Are we to look at cherry blossoms only in full bloom, the moon only when it is cloudless? To long for the moon while looking on the rain, to lower the blinds and be unaware of the passing of spring- these are even more deeply moving. Branches about to bloom or gardens strewn with faded flowers are worthier of our admiration.... In all things, it is the beginnings and endings that are interesting. Yoshida Kenko It was a beautiful day for our final "official" work day of 2017. Many, many thanks to all of you, experienced and new, who turned out so faithfully to create our gorgeous garden. Thanks, too, to Joe for providing an overview of end-of-the-season tool maintenance at our final 10 @ 10. Announcements: 1. Please join us for at Maria Wortman's at 11 a.m. next Tuesday, October 31, for our end-of-the-year pot luck lunch. Maria's address is: 15609 Amelung Lane, Derwood, MD 20855. She can also be reached at (301) 424-4719(h) or (301)928-9141 (c). For those of you who haven't attended our lunches, Maria's garden is not-to-be-missed. 2. Possible workday in November: a number of people have expressed interest in having a very optional workday early next month. Tuesday, November 7, has been suggested, weather permitting, of course. We will send out an email notice regarding extra workdays. Note from Bill and Lily: As you can see from the photos, it takes all of us to make this garden what it is! We would like to thank our amazing garden volunteers for allowing us to represent you and lead this demonstration garden. It's been a great pleasure to get to know all of you and to create this garden together with the help of your knowledge, kindness and hard work. We have tried to make a warm environment where we are all valued and appreciated. We have learned from each other and shared our knowledge. We have donated 2040 pounds of organic food to the hungry while educating our community on the fun of growing food, beneficial insects, beautiful flowers and butterflies! This will be our last function as garden leaders. This will be our last weekly report. We are excited for new beginnings as we know Susan Kirby and Carol Conrad will do a fantastic job. They will bring new ideas and new energy to the garden. You will still see us around the garden. I will join the vegetable team and Bill will help us with Grow It Eat It and around the garden! Thank you! Manna Report: Anne Kelly (Robin was out of town) 34 pound of veggies were delivered to Manna yesterday. Most of the donation was lettuce, hence the modest number. Our total for the year so far is 2040 lbs. (There are still more greens to harvest, so we may have a little more to donate.) Herb and Fragrance Garden: Kathy Tsai The chores today in the herb and fragrance were minimal. Marty deadheaded several of the basil plants, cut back the crossvine, chaste tree, and the jasmine. He also thinned out the ever-prolific lemon balm. The containers were cleaned up a bit, particularly the nasturtiums, and some light weeding was done. Next week we will take up the bay leaf and arabian jasmine plants for overwintering at home. Compost Central: Kristy Hardy Today was the last scheduled work day at the Demo garden and so clean-up was in full gear. Bin 5 which had a temp of 136 last week was 120 this week and should be ready for use in the spring. Bin 1 which was around 100 last week was 125 today and loaded with so many worms it almost looked like vermaculture.*:) happy Bin 3 is finished and ready for use in the spring and bin 4 was loaded with as many greens as I could put in today. It will have a good start when we come back in the fall. We weren't able to get all of the greens put into a bin so that pile will also be composting over the winter. Irma came to help today and says she will be back in the spring to help with compost central, but doesn't want to be a lead, so right now it's just Marlowe. Marlowe needs help in the spring when he's getting his garden together, so it won't necessarily be a full season commitment. So excited to have 3 almost finished compost piles to start the spring garden. Therapeutic Horticulture Beds: Bob Loesche Tuesday was the last regular workday in the Demo Garden, and most of the plants are winding down for the winter. But, as shown in the photos, some of our flowering plants didn't get the memo about the end of the season, an d they continue to put on a show and produce blossoms that can be used in projects. The Celosia in Bed 1 are fading somewhat, but many neon bright blossoms remain. In Bed 2 the Tithonium are continuing to produce so many bright orange flowers that I staked up one drooping stalk to facilitate more growth. In Bed 4 the Gaillardia are not giving up on the production of wonderful, bright flowers. Finally, in Bed 4.5 the pink Gomprehena are spectacular--as good as they've been all season. It's been a pleasure for Virginia and me to support TH projects throughout this year, and we look forward to seeing everyone at the TH meeting on November 30. In preparation for the meeting, please be prepared to tell us what plants you particularly liked--and didn't like--and what new additions you'd like to see added. We will greatly appreciate your feedback. If you can't attend the meeting personally, please send emails to Virginia and me with your comments and suggestions. 