Sometimes when I visit the garden I become impatient as I note all the things left to do (create sand paths, put more signs in, get more citizens involved to plant gardens, make a sample lazy person's garden for part of our mulched area, build a vertical garden, put in a mailbox, etc.). However, I need to remember we are not quite a month old in our stewardship efforts. Monday, May 12, marks the first month anniversary of the Garland Community Garden at 4022 Naaman School Road--the day we officially began to garden there. When I remember this, I am less impatient with our progress to date:
Our Installations at the Garland Community Garden site include:
- one 4' x 7' square foot garden planted with vegetables and marigolds--complete with a connected olla system designed by one of our members, Gene Rodgers
- three 2 foot square beds with blackberry bushes, sunflowers, tropical milkweed and marigolds
- one 4' x 8' raised bed made of concrete blocks filled with vegetable plants and flowers -- This bed also includes a trellis and a wire feeding basket to eliminate the need for fertilizing the garden and also to reduce the amount of water needed for the plants.
- one 6' diameter keyhole garden donated to our organization by Leon Smith of Keyhole Farm.
- two large containers, each with an heirloom tomato plant and each with two ollas for water conservation
- one large container with watermelon plants and an olla
- one large container with stevia plants and an olla
- one strawberry patch--some planted in a pallet and three plants in containers
- one large container with an eggplant
- one large container with loofah and morning glories
- the Winding Garden--an approximate 4 foot wide, 180 foot long bed. The soil for the Winding Garden has been prepared according to the lasagna method--layering cardboard, newspaper, leaves, and other organic matter and topping the surface with a two-inch layer of compost. In addition, each bed will be fitted with a feeding basket and an olla for water conservation. Before planting, gardeners will need to add a layer of garden soil to mix with the compost. To date, 12 of the 27 spaces in the Winding Garden have been assigned to gardeners. The entire back row of the 180 foot long bed is planted in non-GMO corn and sunflowers which should have high visibility from Naaman School Road.
Instead of reading about us--why don't you join us? We meet every Monday night from 6:30 to 7:30pm at 216 East Kingsbridge Drive Garland 75040. Our meetings are open to the public.
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Blackberries are coming soon.
Speaking of gardens, here is an update from my yard:
The rhubarb, one of the perennials I planted last year, made a comeback. Tonight I experimented and made up a recipe for my version of a rhubarb, strawberry, stevia leaves Italian ice--all the ingredients from my own urban garden. It's in the freezer now. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Blueberries are coming soon.
Strawberries are here now.