!

Our new garden gear comes just in time to celebrate the first day of summer and a hot, hot, hot week in The Garden of Concord. Hoping to see many of you there (even for just a little bit:0) while we work and take care of our garden. It WILL be good!

-Donna

Maybe skip the garden tonight?

See the weather advisory below. I will be at the garden to work on just a couple of things that really should be done but please consider skipping this work night because of the extreme heat. The pops will stay cold in the freezer and the garden will keep growing without us! It WILL be good on another day for sure! -Donna


Weather advisory for Alamance County
June 14, 2010 12:46 AM
Times-News
If you can stay inside today, it might be a good idea.

The National Weather Service in Raleigh has issued a heat advisory for Alamance County.

While afternoon temperatures are expected to reach the mid to upper 90s, the humidity will create heat index values between 100 and 104 degrees today.

Weather officials say that heat index values around 100 degrees pose a health risk to the elderly, children and anyone working or exercising outdoors. Dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat cramps are all possible if proper precautions aren’t taken, such as consuming small amounts of water throughout the day.

Monday night in the garden will be cooler...

than Saturday was for sure! It was hot, hot, hot, but great, great, great! Plenty of water and shade breaks a necessity. Forgot the pops (sorry!)..they are now in the freezer and ready to chill out with. My mom suggested cold rags chilled in a cooler (thanks mom!) so I will have those regularly available as well. Here is what we will be working on tonight and through the week. It WILL be good! -Donna


Monday, June 14th in the garden…

What we are harvesting:

Lettuce “ “

Basil

Herbs

Cut Flowers

Swiss chard



What we are working on:

Tomato plants in Bed #’s19.20 Tie up.

Spread straw and cardboard/newspaper where needed.

Pull up spring mix in Bed #15, add compost and feather meal.

Hunt for squash bugs and Japanese beetles.

Install trellis in Bed #8.

Water with fish emulsion Bed#’s 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 18, 25.



What we are planting:

Carrots on sides of Bed #18 (w/peppers) ¼-1/2” deep, 2” apart.

Basil on sides of Bed #14 with eggplant and peppers.

Spaghetti squash 3 Rows with seeds spaced 18” apart in Bed #26. 1”deep

Cantaloupe in Bed #6 - ½” deep, 15” apart.

Lettuce on South side edge of children’s bed.

Bush beans on perimeter of Bed #8 with cucumbers.

Who's planning on planting on Saturday?

Lots to work on. Come early. Plenty of ice cold water and pops to cool off with. It will be hot. It WILL be good!
-Donna

"What's up Doc" for Wednesday in the Garden?

Lots to work on and plant with CARROTS as the main crop for tonight! Come join us for a beautiful evening in the garden before the heat wave hits again! It WILL be good! -Donna


Wednesday, June 9th (and through the week) in the garden…



What we are harvesting:

Herbs (Basil, Oregano, Parsley, Thyme, Sage, Cilantro)

Romaine (Final)

Swiss Chard

Strawberries (a few to keep our junior gardeners busy:0)

CARROTS



What we are working on:

Pull up peas and romaine lettuce in Bed#4

Pull up collards/mustard crop in Bed#11.

Pull up carrots in Bed#6.

Pull up spring mix in Bed #15

Add feather meal to Bed#18, 26.

Add compost and feathermeal to Bed #’s 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15

Rake compost pile.

Tomato plants (suckers and pull in to cages)

Spray squash plants with garlic/pepper spray.

Spread straw and cardboard/newspaper where needed.



What we are planting:

Pepper transplants in Bed 12” apart Water in with fish emulsion.

Dwarf sunflower transplants in center of Bed #18 – 12” apart.

Carrots on sides of Bed #18 (w/peppers) ¼-1/2” deep, 2” apart.

Cucumber transplants in Bed #4. 12” apart. Water in with fish emulsion.

Butternut squash 3 Rows with seeds spaced 18” apart in Bed #26 ½ -1” deep

Spaghetti squash 3 Rows with seeds spaced 18” apart in Bed #8. 1”deep

Cantaloupe in Bed #6 - ½” deep, 15” apart.

