Victory Garden's Main and West, and Wright Gardens

Lucky girl that I am, a friend recently offered me one of two community garden plots that she maintains each season.  Due to a family matter that requires her attention, my friend knew that she would not have the time to make use of both of her plots this year, and also doesn't want to lose one of them by not using it or sacrificing it altogether.  The plot is being loaned to me this year and the plan works out perfectly for both of us.  The yield for our larder will increase tremendously, and my friend will maintain her second community garden plot.

My dream of having farmette, or at least two sunny, tillable acres, feels somewhat real with the three garden spaces I'm keeping this year.  There's the garden at my parent's house (Victory Garden Main), our garden plot (Wright Gardens), and now the community garden plot (Victory Garden West).

Planted at Victory Garden West:
Eggplant (4)
Celery (8)
Sweet corn (heirloom) (73)
Decorative corn (24)
Green cabbage (6)
Red cabbage (6)
Honeydew melon (2)
Yellow Crookneck squash (3)
Butternut squash (4)
Broccoli (1)
Cauliflower (4)
Tomato (Box Car Willie, heirloom) (1)
Melrose pepper (2)
Poblano pepper (2)
Serrano pepper (4)
Red bell pepper (6)
Green bell pepper (7)

Planted at Wright Gardens:
Green cabbage (3)
Red cabbage (2)
Celery (1)
Sweet corn (25)
Cucumber (1)
String bean (3)
Drying beans (4 varieties, 10 of each)
Leek (2)
Green bell pepper (3)
Red bell pepper (1)
Jalapeno pepper (2)
Kale (12)
Radish
Red beet
Golden beet
Carrot
Tomato (9 varieties, heirloom)
Lettuce (mixed greens)
Lettuce (head) (4)
Garlic (2 varieties) (84)
Pumpkin (pie) (2)
Honeydew melon (1)
Yellow Crookneck squash (1)
Cantaloupe (4)
Fennel, basil, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, scallions, parsley, tarragon, oregano, sage, chives, and dill

Planted at Victory Garden Main:
Tomato (cherry) (4)
Tomato (2 varieties, heirloom) (3)
Cucumber (1)
Garlic (2 varieties) (60)
Parsley, basil, and dill

PLENTY!

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"If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine.  You get in touch with Mother Earth and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation.  If we chew every morself of our food in that way we become grateful and when you are grateful, you are happy."   -Thich Nhat Hanh

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Enjoy the photos below.  Click on 'em to view in a larger format.

Blooms are everywhere!

This is a Mexico Midget tomato plant, and the fruit will get no larger than this.
They are said to be packed with a robust flavor despite their small size.

Nothing compares to Mother Nature's architecture.

I let our sage and chive plants bloom, and they're beautiful.

Strawberries are forming!

Black raspberries are forming!  Red raspberries, too.

Pictured here is Victory Garden West.  It was hard to crop the photo to show only the plot I have without losing perspective of its size.  It's the plot with the purple tub, and is 43' long by 25' wide.

Today I spied this crazy looking insect in the yard.  It looks like part earwig, part shrimp.

May your garden grow healthy and well.


http://WrightGardenChronicles.blogspot.com
http://WrightGardenRecipes.blogspot.com

2013 garden planning officially begins!

It's decided - Brussels sprouts will not be grown in Wright Gardens this year.  As much as I love eating those delectable miniature cabbages, I've just not had luck growing them.

During the past two summers, the sprouts have never formed into compact heads.  I suspect the summer and fall temperatures were not cold enough.  Rather than sacrifice space in the garden this year, not to mention nutrients from the soil, I will leave the growing of Brussels sprouts to others with more acreage and experience with that particular Brassica oleracea.

Okra is tasty in jambalaya and gumbo, and the plant has beautiful flowers, but it will not be grown in the garden this year either.  Beans will be grown instead.  Beans for drying, to be exact!  The beans we've selected are:

Cherokee Trail of Tears

Good Mother Stallard Pole

Hidatsa Red Indian

Brockton Horticultural

To grow these beans I'm going to plant them according to Iroquois 'Three Sisters' method.  The three sisters are corn, beans, and winter squash.  To sum up why these three plants work so well together, the corn stalks act as living supports for the beans; the beans pull nitrogen from the air that benefits all three plants; and as the squash leaves shade the ground surrounding all three plants, they help keep moisture in the soil as well as weeds at bay.

The following web sites expound upon this ancient philosophy-

The Old Farmer's Almanac

LeslieLand.com

National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA):  Download the free .pdf file.
The "Ancient Companions" section begins on page six; however, all of the information included in the document is interesting.  This web site is also mentioned in the Leslie Land article.  (I can't figure out how that acronym works either.)

The corn that will be grown in this trio of plantings is Seneca Red Stalker.  It's very colorful and, if all goes well, we should have plenty to share with family and friends for fall decorations.

Wright Gardens is going to become larger this year and I couldn't be more thrilled!