Dog days of summer

It's been a busy summer, but despite a late start and early gopher problems, we can consider it a success. The garden has gone from bare ground to a lush jungle of plants and vines. Harvesting is well under way, and we've even been able to take some to the Meals on Wheels Program including most of the 120 cabbages, as well as tomatoes, spaghetti squash, zucchini and Swiss chard. The grape tomatoes are finally kicking is, so Deb and I picked a couple of large yogurt containers last Monday for the Park Place residents, and we'll keep on top of them as long as they're producing.

Looking Good!

It feels like summer is finally here, and everything is looking great in the Park Place garden. The gophers are finally under control, most people have things planted, and now it's a matter of watering, feeding, mulching and waiting.

We had a youth group from San Diego come out last week to help mulch the cabbage and tomatoes for the Park Place and food bank plots, as well as stake the tomatoes. They're newbies in the gardening realm, but did fine. I was grateful for the help since it's been a challenge keeping up with watering and other duties.

It's very interesting to see everyone's gardening style. I keep saying I'm going to write an article on how gardens and gardeners' personalities coordinate. Some people are extremely neat and tidy. Everything is organized and gorgeous. Others (me) are hooshels - things are planted, but it's not necessarily pretty. I love walking through and seeing how everyone is doing their own thing. It's a community garden with lots of individuality!

We're stilll looking for volunteers to help water and harvest for the food banks when the time comes so email us at rivercityharvest@yahoo.com if you're interested.

Extraordinary Generosity!

Monday I received a call from Carol Lamphier at Hillside Gardens (http://www.hillsidegardens.biz/) to let me know she had some extra plants she wanted to donate to the community gardens. I thought it might be a couple of flats, which was thrilling enough to me, so imagine my delight when over half the bed of my truck was filled with tomatoes, cabbage, Romaine lettuce and parsley! Such a wonderful gift! She had the tomatoes soaking in water to keep them hydrated, and I kept my speeds below 60mph so everything transported without a problem.

Last night I took a few hours planting them in the RCH plots, as well as the one for the Park Place residents. There are a lot of the special grape tomatoes that are perfect for snacking. I think they'll be ideal for seniors' lunches. The 'Stonehedge' variety of cabbage is a solid standby, so we should have plenty of heads to give to the food bank and any charitable organization who has a need for a lot of slaw! I planted the 28 Romaine plants near the squash given to us. This way they'll be long gone by the time the squash overtake their area, but at least something is growing in the now empty space.

Opening Day!

Yes! We are finally in the garden. This morning gardeners and volunteers came out to start clearing their plots and planting. With quite a bit of raking it looks downright respectable! We had plenty of space for everyone, including a couple of half-plots, plus a whole on open for anyone interested. (This resulted from my measuring yesterday afternoon in the heat. I managed to squeeze in an extra plot in the garden space.... yet another reason I'm a writer and not a mathmatician.) Whatever is not taken will be added to our effort to grow for the food bank and Meals on Wheels.

Despite toasty temps, everyone seemed excited to be there, and did a great job of preparing their areas. There are even a few organized souls who planted. The garden looks barren now, but will be lush and green before we know it.

We Have a Garden Space!

After trying a couple of different tactics to break the ground at the Park Place Gardens, we finally have a proper garden area. First we used the tractor and tiller. That bounced off the ground. The tractor and duck foot plow didn't do much better. Thankfully, Wade had a friend with a 100HP tractor that did the trick. They plowed roughly a foot deep thoroughly loosening the ground. Grant drove the tractor and tiller back over last Saturday evening and tilled it twice.

Even though it's plantable, since it's the first year it's still pretty rough. Wade hauled away roughly 500lbs of rock and concrete, and Grant picked up more when he tilled. I'm sure we'll find more when we plant. There's also a considerable amount of grass clumps that will need to be raked and cleared. But the bottom line is we have a garden!

Saturday, May 30, is our opening day. Volunteers and those renting plots will work together to prep the beds and begin planting. Join us at 10 a.m. to meet each other, work side by side and kick off the gardening season.

Trying to Till

Despite receiving plenty of precipitation in the last couple of weeks, the ground at the Park Place Community Garden was too much for the tiller. Grant tried to break through the packed ground and grass for a couple of hours without much success except for outlining the perimeter. We tried to find some sort of plow to use instead, but couldn't locate anything on Saturday. Thankfully, we will be able to rent a Ford 3000 and duck foot plow from Peterson's, and Wade will plow on Thursday.

Opening day is scheduled for Saturday, May 16 when the Plot Takers can sign up for their spot, and start gardening. We'll also have push tillers there to go over the area before planting since the plow will probably leave it too clumpy. Volunteers will be on hand to help clear areas and remove any rocks (although I don't think it'll be a huge problem). Deb has a mini yoga session slated, and is compiling a fantastic packet of gardening information. The weather forecast looks wonderful (at this point), and I'm sure it'll be a great day!

Ahhhh.... Spring???

March is typically a schizophrenic month, and this season is no exception. Last week, a small group of us met at Park Place Health Care Center to take a look at the possible garden sites, and this week the entire region is blanketed in snow. Oh well, we need to moisture and it's only temporary. (The photo is from a local one greenhouse with a snow drift from the latest storm.)

In the meantime, our progress on our first gardens continues. Park Place is generously allowing us to use an area past their parking lot where we can have up to a dozen plots measuring 20-ft x 30-ft, which will give a family of four enough space to keep themselves in veggies (with some to share) throughout the season. Now we're waiting for the weather to cooperate long enough to till and prepare it for the first seeds and plants of the year.

Park Place is the first in our overall vision of creating neighborhood gardens throughout Great Falls to give individuals and families a place to grow their own fruits and veggies. Ultimately, we would like to have gardens situated throughout the city and out-lying areas where folks can be close to their plots and enjoy the camaraderie of like-minded people. We're also planning on planting crops specifically for the food bank and similar charitable organizations to spread the enjoyment of fresh, locally grown food.

Plots are $25 for the entire season (including water). We still have a few available, so contact us at rivercityharvest@yahoo.com if you're interested in joining in the fun. You can also email us to be on the list to receive notifications of events and gardening classes that will be held throughout the year. In the meantime, keep checking in to see what's happening in the garden.