2012 Reflections

Now that Thanksgiving is over and the first snowfall is icing the garden, here's what I am thankful for that has been harvested in our community garden season of 2012 ...

• The lasting bright flavors of tomatoes, peppers, basil and onions that still flavor chili, soups and stews on cold November nights;
• The growth of "community" in our garden, as we get to know the faces and crops of our neighbors; 
• The establishment of a Plotters' Council to provide oversight and feedback to the city on gardeners' concerns and suggestions;
• The support and voice we have been given by the City of Bloomington for planning our gardens' future seasons; 
• A relationship with do.town and the personal commitment that Katie Meyer provided to us;
• The joy of gardening and the growing demand for community gardens in Bloomington, Richfield and Edina, that was so evident at the SHIP Workshop on 10/13. We're part of a movement!

I have added notes of our Plotters' Council meeting minutes of 9/13 and meeting with the City of Bloomington of 10/31/12 on the sidebar for more information. 

Just as the earth is taking a rest now, I'll sign off on the blog until 2013. 

Garden Open House Feeds Many Needs

Yeah! We had perfect weather on Saturday August 11th for our Open House. Several loyal gardeners, curious citizens and several hungry goldfinches showed up to support Community Garden Day!  We harvested for our families and for VEAP, and we started a roster of Gardeners for future communications.  Katie Meyer, a Bloomington native and community organizer for do.town was there to take photos, answer questions about the new Health Initiative and hand out water bottles. She has done a ton to help gardeners work toward having a voice in planning future years' community gardens. 

Katie will be having a follow up conversation with the City about some of the suggestions gardeners had for improvements at Harrison Park Community Garden.  Also, a recommendation has been made to create a Bloomington Community Gardener oversight committee with gardeners from both Smith and Harrison Park.  The goal would be to create a liaison between the city and the gardeners and to advocate for some of the needs of the Community Gardens (e.g., garden expansion, new shed, bulletin boards, etc.).  More to come!

CITYWIDE PROCLAMATION AND GARDEN OPEN HOUSE

On Monday, August 6th, the Bloomington City Council will proclaim Saturday, August 11th as Community Garden Day in Bloomington.  We will have an open house at Harrison Park Garden from 8:30 - 10:30 AM on 8/11 to celebrate this statewide recognition of the importance of public gardens to our communities.  Come meet fellow gardeners, exchange information and learn more about Do.Town and the new Health Initiative in Bloomington.  Michelle and I will host some refreshments and we hope to try out some recipes to use our harvest.... 

Also pass the word that VEAP is accepting donations of fresh produce and groceries at the Garden, both on August 11 and future dates, TBD.  If you can't make it on Saturday, stop by another time - keep posted by reading this blog and our flyers at the Garden! 

Hope you are having a satisfying experience in our garden. May your crops continue to outnumber the pests!!

Name Game

Cheers! As the song on the old sit com goes, "You want to go where everybody knows your name..."  My co-gardener Michelle and I (Ann) are greeters at heart, so don't be surprised if we are so bold as to come up and ask what you're planting, why, and how well you like your garden plot so far at Harrison Park. And yes, we'll probably ask you your name, first name only, so we can continue to chat with you throughout the growing season.  Wouldn't it be nice if  we knew each other by name, instead of just "that guy with all the tomatoes," or "the snapdragon lady" or "those two with tall purple hyacinth beans (that's us!)...."  This year I think we'll find a way to post our names on our plot, with a plaque or a stone that says something silly like, "Peas on Earth - Ann & Michelle..." So don't be a stranger, dare to disclose your name and your deepest gardening secrets...

Another community builder that Michelle and I would love to promote is Minnesota Community Garden Day, which will be taking place on Saturday, 8/11/12.  Lots of time to get to know each other and plan the particulars for fun for that day, whether it's breakfast, lunch, tours, or cooking demonstrations.  Looking forward to growing our garden community as well as our veggies this year! Ann

Nourishing Neighbors, Connecting Communities

Can you believe our early spring weather? Better get some seeds started on a sunny windowsill, it looks like we'll be out in the garden soon!

