Garden Progress: Week 2

During the second week of July, the garden started to take off. The squash and cucumbers were starting to grow outside of the raised beds and in an effort to keep them out of the reach of the lawnmower's path, some of the plants were staked.

 We have a plethora of squash and zucchinis. Many of them started to squeak out during the second/third week of July.
 
 

 This was the collection of zucchini and squash flowers after the first 2 weeks or so. Since they are very perishable and can't be frozen or saved, one of the volunteers took them home and stuffed them with delicious ricotta and herbs and then lightly fried them in an easy, quick batter.

 Our peppers and cucumbers were starting to take shape this week too. Have a look:

Some of the tomatoes started reaching the tops of their cages and the cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower were really starting to grow.

 A few of our garden volunteers reported seeing a bunny eating a lot of our beans and peas. So far the bunny has yet to be caught on camera but everyone's fingers are crossed that "Bugs" (the bunny's given name) will leave our peas and beans alone long enough for us to grow a few.

In case anyone was interested to see our watering set up so here it is:

It's not pretty but it's functional. As our water hookup is 50-60 feet away and requires a special key, there a few volunteers who keep one of the keys and just refill the rain barrels for the majority of those who stop in to look in on things and water when needed.

Next year, we're hoping to have a closer/easier water hook-up to the building and possibly a more sustainable method of filling those rain barrels. But progress takes time so this is just the start.

More photos/updates from the last 2 weeks of July coming later this week.

Until next time...

NJ's Veggie Patch: Week 1

It's Monday, July 28th. The summer is flying by and already half over. Apologies for the infrequent updates.

The summer has been unusually wet and slightly on the cooler side of normal for Canada's capital in June and July.

There are tons of photos of the garden now but it seems more dramatic to do a quick recap of where things started back in early July.

So without any further adieu, here is a recap and update of the Norman Johnston school garden project from week #1...

 
 End of June - raised beds were completed by an amazing group of students in the wood shop class and by the incredibly amazing teacher, Shamus. It was time for the soil to go in.

 With the effort and help from a group of student/staff/custodial volunteers, the soil went into the raised beds in record time. A big thanks to McKeown Contracting and Big Yellow Bag for their help with the soil.



After all the seedlings went into the beds on day 1, we were left with the start of a very lovely garden that looked like this:


After a week of sun and some tender loving care from all of the garden volunteers, our NJ garden was looking more like this:


We even had some zucchinis starting to really take shape:

That's where we left things at the end of the first week.

Check back for the next post soon.

Until next time...