Dark Eyes Full of Mystery

I was very young the first time I fell in love.  It is a love that has lasted for years and one I believe that will last for a life time.  It is an innocent kind of love.  I delight in all my loves new accomplishments.  I can sit quietly for hours simply enjoying the company and often seek out my love during times of stress.  My love brings out the best in me and always encourages me to grow.

I first knew love when I gazed into a pair of dark mysterious eyes. He silently regarded me with mild curiosity, reveling nothing.  I cupped his tiny slender body with my hand and observes his tiny legs with their almost invisible toes. He was the length of my longest finger and the color of darkest midnight with a sheen of deep eggplant purple.  I was amazed that he had made a home in our garden.

The mystery of how he came to be there and the many secrets of his life held my attention.  That day gardening became a joy rather than a chore.  I was 11 years old and my family had always had a vegetable garden. My neighbors often commented on how Saturday morning was a show of asses and elbows as we all worked to weed the many flower beds that took up the majority of the yard.  We raised rabbits and chickens in the back yard and had veggies planted throughout.  The main garden took up the entire side yard.

The rabbits provided amazing fertility to our garden.  The compost pile was full of worms and covered a palm tree stump to speed its decomposition.  Tomato Horn Worms were considered a delicacy by the chickens who clamored over them.  Even the moth that is responsible for the Horn worms is beautiful.  Our garden provided a haven for me.  It was a vibrant living place full of discovery.  It was a hiding place that let me escape the often hectic and stressful environment of a divorced mother trying to fill every role possible in her three young girls lives.

That year I fell in love with a mysterious slender salamander and our families vegetable garden. 

A mystery fruit for the garden!

I have been researching new fruit to try out in our community garden.  I think I may have found the perfect option.  It is bothered by no pests or diseases.  It produces up to 300 fruit per plant.  It is easy to determine when it is ripe...in fact if falls off the plant and just needs to be scooped up!  All of that and it will store for 3 months!  Oh yeah and one more thing...one variety tastes like pineapple.  It can be eaten fresh, made into jam or frozen.  To me this sounds like a perfect addition to our garden.

The plant is related to tomatillos and tomatoes, so it's care is very similar.  Because it is difficult to find transplants you will probably need to start it from seed.  When it is time to transplant after your last average frost date you will bury the stem and leave just three leaf pairs above ground.  It is important to harden off the plants before transplanting or they will suffer transplant shock just like your tomatoes and eggplants.  They must be protected from frost but are otherwise care free.

The fruit is called the ground cherry and there are three varieties readily available. Aunt Molly's, Cossack Pineapple, and Goldie which all have harvest dates from 70 to 75 days from transplant.  The husked fruit will fall from the plant, at this point it is not quite ripe.  Give it a week or so on your counter and it will turn a golden apricot color.  Store it in the husk like a tomatillo and it will last up to 3 months in about 50 Fahrenheit.

This seems like a perfect fruit to try out.  We are practically guaranteed success with such a quick grower and it sounds like the plants produce quite well.  I have a feeling they will easily reseed like cherry tomatoes so we will need to be sure to get all of the fruit.

Looking forward to a new growing season and trying out some new plants in the garden.

So you want to start a community garden?

The journey to create a community garden can be a long one.  Zoning and finding an available location is often the first step.  Many would advise building a club so that you have a core group of people to help you develop your garden.  That may work, but remember if you have a vision for your garden you need to make sure that it is clear and that everyone is behind it.  Your local zoning and planning department down at city hall can answer any questions you have about a vacant piece of land.  They can tell you who owns it and what access to water it has.  Make friends down at city hall, you will be spending a lot of time talking to these people!

Once you have found a location and gained permission to use it (no small task) you are ready to start forming an association to manage your project.  A key person to enlist would be someone in your Parks and Recreation Department down at city hall!  You may also consider forming a blog or joining a social media site like Facebook in order to get the word out.  Plan a meeting and post information about it on every free posting space available in your neighborhood.  Coffee houses, book stores, feed stores and nurseries may all have a community posting space you can use.  Make your fliers as upbeat and as attractive as possible.  Please remember to provide contact information along with the meeting time and place.

So- you are doing wonderfully!  You have a place, a small group of enthused volunteers, and the support of your local representatives.  Wait, you mean you haven't written to your local elected officials yet?  Well you better get on it!  An endorsement for your project from the local mayor will give the community confidence in you and your group.  This is important as it is likely that you need to start soliciting donations from local businesses to get this garden off the ground.  If you don't have a 501 3 c, and lets face it, its expensive, check with your city and local USDA as they have programs that can help you with funding.

Wow! There has been a lot of ground work up until this point and we haven't even turned over one spade full of soil yet!  Don't worry we will get to that soon.  In the mean time, contact your local Master Gardener Association, their contact listing will be with the local Cooperative Extension Office. 

Talk to you soon!  You are on a fantastic adventure...I promise it will all be worth it!