And here's a great event to get you in the mood, the annual Community Garden Resource Fair, sponsored by Gardening Matters, to be held on Saturday March 31st at Neighborhood House, located at 179 Robie, on the west side of St. Paul. (full details). The keynote speaker is Karen Washington, president of the New York City Community Garden Coalition and founding member of Black Urban Growers (BUGs). With over 20 years of experience working in New York City, Karen has developed abandoned lots into successful community gardens and food initiatives. Hope to see you there!

Harvest for VEAP on August 27th!

A box for VEAP donations will be dropped off at the Harrison Park garden on Friday afternoon and picked up again (hopefully full of produce) on Saturday at around 11:45 a.m.  So you can either harvest on Friday night or Saturday morning for VEAP.  This is a great way to give back to the community.  I will try to drop off another pail or bushel or empty box for tomatoes to go in, so they are not crushed by the other produce.

Mark your calendars for the morning of Saturday September 24th, we'll have another meet and greet in the garden that morning.  The City will send out an email with more details.

Uses for tomatoes?

I think we're all seeing a slow ripening of our tomato crops.  Here's what I use mine for: plain eating, BLTs, fresh salsa, caprese salad, bruschetta, enchilada sauce, canned tomatoes, and chicken cacciatore.  Any other ideas for using or preserving our favorite late summer fruit?  Hope to continue seeing you in the garden, one by one I am meeting folks.  How about another garden get together again on Saturday September 17 or 24?  Any interest? 

Community Garden Day

We had a nice turnout of visitors and gardeners at the Harrison Park garden on Saturday 8/6.  Everyone was impressed with our plots! The City put a picnic table on our site (can we keep it?) and Ann set up some snacks, including chocolate zucchini bread and cold drinks. Many of us met for the first time and exchanged names, emails and our gardening successes and disappointments. There is definite interest in pickling, canning and other ways to preserve and serve our veggies, so send me any "keeper" recipes you try out, and I'll post them here.   The garden looks great, and I took some photos and added them to our Our Garden Photos -2011 slide show.

Abundance

Thank you Gardeners, for donating your surplus produce to VEAP this past weekend.  I didn't weigh the VEAP donation box, but my aching arms told me there was about 20 pounds in it and overflow bag.  All the heat and rain has given us plenty for ourselves and others to enjoy.  Next VEAP donation day is not until September 24th, so you'll need to find other channels for your abundance until then.  I'm thinking about canning, and if you have canning questions, please add comments on the blog, or stop by during the Garden Open House on August 6th, 8:30 -10:30 AM, where we'll have a table with some basic canning advice.  See you there!

Meet and Greet August 6th?

I am willing to organize a small scale garden party at Harrison Park garden on August 6th, in commemoration of Community Garden Day (as suggested by Gardening Matters).  I think it might be nice to do it earlier in the day before it warms up much, also to co-incide with the Bloomington Farmers' Market hours. Maybe 8:30-10:30 am?   I will donate coffee and bagels.  We might offer a taste of our produce to visitors too.

We Beet the Heat!

Whew! Glad to walk out the door and not fry. I see there are a few gardens with beets, and I also have fennel, so I want to share our family's Birthday Beet salad recipe, so named for the summer birthdays that were the occasion of our first making this salad.  Boil, peel, chill and enjoy!

Birthday Beet Salad

3 large or 6 small beets, red or golden, cooked, peeled and chilled

1 fennel bulb

1 head of organic lettuce or other salad greens

½ cup chopped pistachios or peanuts

Parmesan cheese, fresh grated

¼ cup Balsamic vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

Salt and fresh ground pepper

Slice beets into small wedges and cut fennel bulb into thin strips (save the tops to cook with a pork roast). Toss beets and fennel with vinaigrette dressing made from balsamic vinegar, oil, salt and pepper (these and other herbs or seasonings in proportions to taste). Chop or rip lettuce into small pieces and place on a cold platter. Layer marinated beets and fennel mixture on top of greens. Garnish with chopped nuts and grated cheese.  More salt and pepper, oil and vinegar on top, if desired. Serve chilled.

