by Barbara Munkres
Blue sky and sunshine and a few low-lying clouds from the morning fog greeted us at the garden today. The breeze was cooler and drier than earlier this week. We appreciated that!
Everything has grown, especially the tall asparagus fronds, which needed to be tied back. A bok choy bed was ready to be completely harvested; the plants were pulled, roots and all. Roots and lower stem were cut off, the outer damaged leaves removed and then each plant was washed and placed in a tray. The former bok choy bed will be planted with something else on Tuesday. It was fascinating to hear Carla think out loud about what to put in the plot. Certain things can’t be planted too close together……tomatoes and eggplants, for instance. Neither does well.
Carla noticed when she dug potatoes for supper recently that the Red Norland potatoes were ready to harvest. So we dug a portion of one row with a spade, which reveals a few potatoes. But finding more potatoes requires a bit of groveling about in the loose soil. Work gloves are a good idea. A few tiny potatoes (less than an inch diameter) were included among the bigger ones in the tray because they were so cute. Might be nice in a salad or stew!
Other vegetables harvested were Swiss Chard, Cabbage, Zucchini, and Onions, both red and white.
Those who went to the Food Pantry with Carla reported that there were other fresh vegetables delivered today, too. Carla asked Carolyn Wortman, the director of the Pantry, whether the fresh produce is popular and the reply was: ALL of the fresh produce goes!
Thoughts from Anne
I drive down Harrington Road regularly and had no idea that such a fantastic garden was tucked away there!
It was my first time volunteering. I was on weighing duty for part of the morning and was amazed at the gorgeous variety of produce that was brought in by others harvesting in the garden. Omar was picking thyme, mint and tarragon. Due to the great bounty, we loaded the pallets into Carla’s car rather than the usual (?) pushcart for delivery to the food pantry. Once the packing of the produce was finished, three of us worked on weeding the herb garden.