Lexington Interfaith Garden

Our new Garden Angel!

Volunteers from:  Hancock, Follen, Islamic Center and others off our general volunteer list

Weather:  Couldn’t be any nicer!

The garden welcomed all that recent rain.  Plants looked so much taller, bushier and greener than when I was last there.  And reigning over all was the new “Garden Angel”.  Our scarecrow of the last few years needed serious repair.  Once Carla started working on it, using clothes contributed by Lauren, it morphed into a far friendlier sentinel…Guardian angel became garden angel, a much more apt name than scarecrow.  Let’s hope she is not too welcoming to our smaller, furrier friends!

Almost 11 pounds of produce went to the Pantry this morning, including:

Strawberries, lettuce, bok choy, peas, radishes, rhubarb, swiss chard and the herbs mint, Chives, thyme, parsley, dill and cilantro.

There are many steps before produce is OK’d to go over to the Lexington Food Pantry.   Care is given to cleaning the produce, weighing it, and attractively packaging the trays.

Lauren and Isaac cleaning radishes

Elaine and Carla picking peas

Candy and Laura weighing and recording

Mark rinsing lettuce

In the category of what I learned today:

Carla has left some weeds to deliberately act as decoys for the aphids and ants. If lamb’s quarters is left growing close enough to the vegetables, they will attract the aphids and leave the vegetables alone. We saw some very eaten up lamb’s quarters among the peas and beans, acing their job as decoy. There was scant damage to the neighboring plants.

Lastly, it was fun to be reminded of the unique way that garlic ripens. Remember that garlic is planted in the fall, so it takes a long time to mature. But one step along the way is to see the garlic fronds start to cork screw. They curl and then they uncurl. Only after uncurling will they be ready to pick. In the picture, note the characteristic corkscrewing of the garlic fronds.

Garlic Scapes

Volunteers from Follen, First Parish, Lexington Methodist

Weather:  Overcast in the low 60’s

We were very lucky.  Despite a forecast of a 50% chance of rain and very gray skies, we did not have to don rain gear and hats.  In fact, for a brief period, the sun even broke through.

This was our last day convening at 9am.  The garden has harvest-ready produce and this morning all of us were hustling to get everything picked and over to the Pantry as soon as possible.  Next week the Saturday schedule moves to 8:30 and later in June it will move to 8 am.

Off to the Pantry

Today it was all about the picking.

We harvested:

• Asparagus (7 3/8 lb.)
• Green leaf lettuce heads (2 3/8 lb.)
• red leaf lettuce heads ( 1 7/8 lb)
• Mint (1 ½ lb.)
• green onions   (1 ½ lb)
• Radishes (1/2 lb.)
• chives   (.2 lb)

We also planted two rows of green beans and did some “gentle” weeding. There was a huddle about whether the potatoes needed some “hilling” but decided that they weren’t far enough along to require that….only concluding that after some internet research done on the spot on a smart phone since Carla wasn’t around to ask.  Potatoes are planted in a trench and as they grow, you push more dirt around the plant to keep the potato growth under soil.  That process of partial reburying of the potato plants is known as “hilling”.

The neat trick with picking green onions is that once you pull the plant out of the dirt, you slip off the dirty papery covering (and it slips off pretty easily), and you are left with a very clean green onion ready to eat.

Dirty knees in the asparagus bed

Pulling radishes and green onions

by Amy Swanson

Volunteers from Church of our Redeemer, Hancock and Lexington Methodist

Weather:  Sunny in the mid-40s but with the wind, it was definitely multiple- layers-and-hat kind of weather

Last week was all about getting the winter detritus out of the garden and doing other sorts of prep work, like mending fences and cleaning tools.  The focus of this Saturday’s work was to spread a first layer of composted manure on the garden. And that we did!  This week Great Brook Farm in Carlisle dumped a truck full of composted manure in front of Carla’s barn.  That’s 12 ½ yards in case you are interested.  The crew split up into shovelers, wheelbarrow pushers and spreaders.  I think this is the first time that we got the whole job done in one session!  That’s due to the great crew of volunteers that dug in and got it all done.

The pile of composted manure moved from outside the garden to inside the garden.  Actually it was probably best that the weather was cool because everyone was working hard enough to break a big sweat!

You can see the sharp contrast between where the composted manure has been spread and where it has not.  There’s a reason Carla calls this her black garden gold.

The other job was to continue planting more of the cool-weather crops…a job that started on Tuesday.  Those afternoon volunteers planted some lettuce, beets, radishes and spinach in the small garden and parsley by the compost bins.  On Saturday one of our volunteers, Anne, planted 3 rows worth of peas in the main garden.  We kidded her about how straight her rows were, because with the Interfaith Garden being on the Lexington Garden Tour in June, they better be perfect.

The peas got planted along the fence closest to First Parish.  Every year the location of the peas changes so the nitrogen they add back to the soil can benefit yet another part of the garden.  We planted squash in this location last year.

Almost every time I work at the garden there is something new that I learn.  This time it was about pea tendrils.  Did you know that tendrils are the early pea shoots that reach out, typically attaching the plant to nearby supports?  What more they can be harvested to eat (a great addition to salad I am told) without interfering with the rest of the pea plant growing or maturing process.

This family used trowels to gently add compost to the strawberry bed. These early-growing plants are noticeably bigger than last week when we first cleaned out the winter cover protecting them.

by Amy Swanson

Weather:  Very pleasant–Sunny and in the 40s 

We finally had the opportunity to do some work at the Garden.  The first 2 attempts were stymied by the weather.  Last year’s milder weather allowed us to start a full 10 days earlier.  Despite this space being covered with snow earlier in the week, the soil today was only moderately damp.  At the end of the morning, I could easily brush the dirt off my knees and out of my boot treads. That’s the kind of soil it is…shock full of organic material so drainage is excellent.

Today was all about cleaning out the debris of weather and prepping.  That meant tasks such as:

– Clearing out the dried old stalks remaining in asparagus, strawberry and kale beds.

– Emptying out the first compost bin and spreading it on the garden

– Cleaning out the barn of all baskets, buckets and implements and giving the place a good sweep

– Hauling out all the tools and implements to the fence where they could be wiped down and some given a light rub with mineral oil.

– Minor repair work to the little garden’s fence

– Admiring the garlic that was planted last fall and already poking through.

Next steps?  Once Carla’s order of composted manure gets delivered (hopefully for Tuesday), that will be spread, wheelbarrow at a time, over the garden and then rototillered in.  And as soon as possible peas and salad greens get planted.

Marty and Carolyn enjoy catching up in the warm sun while cleaning out the strawberry bed.

The first compost bin has been left alone long enough. It got emptied into the wheelbarrow and spread in the garden.

Old straw and sawdust are other types of organic material spread in the garden.  This teen has been experimenting on how to grow vegetables over the winter via hydroponic agriculture.  His next project will be growing vegetables in a worm compost tower.  He has promised to return later to update us on his progress.

Lauren cleaned all the tools.  First a wipe down with a wet rag and then a light rub with mineral oil.

Mark makes some minor repairs to the small garden’s fence.

You’ll be amazed and inspired to learn all the wonderful things that can happen from starting one garden!!! Wow!!!

This is a Must See Ted Talk!