Meet Me at the Water Cooler on Monday

Our garden has become more "gardener friendly" with the purchase of an umbrella installed in the center table along with another umbrella (donated by Bruce and Gail Pederson-Thank you!!!) set up on the South side over the bench. We will also have a large cooler filled with ice cold water on the center table during our work hours to keep us hydrated and happy while we work, chat, and chill out (in the shade) in our garden.

Lots to do this week. Looking forward to seeing many of you in the garden and at the water cooler! It WILL be good! -Donna


Monday, June 7th (and through the week)…



What we are harvesting:

Herbs (Oregano, Parsley, Thyme, Sage, Cilantro)

Romaine and Spring Mix (Final)

Peas (Final)



What we are working on:

Hunt for Potato bugs and squash bugs.

Add feather meal to Bed#6, 18, 26.

Add compost and feathermeal to Bed #8, 9, 10.

Tie up tomato plants in Bed #’s 3,19,20.

Hill up potato plants in Bed #5.

Rake compost pile.

Spray neem oil on eggplants..

Pull up collards/mustard crop in Bed#11, add compost and feather meal.

Pull up peas and romaine lettuce in Bed#4, and “ “

Spray squash plants with garlic/pepper spray.

Spread straw and cardboard/newspaper where needed.



What we are planting:

Hollyhock seeds in our Edible Flower bed (Donated by Marion and Bobbie Hargrove-Thank you!)

Climbing Okra seeds around bean teepee (Donated by Shirley Pierce - TY again!)

Butternut squash 3 Rows with seeds spaced 18” apart in Bed #26 ½ -1” deep

Spaghetti squash 3 Rows with seeds spaced 18” apart in Bed #8. 1”deep

Sunflowers on backside of bean tunnel in children’s garden 12” apart ½-1” deep.

Pepper transplants in Bed 12” apart (starting in the middle and work out towards end of bed) Water in with fish emulsion..

Carrots on sides of Bed #18 (w/peppers) ¼” deep, 2” apart.

"Kid sized" Sunflowers (Donated by Debbie Cook-TY!) in children's garden area

and on ends of Bed #18.

Cantaloupe in Bed #6 - ½” deep, 15” apart.

Cucumber transplants in Bed #4. 12-18” apart. Water in with fish emulsion. (on Wed)

Plent of Sun(flowers) in the garden on Saturday

I love playing with words, but I really LOVE playing in our garden. Hoping many of you will join us for breakfast and then spend some time in our beautiful garden planting sunflowers, morning glories, peppers, climbing okra, butternut and spaghetti squash. Many other tasks to work on requiring the talents and gifts of all our garden members!

It WILL be good and a morning filled with "glory"!

Thursday in the garden anyone?

Despite the rain all around us Wednesday night, the garden was in the clear with several of us picking peas, picking peas, and picking peas! We also harvested and pulled many other crops from beds for upcoming summer plantings. It WAS really good!

I'll be in the garden today for most of the morning and then again later in the afternoon so please let me know if you might want to join me! Several harvested beds need to be topped with compost and in the afternoon, we will be receiving a delivery of 100+ bales of hay which need to be placed and stacked.

Thank you everyone for your help and support of our garden!

Springing Into Summer...

What a great first spring harvest we have been blessed with! Lots of "final picks" and summer prepping to work on in the garden.
It WILL be good! -Donna



Wednesday, June 2nd in the garden…



What we are harvesting:

Herbs (Oregano, Parsley, Thyme, Sage)

Collard/Mustard Mix (Final)

Romaine and Spring Mix

Broccoli

Turnips (Final)

Beets (Final)

Radishes (Final)

Peas (Final?)



What we are working on:

Collect soil samples

BT on Beds #9,10.

Hunt for Potato bugs and squash bugs.

Pull Pea crop from teepee, add compost.

Pick remaining Peas in Bed #18, pull crop, add compost.

Pull Pea crop from Bed #6, add compost.

Pull Radishes from Sunflower Bed, add compost.

Pull Beets from Bed #26, broadfork, add compost.

Rake compost pile.



What we are planting:

Climbing Okra around teepee.

Bring your garlic in...

We still have plenty of garlic left which I am drying so let me know if you would like some (more). We should have another abundant harvest next Wednesday with this great weather we are having combined with a little more rain. Feel free to stop by anytime to pick some lettuce and herbs.

Thank you again to all of you for a great week in the garden.