Anticipation Builds as the Season Looms!

Fine...I'll admit it.  The anticipation of turning all of this brown dirt into a thriving and productive garden thrills me to no end!  All this bare dirt symbolizes all the possibilities of the coming year to me.  A rush of adrenaline floods my body as I imagine the rows and blocks of verdant greenery taking shape.  The chill in the air doesn't detour me as I pace out the areas for cabbages, chard, beets, carrots, lettuces, and kale.  The bright sunshine promises warming days in the future and the sounds of birds tell of Spring in full swing.

This year there are a number of improvements taking shape in the garden.  A drainage ditch filled with stones at the bottom.  A gravel pathway underlain with weed cloth at the top.  The drip irrigation system taking shape with the wonderful help of the Julius Kleiner Memorial Park staff taking shape- we are still waiting on a filtration system that will help with water pressure.  The black plastic mulch that we will use over the drip line for water conservation and weed suppression is waiting for us to put it in place.

 


Our first work day is this Saturday and I am very excited as we have a fantastic and large group eagerly waiting to start on this years community garden.  We will be planting seeds, planting transplants, and if time permits laying our black plastic to start warming the soil.  We have decided to limit the garden to 30 families this year. This is mainly to ensure that we are able to produce enough produce to keep everyone well supplied this summer.  A third of the garden will be dedicated to a project called March Against Hunger, managed by Carrie Swannack, and donated to the Meridian Food Bank.

These are the cole crops we will be planting. Our garden continues to be blessed by Spyglass Gardens through the generosity and helpfulness of Steve Smith.  He has been ordering transplants for us, ordering and delivering our plastic mulch, and generally offering encouragement and advice.  I have started a few seeds- pretty late!  They will not be ready for this weekend...but soon!

The garden is going to receive an award for environmental excellence from the City of Meridian in honor of Earth Day.  This is very exciting- especially for me as the gardens founder and creator!

The garden is off to an awesome start this year...looking forward to getting to know all of our new gardeners as the season progresses.  As always I love comments and questions- come by and visit our garden sometime!