August Work Day

Weeds, weeds, weeds... You get the idea! With the garden mowed and trimmed yesterday, 9 of us took to clearing weeds from the walking paths today. It was sweaty, dirty work, but we got a lot done. Weeding around the pollinator bed was especially hard today. Four weeks ago, our gardener who took care of that bed passed away. Clinton will be missed for his expert green thumb, his wonderful stories about growing up on a farm with seven siblings and his delicious cooking. We are all better people for knowing him.

Instead of a potluck in the heat, several of us headed to the Farmers Market for the last few minutes to grab something good to eat and something cold to drink. We're talking about potentially moving our garden work days to accommodate more of our gardeners and to get out of the blazing summer sun in July and August. Whatever we decide, we'll continue to grow delicious veggies, fruits and friendships. Clinton would like that plan.

June Garden Work Day

Busy day in the garden yesterday! We spread 12 yards (2 trailers full) of mulch around the grapes, strawberries and around the new fire pit. We had a nearly even split of adults and youth for this work day. After a few hours baking in the sun, clouds rolled in and cooled us off with a light sprinkle. We enjoyed our potluck lunch in the rain.

We are proud to announce our garden graduates!! Ron Brown graduated from the Master Gardener program through Missouri Botanical Gardens, and Jared and Claire went through their Youth Master Gardener program. Old Ferguson West Community Garden was happy to sponsor these garden superheroes. We will reap the benefits of their knowledge for many years! Congrats graduates!!

We might not have gotten all the weeds tamed, but we were proud of the work we accomplished collectively. Thanks to all our wonderful gardeners!

April Showers Garden Work Day

 

After a night of thunderstorms we couldn't get the trailer load of dirt we wanted to fill the new beds. Our change of plans turned into 2 trailer loads of mulch instead (8 yards!) The weather was cool and overcast as we spent the morning filling wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow. We also spent a couple hours weeding and planning ahead.

We sat down to our potluck lunch just after the rain came back. We huddled under the big table umbrella and enjoyed ham salad, fruit salad, guacamole, sesame pasta, brownies and banana blueberry bread. Our gardeners didn't mind the rain as we talked, laughed and shared good food.

Thank you to our wonderful gardening family and we'll see everyone next month for the Kids Spring FUN DAY!!!!

March Garden Work Day - Getting ready for Spring!!!

With spring just around the corner, our gardeners joined together for our opening garden work day. We cleaned up, cut up, built up and cracked up! This is my favorite time in the garden when every bed is a blank canvas. What we choose individually and collectively to plant transforms the garden each year. This breezy, sunny March morning was the perfect weather for the work we did.

We are rebuilding or shoring up some of the older beds over the next several months. After the ninth year of our original beds, some need some help! We also cleared vines from behind and around the mural and got it standing back up a little straighter than it has been for a few years.

As is our tradition, we enjoyed a pot-luck lunch after our work day. We enjoyed corn chowder, smoked salmon, potato salad and cornbread. Eating lunch together in the beautiful space we continue to curate is the perfect ending to a perfect garden work day!

November Garden Work Day

We had our final garden work day for the year yesterday. The morning was cool and overcast which was perfect for putting the garden to bed for the winter. We cleaned out all the communal beds, tamed and trimmed back the grape vines, cut back the asparagus and picked several buckets of apples. One of our gardeners taught us how to make wreaths from the grape vines. Another gardener served as a garden hose coiler. :)

Many hands make work go faster and yesterday was no exception. After only a few hours the garden was ready for winter. We still need to plant garlic to winter-over, and we'll trim back the apple trees and blackberries in January.

Our final potluck lunch consisted of garden-fresh parmesan green tomatoes and eggplant, the final garden salad (picked fresh), black bean soup, pizza, and cupcakes for dessert.

This has been a very successful year and I'd like to thank all of our gardeners, visitors and special guests throughout the season. We look forward to next spring and new adventures!

October - Children's Fall Social and Orchard Expansion!

It was a *VERY* busy day in the garden yesterday. We started the morning getting the garden cleaned up and ready for our young friends. Additionally, many volunteers helped dig holes for our orchard expansion.

The kids had fun with the corn on the cob eating contest, the sunflower seed spitting contest and decorating pumpkins. They also enjoyed hanging out in the garden and eating lunch on a *hot* October afternoon.

We had a few special groups join us too. Noah Campbell, the director of Memphis Center for Food and Faith literally rolled up his sleeves with a colleague and helped out before and after another food-based event they attended in Ferguson at St. Stephens.

Another great group that came was Gateway Greening's Giving Grove program. The program "helps at-risk communities grow, harvest and share healthy food by providing the resources needed to plant edible tree gardens..." We were lucky enough to be chosen as the first site in the St. Louis area! Our garden still has 5 out of 6 of our original apple trees. The group helped replace the 6th apple tree (Enterprise), added 2 European Pear trees (Sunrise and Harrow Delight) and added 4 Bush Cherries (Carmine Jewel). We were given a thorough lesson in planting fruit trees so they will have the best chance to succeed. We were also given a good lesson on pruning that will help our harvest next year. It's never too late to learn new things!


Many thanks to all who helped, stopped by, participated and simply enjoyed the beautiful space!!

September Garden Work Day

A sunny morning greeted our smaller gardening crew. We managed to put a large dent in the weeding and harvesting before we stopped for lunch. We had several visitors at the garden today, including many butterflies in the pollinator bed.

Our potluck in the shade was the highlight of the day. We enjoyed black bean soup and spaghetti squash with butternut squash sauce and cheese. As one of our gardeners said, "there are no rules with vegetable dishes!"

Thanks to all of our gardeners, and we look forward to the Children's Fall Fun day next month!!

August Garden Work Day

We had a beautiful day for our work day yesterday. We tried to tame the weeds and clean the pathways up a bit. We harvested pounds of peppers and tomatoes as well as carrots, eggplant, potatoes and grapes. We never seem to be able to grow enough grapes to make wine, but we picked enough to dream about it some day. Community Garden wine sounds like a fun addition to a pot luck.

Speaking of pot lucks, we had leftovers from the community garden food booth the night before. Dessert was a refreshing key lime pie. Stuffed and tired, we hung around telling stories and laughing for a couple of hours. I can't imagine a better setting to spend with friends and neighbors. Thank you to all our gardeners, and enjoy the bounty!

July Garden Work Day

We had a smaller crew today due to summer schedules, so we agreed to end early, forgo our regular potluck and migrate to the Ferguson Farmers Market for lunch. :-)

The morning was spent trimming, weeding and harvesting. For the first time we have volunteer melon plants in the pathways! We decided to leave them there and train them in to nearby beds. We also have volunteer tomato plants and zinnias. Peppers and weeds are loving this hot weather.

On the list of harvesting was carrots, beets, potatoes, peppers, beans, tomatoes and an abundance of mint. In fact, the communal potato bed has mint growing around it. Those might be good potatoes to serve with mutton!

Thanks to all of our gardeners for continuing to grow friendships and food in our community.

June Garden Work Day

Blue skies and sunshine highlighted our garden work day today. We spent the morning weeding the beds and the paths, tilling a new communal vegetable patch, and doing some light construction. We also harvested peas, radishes, carrots, cucumbers and various lettuces.

We worked up quite an appetite! Our potluck lunch was devoured in no time. We had butternut squash lasagna, pasta salad, garden-to-table salad, pizza, macaroon brownies and ice cream cones!

Thanks to all our gardeners for all of your hard work!