Nourishment

I had an interesting thought today when thinking about the vegetables we have begun to harvest. For the past couple of months we have worked hard to nourish our garden: we figured out what spaces in the plot would give the most sunlight to the vegetables that required it, we watered our garden every day, we took out the dried leaves that hadn't decomposed because it would take away from the nourishment of our plants, and we have weeded the pesky weeds that compete in the soil with our vegetables. We have done this to keep our vegetables healthy, and so that they can grow.

Now that we have begun to harvest our vegetables, the roles have changed. These plants will nourish us and provide us with the nutrients we need to grow big and strong.

To me, this partnership is a pleasant example of how you will get back what you put in.

Some new vegetables have begun to grow in the garden! Here are some new faces that we have not seen before:

Onions

Sweet Basil

Green bell peppers

And some of the older bush beans have grown taller and begun to form beans!

I can't wait to harvest these vegetables and taste what we have worked hard to grow.

How quickly things change

On tuesday I visited the garden with my friend, to show off the AmerCorps' hard work. It was my day to water the garden, but the sky was gray and the air was thick with humidity, it seemed like a storm was coming any second. However, the sky had been this color all day, and a drop of rain had not fallen yet. I turned to Donna and asked her if I should water the garden, or if it would drown if I water the vegetables and then it rained. She looked at our plot and noted that the ground was still moist from the day before, but took note of the seedlings we had planted the week before. These tiny sprouts were still buried under the ground, and a few were beginning to poke up from the dirt, but they were not big like the other vegetables in the plot. She suggested I water only those seedlings, so that if the sky did not release the rain the seedlings would still be watered. When I left the garden the weather seemed to improve, until it became evening and there was a tremendous thunderstorm.

When I returned to the garden I did not know what to expect. Would the vegetables be destroyed? Did our seedlings drown? When I inspected the garden I could not believe what I saw- the seedlings had flourished! The seedlings had become new bush beans! What had been nearly buried, was now a couple inches high, and had thick stems and leaves. And all of the other plants were still safe and sound.

It is awesome to see nature in action. Even though extreme weather can harm plants, I suppose they can adapt to some fluctuations in weather. I also can't believe how fast things can change in a tiny garden. It is incredible to know that one day I watered these seedlings and the next they became plants, i feel like my small bit of work helped the garden grow.

Here are photos of the bush beans that sprouted overnight, and of JM watering the new plants and seedlings.

My how your garden grows!

It is incredible to look at the garden and see the edible vegetables we have grown! Watch the virtual tour and take a peek for yourself!

Prevent Tomato Blight!

Everything is doing merrily in the garden, though it is getting hot, hot, hot for a gnome! If you don't see me when you come visit, I've burrowed deep into the soil to keep cool.

Last year, excessive rainfall caused many tomato plants in the Northeast to catch late blight- hopefully that won't be a problem this year for our cherry tomatoes. However, just in case- here are some tips to gardeners everywhere on avoiding late blight- from my gnome friends at Cornell:

10 tips to prevent late blight in home gardens

* Kill volunteer potatoes. Dig up, bag and trash any volunteer potato plants that pop up in gardens or compost piles. It may take repeated efforts to get them all.
* Use only certified seed potatoes. Don't use leftovers from last year or table stock from the grocery store.
* Buy healthy tomato plants. Learn what late blight looks like. Report any infected plants while shopping or grow your own plants. (Late blight isn't spread on tomato seeds.)
* Keep plants dry. If plants need watering, water the soil -- not the foliage.
* Inspect plants at least once a week, more often if weather is cool and wet. Immediately remove and bag any foliage you suspect might be infected.
* If symptoms continue despite removing infected foliage, consider removing plants entirely -- sooner rather than later. The longer you wait to remove plants, the more spores will be blown to other gardens and farms.
* Warn neighbors and local Cooperative Extension if you find late blight in your garden.
* Remove infected plants during the middle of a sunny day after leaves have dried. But don't wait for these conditions. Seal plants in garbage bags and leave them in the sun for a few days to kill plants and the pathogen before placing in the trash or burying underground or deep in a compost pile.
* Keep an eye on other tomato-family plants. Some strains of late blight can infect other tomato-family plants, including weeds such as hairy nightshade and bittersweet nightshade. Control them early so that late blight on these plants doesn't go unnoticed. Petunias and tomatillos are also vulnerable to attack.


