How the Garden Grows: July 2011

The garden really took off this month! Pea plants are shriveling up, but the summer squashes are exploding and already producing more than an ordinary human can consume, and all the other plants are showing great promise for bountiful harvests in the next two months. For our pilot year, everything is looking so impressive.

The weeds have been rather impressive as well, unfortunately. Some plots and pathways were completely overgrown with weeds earlier in the month, but thanks to the start of our bi-monthly work parties and the help of lots of landscaping cloth, we have made good headway in getting the issue under control. We are still learning how to do this gardening thing efficiently, especially with our goal of keeping organic, but practice makes perfect!

Below are a few photos of garden growth for your perusal!

Purple hull peas flowering

Tomatoes growing (these are Marvel Stripes, an heirloom variety)

Potato plants in bloom

A head of cabbage starting to develop

Corn!

Yours truly, standing by one of our two rental plots after a maintenance session

in the afternoon sun

How the Garden Grows: June 2011

Hey, look, it's a garden! The plants finally grew enough this month that they are visible from off in the distance, which seems like a big improvement after the slow start we got. All the plots were claimed and planted by mid-June, although the late-comers are only just starting to show signs of life. Oddly, the potato plants are almost the tallest things in sight at the moment, but that won't be the case for long! The weeds are starting to pick up speed as well, so it will be important to keep up with weeding regularly.

Photographic evidence of growth:

One of the community beds,

with our lovely Boy Scout-built raised bed in the background

The second community bed

Tomatillos!

Cucumbers!

Various greens, brassicas, and artichokes!

My family's second plot, snapped up at the cut-off date

and newly planted with tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, and brassicas

Our initial plot, with corn, potatoes, and peas clearly visible

We love having a garden within walking distance of our home in Columbine Knolls South!

Welcome to the Garden!

Founded in 2011 at St. Gregory's Episcopal Church in Littleton, the Chatfield Community Garden at St. Gregory's offers 16 individual 10'x15' plots for rent to the community and produces vegetables from two large communal plots for donation to local food banks.

We are having an amazing first growing season and learning so much about organic gardening!