Hurray for green, growing beings!
Last night, a small group of gardeners worked hard to cultivate the soil and remove the weeds that surrounded our large, strong crops. Growing in the garden are several varieties of tomatoes, broccoli, eggplant, peppers (hot and sweet), lettuces, dinosaur and red Russian kale, beets, peas, and a three sisters garden of corn, beans, and squash communities. We also have perennial herbs and flowers returning and some annual flowers to brighten our plots. In addition to weeding, we suckered tomatoes, a process which some of us found difficult, as it involves cutting off some unnecessary limbs and sometimes sacrificing potential tomatoes. Ultimately, however, we believe that suckering helps keeps the plants manageable and concentrates their energy on fruit production. Indeed, the tomato plants that we suckered last week were much taller than their unsuckered sisters when we checked things out yesterday.
Our harvest was plentiful! We took home bunches of kale and chard and about a pound of sweet and delicious pea pods.
Even though all the plants are in the ground and thriving, there is still more work to be done on the Simple Garden plot located behind St. Mary residence hall on St. Kate's campus. In that plot, we plan to plant some late season crops, such as greens and beets, as well as ground cover to prepare the soil for future plantings. First we must prep the soil, which is currently full of weeds, and so the more hands the better. See you Tuesday!
Peace,
Esther