Margie Rodgers LGG board officer, Jane Stroud LGG President and Liz Berry LGG President Emeritus pose in front of a Garland Good Samaritan Bean pot.
Another Citizen Scientist Project in Garland is launched
Today Loving Garland Green launched its third Citizen Scientist project within a month. This project, however, will not be carried out at the Garland Community Garden. It will take place at the Garland Good Samaritans.
Working with another local nonprofit, the Garland Good Samaritans, we installed eight twenty-seven- gallon pots with trellises designed for growing green beans in the front yard of the Garland Good Samaritans’ house here in Garland, Texas. Loving Garland Green members fashioned the pots by cutting 55-gallon drums in half and designed the trellis using 7 foot tall cane and wire fencing.
As these beans mature and are harvested, each picking will be weighed and recorded. Additionally, a weekly dollar value will be assigned to the total poundage harvested for that week. This dollar value will be based on the average per pound price for green beans for that week in our community. Pole beans are an excellent choice for a nutritious vegetable to grow in our area as they start producing in early June and continue to produce until our first frost. That’s five full months of green beans. The USDA reports the US yearly average per pound cost for green beans is $2.14 a pound. We anticipate that just one of our pots will produce about 75 pounds over the course of 5 months.
Four different types of pole bean seeds were planted in the pots today: Italian Flat Beans from the organic heirloom seed company, Seeds of Change; Kentucky Wonder Beans from the Seed Savers Exchange; Haricot Tarbais Beans and Petite Carre De Caen Beans—both of these French bean types were purchased from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed company.
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POLE BEAN PLANTING CLASS TO BE HELD AT THE GARLAND GOOD SAMARITANS
EXPECT TO BE INSPIRED TO URBAN GARDEN AND BECOME PART OF OUR GRAND GARLAND BEAN GROWING EXPERIMENT!
Also you’ll be meeting some of the Good Samaritan volunteers and staff and finding out straight from them about some of the values inherent in volunteerism.
Thursday Morning April 13
10 to Noon
at the Good Samaritans of Garland
214 N 12th St, Garland, TX 75040
RSVP Now as space will be limited:
BEAN PLANTING CLASS
(972) 276-2263
972-571-4497
Pole beans are the easiest vegetable in the world to grow. All you need is a 7-foot pole and a few pole bean seeds. We cut river cane for free for our poles.
Also as part of the class we will be installing four poles in the ground and planting beans. Some folks may balk and say: “I don’t have a shovel. I can’t plant a bean pole.” That’s OK. While there’s no argument that shovels are better, you can still make do by using the resources available to you. To prove my point, on Thursday I will be using a spoon from my kitchen to dig one of the holes for the cane pole. It’s true that it will likely take me as long to dig my one hole as it takes the others to dig three holes using Margie and Gene’s great hole digger. However, I will nonetheless prove my point regarding resources by digging a great and sufficient hole with my spoon.
Those who attend will be given a FREE 7-foot cane pole along with some pole beans. We will also hold a drawing for one of the 27-gallon pots with a trellis.
Pots waiting for the beans to grow at the Garland Good Samaritans
We will explain, show you the steps, and leave you with written details of how you can build a bean pot and trellis like the ones at the Good Samaritans of Garland.
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Note: You can help Loving Garland Green continue to promote urban gardening in our community by selecting the link below and voting once a day from now until April 19. Please vote for us today and every day until April 19.
Please Vote for our garden to help us receive a Seeds of Change® grant!