Yahoo! It's April 6 and yesterday I received my community garden assignment at Greenwich Community Gardens. Almost 100 people will have plots here, all of them growing vegetables, working sustainable gardens together, learning new techniques and sharing stories. Can't wait!
With the sun shining brightly today, I take a drive to the community garden two miles from my house. My husband, PJ, accompanies me, curious to see the garden I've been talking about. We park in the community garden driveway and walk through the woods. It's quiet and peaceful. Suddenly, a dozen deer crash past us, startled, their white tails bobbing as they race from one side of the woods to the other and blend into the trees.
I see the community garden inside a vast fenced area. Raised garden beds, each four feet by eight feet, stretch to the left, right and center, enough for a community of nearly a hundred gardeners. The garden looks wan after the stubborn winter, but in two months, the beds will be green, and in four months, tomatoes will pop out red all over.
My plot sits on the north side of the garden, directly opposite the front gate. The plot seems small, but I remind myself that I am a newbie, and the plot will be more than enough work and space for year 1. (Maybe I can convince my husband to pitch in. That's him hanging out on the right side of the photograph below.)
To make efficient use of the four-by-eight plot, experienced members of the community garden suggest I map out the garden into square-foot blocks, selecting which vegetables I want to grow in which blocks and planning how I want to rotate vegetables that thrive in different parts of the growing season.
I'll be back in a few days and show you my blocked-out plan. Meanwhile, do you have tips for vegetable gardening?
More tomatoes !
ReplyDeleteDon't try to do too much and consider the timing of each veggies harvest. And start composting!
ReplyDelete