Fall Garden

Who's in for gardening this fall?

It won't be long before it is time for those seeds to go in the ground.  I hope to plant lots of kale and collards.

Want to know what else to plant?  Green AR by the Day recently posted links to help us out.

Art in the Garden

Mickey Mouse happens to be a favored character in our house.  To our great surprise, we found one in the garden!

 We also stumbled upon the sculptor, Randy Ripley (also the garden's architect.)

Next time you see Randy, be sure to thank him for his many hours of creative effort to beautify the garden.

Busy as Bees

Ever noticed the fence at the end of the garden?

 Ever wondered what is behind it?

 Some friends are hard at work.

Yep, honey bees are helping to pollinate our veggies.   Their entrance is at the bottom of the box and the honey is at the very top.  There are over 30,000 honeybees at work in that box.

One of the most frequently asked questions regarding the hive is, "Who gets the honey?"  The beekeeper, whose name is Jon.  He was at the garden on Saturday.  Unfortunately I wasn't there when he came by (or I would have taken pictures.)  My husband and son said he gave a bit of demonstration and they were overflowing with information at dinner that night.

The next time you're at our garden, sneak back there and take a peek for yourself.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

To inspire you, this is a list of what was grown in our garden last year (in no particular order):

Eggplant
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts
Cabbage
Sweet Potatoes
White Potatoes
Cucumbers
Peppers - multi colors of sweet bell
Banana peppers
Jalapeño Peppers
Anaheim Peppers
Tomatoes - all kinds!
Okra
Peas
Carrots
Onions
Green beans
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Squash
Radishes
Turnips
Lettuce
Herbs - basil, parsley, cilantro, dill, rosemary
Flowers - zinnia , marigold, sunflowers


And here's a list from the U of A that tells you what and when to plant.

Spring: A Closer Look

Here are a few more pictures from the garden.

Charlotte has many flowers on her strawberry plants.  Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

 Bob Baxter admires his garden with a visiting young lady (I didn't catch her name.)

 The Aults have been busy.

 And two new signs in the garden...

Work Day in the Garden

We had a great turnout of volunteers for today's work day.  The kids certainly had fun in the dirt (and I have laundry to prove it. :)

 Several new boxes were built.

And several people did some "spring cleaning." (Steve Faubel on left, Jim Ault on right)  Mulch was spread between the boxes.

Others have plants in their boxes.  This reporter was a bit distracted by a certain 3 month old so I only took 3 pictures.

The garden is transforming.  Be sure to stop by and admire all the sweat equity.

Some of you asked about the red beans and rice recipe I served at lunch.  It is super easy to make and you can make enough for a crowd.  If you have leftovers, it freezes well.

Garden Expansion

We're starting to plan for more garden boxes.  Below is the site plan (green boxes are existing, purple ones are future).  I have begun to assign new boxes.  Contact me if you're interested in gardening this year.  luvmyhub AT gmail.com

A few of us met to talk about the gardens yesterday.  Cary Cox (POA President) is on left and Randy Ripley (architect and garden designer) on right.

Jim and Margaret Ault were working on their plots yesterday.  They gave me a nice mess of spinach and lettuce.  It made a yummy addition to my dinner.
The Aults also shared spinach with the Ripleys.  Below Claudette is helping herself.

I planted seeds (spinach, onions and lettuce) last week but they've yet to germinate.  I hope they didn't wash away in last week's downpours.