Craig Cramer is communications specialist in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell.

Summer Solstice!

Happy Summer Solstice!

The other garden gnomes and I celebrated the beginning of summer with some dances that will hopefully make our crops grow big and strong! Everyone should take some time during this beautiful summer day to appreciate the sunshine, whether it is by working in a garden or laying down in your backyard.

How to Train Your WIld Cucumbers

Here is another instructional video taught by our gardening expert Estelle! She is showing us how to train the cucumbers so they will climb up the large teepee structure in our garden. We want them to wind their way up this structure so that they stand tall, and this will bear more fruit.

So Much Green!mp

Our little plot, which was barren and brown a few weeks ago, had turned into a small green forest. Though it may look like there are some empty rows in this plot, looks can be deceiving. We have recently plotted some seeds in these rows; we have now added more bush beans, lettuce, and swiss chard to our plot. We were all intrigued by the small seeds of the swiss chard; they were small, a nude color, and had many sharp points like a 3-dimensional octagon. Thank you Donna for donating these vegetables to our garden, we definitely appreciate it!

Garden Song Lyrics

Here is part of a song I love to sing to the garden when no one is listening. It is from, "Garden Song" written by David Mallet, and many of you may have heard it sung by John Denver or Arlo Guthrie.

"Pulling weeds and picking stones
Man is made of dreams and bones
Feel the need to grow my own
Cause the time is close at hand

Grain for grain, sun and rain
Find my way in natures chain
Tune my body and my brain
To the music from the land"

How To Train Your Wild Tomatoes

Here is an instructional video taught by our very own garden expert, Estelle. Watch to learn how to train your tomatoes that are growing out of control!

We have some plants growing!

Last week some vegetables began to poke out from the ground and behind leaves. Take this virtual tour and see our cucumbers, tomatoes, and radishes grow!

I'm the Gardening Man

Duende Deunde, I'm the Man. If I can't garden no one can!

Marigolds

We have planted a border of marigolds around our garden. These marigolds are not just pretty, but they also serve an important purpose. They act as natural pest repellants once they flower. This will help our vegetables grow safely.

We were able to do this with the help of our garden-expert and pest control extraordinaire EM! and Thanks to help help of JM, who once again nurtured the marigold seedlings to be planted.

Baby Tomatoes!

We have some baby tomatoes beginning to peek out from underneath their leaves. I didn't realize that tomatoes could be tasty and pretty, but the yellow flowers that are also blossoming from the plants add some much needed color to our garden. I hope more plants grow soon!

Busy Planters!

Here is a semi-instructional video following us,

as we plant our garden during AmeriCorps week :)

What we are planting

Thanks to the mothering skills of JM and the transplanting skills of EM, we have been able to plant a variety of vegetables. These plants we either grown from seeds, or tansplanted from donations as seedlings. One of the benefits of working in a community garden has been that many of our fellow gardeners have been willing to lend us a helping hand! We are growing:
cucumbers beets basil
radishes spinach tomatoes
bush beans arugula lettuce
carrots peppers

Planting the Garden

Our seedlings were nurtured by JM, but on May 14th it was time for the plants to leave their egg cartons and flourish on their own. For weeks JM was the seedlings mother, she grew the seeds in biodegradable egg cartons and nurtured them until they grew some roots. With the help of some visitors we planted the delicate seedlings into the ground and hope that they will take root in the soil and grow into healthy vegetables.