Real Progress

Mulching

Thanks to Ms. Jones and the Charlottesville Community Church for bringing these great volunteers from Texas. In three days they've finished de-grassing the flower bed and mulched it. When I left this morning (for an appliance repair appointment) they were about to embark on a quest to rid the vegetable garden of crab grass. It's a tough job, but after two days of digging I think they can handle it.  They worked hard, never complained and it was a delight to hang out with them.


I can't thank them enough.  I hear, though, that they're in for a great dinner tonight thanks to Mr. V.  (Our own Angelo Vangelopoulos of the Ivy Inn.)


By the way, there's plenty of swiss chard, kale and collard greens ready for the picking. Help yourself. Soon the beets will be read as well. We also have a second planting of romaine and butter lettuce going (hopefully we won't get blasted with too much heat for another week or two) that should be ready in about a week. What isn't cut or picked by next Monday is going to the food bank so if you want some greens, go get them. If you want some cooking ideas for the greens let me know and I'll post something.

What a great crew!  Thanks, guys!

Finishing up digging the flower bed

Oops, I Forgot Something

The Armstrong's blog has a couple of posts about us!

This first one is about the Spring Garden Party.  There even a picture of some weirdo playing a banjo/ukulele.

The second one is about our visit to their farm.

Their blog is really a lot of fun.  I think we share an appreciation not only for gardens, but for good food as well.

Last Garden Club Meeting of the Year

Beamer helps strain our first batch of
compost tea.

Well another school year is about to end.  I'm really impressed with the kids.  The Garden Club started out in the fall with close to 40 kids.  Thankfully, there were lots of adult volunteers to help out.  When "official" garden club ended in November, I decided to keep going and  about fifteen kids decided to keep working in the garden.  The numbers have gone down and up depending on the weather, but there has been a very dedicated core that kept showing up every Tuesday afternoon.

The Garden Club sends a huge thank you to Phil and Deirdre Armstrong
and hopes everyone has a great summer!

We've really gotten a lot done.  Half of our new flower bed is planted.  Our summer crops are in the vegetable bed.  We've learned how to start brewing our own compost tea.  We've met and worked with Mr. Phil and Ms. Deirdre at Harvest Thyme Herbs and got to take the first ever Garden Club field trip to their farm.  Lastly, we hosted a fantastic Spring Garden Party.

Over the summer I'll try to be in the garden two or three times a week to keep the weeds down and keep everything watered.  I know Fridays will be one of my regular days, but I'm willing to meet up with anyone who wants to come out and lend a hand.  Just shoot me a quick email (mrough@k12albemarle.org) if you'd like to come out to the garden.

Also, there will be plenty of vegetables available for anyone who would like any.  I'll post what's ready as it becomes available.  Our local Food Bank will happily take stuff, too.

I hope everyone has a great summer and hope to see everyone back for Garden Club in the fall.