July in the Kitchen Garden

"Things are going great at the garden ... lots of food to donate to the pantry and everything is going wild ... tomatoes, cukes, beans, herbs, etc. with more greens planted for a fall harvest!"  - Iris Hiskey Arno, Roots & Wings Kitchen Garden

This summer we have nine kitchen gardeners hard at work. We’ve provided the food pantry with peas, kale, cucumbers, lettuce, and spices (sage, mint, oregano, dill, and mint) so far. Our tomatoes and tomatillos are beginning to come in, and our spice garden is constantly producing. 

One of our members donated an arched wooden trellis and we are growing cucumbers up and over it. Tomato plants were donated by Farmer Tom of the CSA and seeds and seedlings were donated by kitchen garden members. We have a thriving pollinator garden along the top of the stone wall by the street, outside the garden fence. Here echinacea (pink coneflowers), St. John’s Wort, yarrow, and milkweed not only provide a lovely splash of color but also make a wide variety of native bees very happy. We continue to maintain the pathways with wood chips from trees that were trimmed or cut down around the property—it’s an ongoing battle with crabgrass!

We work hard on our compost, which reflects our belief in permaculture and also nurtures our soil and plants. Unfortunately, the compost structure, which has stood us in good stead for a long time, is getting old and rickety and we hope to replace it soon. Likewise a section of our fence is sagging and overwhelmed by weeds. It provides neither the needed windscreen for young seedlings, nor a good space for vertical gardening. Replacing it is another needed improvement for the garden.

We gather to work together every Saturday morning, roughly from 10-12, and visitors of all ages are welcome to stop by, see what we are doing, and lend a hand if they like.

A shoutout and many thanks to Roots & Wings for this wonderful space!