100 Square Foot Garden: Hope Dieckhans Today we put our garden to bed for a long winter’s nap:-) But before we said good-night we harvested all remaining plants. We picked huge bags of tomatillos, chili peppers, and lettuces. The collards and kale also contributed to the last harvest. The brassica enclosure was dismantled; PVC stakes were taken up from the ground. Finally we sowed crimson clover seeds in all the bare spots of the existing ground cover. So until next year we said g’bye to our little garden. It did well this year: ground cover and tomatillos the big successes; summer squash and cucumbers the disappointments. And how can we make those darn brassica enclosures more user friendly? Ideas for crops and structures are circling around already. Can’t wait for spring! Vegetable Garden: Erica Smith This was take-down day! We removed a lot of plants and the garden looks very tidy and end-of-season-like. Harvesting: lettuce, chard, radishes, mouse melons (5.5 pounds of them! thank you Carol for weighing), peas, sweet potatoes (roots and greens) Tending: - Pulled out Tromboncino squash, mouse melons, peas, the Malabar spinach in the annex, the last sweet potato, all the lettuce and chard. - Sweet potato bed was broken down and extra soil added to raised bed (along with shredded leaves). - Shredded leaf mulch was added to several beds. - Asparagus was cut down and bed mulched; thanks, Dan and helpers. - Leah cut the rhubarb stalks, and they may make an appearance at next week's party! We plan to move the rhubarb plants. - Ellina put the container garden to bed. - Thanks to the many helpers also including Anne, Joslyn, Yingyan, Susan, Linda, and apologies to anyone not mentioned. Many hands made light work. Noted still to harvest: - We didn't touch the various greens under row cover this week. They will continue to grow and can be harvested during November and December. - Some radishes and arugula remain in the annex bed, and more radishes in a raised bed. - Maypop passionflower was left in place for now. There are a few fruits on the vine (not very many). According to this article - http://www.eattheweeds.com/maypops-food-fun-medicine-2/ - you can harvest the fruit either green, in which case it should be cooked, or yellow, in which case it is good raw. Our fruits are still green and may turn yellow later in the fall. - Roselle hibiscus plants are still in the ground. They are not frost-hardy. If anyone wants to harvest the small fruits and use the red sepals for tea or other beverages please do. - Malabar spinach is still growing on the tall trellis next to the 100 SFG, and in the Kitchen Garden. It is not frost-hardy. Feel free to harvest for personal use, and return to harvest the black seeds (unless we pull the plants down first). We have a bit of mulching still to do, but things are in great shape. Erica here: This is my last weekly report as vegetable garden leader! I have enjoyed most of the minutes of my ten years doing this job, first alone and then with co-leaders. It's been great to watch both plants and gardeners grow. I'm indebted to our great series of DDG leaders, to my fellow MGs who have taught me so much and worked so hard, to Robin Ritterhoff who has been a great co-leader and got our produce going to a good cause on a regular basis, and to Mary Anne Normile who did such a terrific job leading the 100SFG and then moving to veggie garden leadership this year. I'm so glad they will be staying on to lead the vegetable beds, and that Lily will be joining them. I couldn't leave my beloved veggies in better hands. And I'll still be around to help! Thanks, everyone. Butterfly Garden: Peggy Stanford Today was our goodbye to the garden until spring of 2018. We heavily mulched a very weeded area along the fence and trimmed back plants falling into the paths. As in years past we are leaving the existing foliage to the birds for forage and winter protection. We are pleased that the Butterfly Garden proved to be indeed a Monarch Way Station this year. Special Projects: Carol C and Carol O The Special Projects beds have officially been put to bed until next spring. The straw bales will continue to decompose over the winter providing us with lots of great compost for next year's projects. A layer of straw was added to the top of the keyhole gardens today. Both Carols found it hard to remove the Swiss Chard and colorful Red Sails and Lollo Rosa lettuces, plus the parsley and basil from the pallets. But, with help from Karin, the deed was done. However, we could not bring ourselves to say goodby the nasturtiums which are blooming so beautifully. So, they were left for nature to eventually take its course. We also enjoyed talking with fellow gardeners who stopped by to ask questions about special Projects gardens. Children’s Garden Report: Sandy Chernin On this last official day in the garden, a small harvest for MANNA was eked out of Mr. McGregor’s garden: banana peppers, radishes, and some green peppers. A few Luffa gourds still suitable for eating were offered to MGs interested in trying them at home. Other Luffas were taken home by MGS to dry out in garages, with the hope of making sponges out of them once the gourds dry out. Many gourds were left drying out on the vine, and they should be fine until the first frost. If you are visiting the garden, feel free to take one home. (The key to making sponges is to allow the gourd to dry out – it will be quite brown when it is time to peel the skin off and shake out the seeds. The inside will need to be squeezed and cleaned until all that remains is a clean sponge.) In addition to the gourds, other plants were left intact (cotton, peanuts, lettuce, carrots, radishes). A few of us plan to return to the garden on a (hopefully) warm day in November to complete end-of-season clean-up! This seems like a good time to consider what went right and what might have gone better this year in the Children’s Garden. So the following are key reflections:
Comments: Susan Kirby
Next season there will be changes in the leadership team. Carol Conrad will join Susan as co-lead. We want to offer our great thanks to Lily and Bill who have provided such inspiring and thoughtful leadership over the past few years. Fortunately, both plan to continue working in the garden, and we (Carol and Susan) will be able to draw upon their experience and expertise. See you in the garden--at the end of March or first of April! Lily, Bill, Susan
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AuthorOur weekly reports are a joint effort of all garden leads
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