 

BloomingtonCommunityGardens: How do I get rid of Japanese beetles?

BloomingtonCommunityGardens: How do I get rid of Japanese beetles?: "I am having a big problem with (what I think are) Japanese beetles. They are iridescent green and brown with white spots along the sides of ..."

How do I get rid of Japanese beetles?

I am having a big problem with (what I think are) Japanese beetles. They are iridescent green and brown with white spots along the sides of their abdomen, and are about the size of a dime.

I planted a crop of edamame (soybeans) and every time I visit the garden, there are dozens ... maybe even hundreds of these beetles eating the leaves. They haven't eaten anything else in my garden so far, except a few nearby green beans. I've been shaking them off or squashing them, but it seems that my efforts are in vain.

Is anyone else having this problem? At this point I'm considering getting some kind of mesh fabric to drape over the plants to create a physical barrier, since I don't want to use any chemicals on my food. Any tips would be appreciated!

Green Beans, Salad Fixin's and Kale!

On Saturday I harvested some more lettuce, onions, beats, arugala and, for the first time, green beans. They made for an excellent side dish with dinner on Saturday.

A neighbor gardener also gave me some of her bountiful harvest of kale last week. I wrapped in foil with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and peper and put it on the grill for about 12 minutes. It was the first time I ever tried cooking kale, but it turned out great.

See you all at the community gardens!

July Hothouse Gardening

The vegetables and flowers certainly like this heat and humidity - they've erupted in the past week.  Who has that 8 foot tall corn?  Wow!  And the snapdragons on the first plot next to the parking lot are stunning. The best part of the all the rain is that we don't have to haul water for a couple of days - Yeah!    I added some photos to show off our produce that was ready to harvest last weekend: beets, beans, peas, cucumber, zuchini, radish, 2 kinds of tomatoes, broccoli, basil and cilantro.  How about your plot?

How about a Garden Party?

I work for an organization called Gardening Matters, whose sole purpose is to be a resource to community gardeners in the Twin Cities. Every August, we help to organize "Community Garden Day" (formerly the Parade of Community Gardens) which is basically a day of recognition and celebration for all the work that community gardeners do to beautify their neighborhoods, increase local, healthy food consumption, and steward underutilized land. Community Garden Day this year is Saturday, August 6th, 2011.

What that means for your gardens is a party! In whatever capacity you see fit and are able. Some gardens just put out a jar of lemonade, others have a band and activities for the kids, some plant trees, some have an outdoor movie... it can be as big or small, simple or complicated as you want it to be.

Anyways, if you're interested in throwing a party in celebration of Community Garden Day, the registration is up on our website at www.gardeningmatters.org, and you can see a map of participating gardens online at www.tinyurl.com/CGDay2011 (or off of our website as well). Let me know if you have questions! Happy gardening!

Blackberries, the eating kind

A neighboring plotter share that there are blackberries - free for the pickin' - on the path down to Nine Mile Creek. I got about a cup full before the mosquitoes drove me out. I will return!

How to become a blogger

I am new to this blog thing, so I it took me a couple of days before I realized that OTHERS can't add to this blog except to addcomments on my postings, unless I give them permission to do so.  According to Google blogspot, I can add up to 100 people, so I will invite you to become a blogger if you contact me - see my Profile for an email link- and send me your email address.

Getting Started Somewhere

Hi Fellow Gardeners,

Remember the bare dirt, or better yet, the bare snow that once was the only thing covering our garden plots?  Well, we've come a long way since then - haven't we all feasted on the growing wonders of our gardens, if not the actual vegetables by now? Just like that untilled plot, I hope this blank blog page fills up with a bounty of sharing of our garden experiences, mistakes, tips, recipes and photos. Blog on!

Let me introduce myself, I am Ann, and I share plots 11 and 12 at Harrison Park with my book buddy, Michelle.  We are home gardeners looking to grow more vegetables and to get to know other gardeners in the community.  Stop and chat when you see us there.   Peace and Productivity!