Earlier this week (7/14/14), Rick and I divided a few hours between the Leelanau Community Garden and the one at the Historic Barns Park. At the former, Rick and Lead Volunteer Kathy Lewis mowed for a while to perk the place up a little, and we replanted a sad-looking bed of beets of which no more than a few percent had germinated. The potato plants were being consumed with gusto by a small army of Colorado potato beetles, and the 6 hills of cantaloupe planted July 7 were just beginning to break ground. Adding to our pessimistic thoughts on the future of project is the prospect of needing volunteer financing to pay the electric bill for operating the pump beginning next year: a mere $18.46 per month to provide a maximum flow of only about one gallon per minute. Surely a community that benefits from donation of an annual average of over 800 lb of fresh, organically grown produce could cough up that much. Sad.
At the volunteer-financed Historic Barns MG/SEEDS Garden, our main concern proved to be...what else...water. On that day, the pump failed. Our good friends at SEEDS have been working the problem, though; by today, someone had filled our water jugs and done a good bit of watering. I’m not sure which of our friends to thank, but Thanks! The squash, onions, garlic, beans, tomatoes, and carrots all appeared to be in good shape. No new deer damage to report! Timing being almost everything in gardening, though, we missed our green shell pea harvest season--not a very large one, but still a loss. We’re letting them dry on the vines; hopefully a local food pantry will find a good home for them.
And here at home, my vole problem continues:
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| Most of my potatoes look OK--no beetles! But here are some of my Dark Red Norlands |
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