Because we live in a condo...we can't really do the traditional thing and put a garden in the backyard or around the house. And even if we could, three REALLY big trees located on the southeast, south, and southwest sides of the house effectively block EVERY drop of sunlight trying to hit our "yard." That's awesome news for our air conditioner. But for fruit-and flower-bearing plants? Not so much.
So what to do? COMMUNITY GARDEN!!!
I'd never heard of this concept until last summer, when a co-worker who organizes one introduced me to the idea. How it works is, a couple people (or a non-profit organization/community center) get together and designate a space open for people to plant things to their hearts content. Muncie, for example, has 6 or 7 of these things. The town where I live, Anderson, has one sponsored by a university. I found it by doing a Google search, and hitting an article about it written in the student newspaper. Otherwise, you can find community gardens in your neighborhood by going to the local library, county extension office, health department, or just talking to community centers in the area. Sometimes churches even organize community gardens.
Isn't the internet GREAT?
Opening day at the Anderson University Community Garden (AUCG for short) was April 17 this year. I got 2 plots; 100 square feet in all. A great $20 investment, in my book.
So this is what I started with. I was the first one out there, evidently...
The 2-litre bottles are sunk into the ground to act as mini greenhouses for sweet pea seeds. It would have worked great, except for the 2 weeks of solid rain we got after that...so the peas drowned.
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| Tomatoes "hardening off" & corn sprouting |
On the home front, the plants I started from seed were still little. Having been exposed only to artificial light and minimal changes in temperature inside our garage, I needed to "harden off" the young plants before throwing them into the Great Outdoors. Sunburned plants, like people, are NOT happy campers!
Fortunately, the garage door gets some nice morning sun. I put the plants out there every day for a week and a half, gradually increasing their exposure to sunlight, cloud cover, wind, rain, temperature changes, and humidity.
Of course, they came in at night to protect them from the rabbits...
So in my south plot, I decided to make a salsa garden. I'm growing tomatoes, peppers, onions, and some herbs there, so it seemed appropriate.
This is what it looked like when I first planted it. I built the trellises myself, and have 6 tomatoes growing on it. There's nearly 75 onions growing on the east side.
Everything's planted on the diagonal to maximize space in the 5ft x 10ft plot.
So now on to mulching! My motto for my garden this year is "I heart mulch." It goes well for the plants, because mulch of any kind retains soil moisture and keeps the weeds down. I like it for the very same reason...YAY less watering and weeding for me!
Confession: I am cheap. So, I resolved not to spend a single penny on mulch. So I saved newspapers and laid them down in a layer nearly 0.25 inches thick. Then, I grabbed some untreated dry grass clippings from the nearby compost heap and piled them on top, leaving a nice little space for the seedlings I'd just planted. There's about 2-3 inches of grass on there, so that should take awhile to break down...
So until next time: I heart mulch!!
And then I get wonderful news....my neighbors can't take care of their plot anymore! I contact the managers; can I grow squash there, or is it already too late?
