Garden at Kearney Center/Homeless Shelter

Cucmbers

Spring vegetables have been planted and are growing well.  Micro irrigation has been installed and is working well.  The fall vegetables received rave reviews from kitchen staff and residents.  Everyone is looking forward to the summer harvest of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and eggplants. 

Tomatoes
 

Open House at the Demo Garden, Saturday May 7, 9 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Elaine preparing beds for planting

The VegHeadz are busy getting ready for the Open House on May 7.   Spring vegetables are growing well, and the perennial edibles are beginning to make an appearance.  They usually look their best during summer and fall. 

We'll be selling cuttings from some of our perennial vegetables at the plant sale, and seedlings from our beautiful fall-blooming sunflowers.  There'll be lots of other plants for sale also. 

Come stroll through the six horticulture gardens, xeriscape garden (no water), fruit orchard, and much more.  Exhibits, bee hives, refreshments, music.  All for your enjoyment.

In vegetable garden we'll be showing off our spring and summer vegetables in conventional rows, raised beds, square foot, hydroponic, and container gardens.   Master Gardeners and Extension Agents will be on hand throughout the gardens to guide you and answer questions.   Come join us in the garden on May 7.  We look forward to seeing you.

Flyer

Cathy getting mushroom compost

Some of the VegHeadz after we had retrieved two
truckloads of horse droppings mixed with sawdust to
add to our compost bins

Does Gardening Make Us Happy?

 The VegHeadz  are a happy crew.   Some recent scientific studies have shed a light on one of the reasons.   There are microbes in the soil which are absorbed by gardeners that mimic the effect of antidepressants. I know I'm happier when I'm gardening and we do a lot of laughing. Follow the link below to find out more. And come join us in the garden!

Gardening Makes Us Happy

Exciting VegHeadz Garden Changes

Getting started on our project - lots of weeds

This week the VegHeadz workday was spent reclaiming a portion of the Bed 5 horticultural garden at the Leon County Extension Office..

Thanks to Extension agents Trevor, Mark and Kelly, and the gardeners who work so hard in Bed 5, we were ceded this area to provide access to raised beds at the top of the vegetable garden and for eventual expansion of the VegHeadz garden into that area of Bed 5.

Bed 5 gardeners may have been glad to get rid of that area.  It has been a source of frustration for them as the weeds seemed to be unstoppable.  For the VegHeadz, it is a chance to plant in an area with more sun than what is available at the bottom of the vegetable garden. 

We started by transplanting a few of the clumps of garlic chives that had overtaken the area, and repositioning some blackberry plants along the fence.  We hope they'll provide some fruit in the spring.  We pulled the worst of the weeds, and then covered the area in cardboard and wood chip mulch. 


The fence between that area and the vegetable garden was removed to provide better access.  A portion of the fence at the corner was left to support the fall sunflowers that grow there as well as to provide support to the fence on the East side of Bed 5. 



Blackberry canes along fence

 The bed will be allowed to "mellow" as the cardboard and mulch suppress the weeds, and plans will be made to add some beds in the fall or next spring.   We're thinking of a series of "cottage" gardens incorporating ornamentals and edibles to demonstrate what homeowners can do in their yard to grow vegetables along with their established plantings.  We'll keep you updated as the plans develop. 


Fence removed between gardens

 

Lots of VegHeadz turned out for this project

Weed suppression with cardboard and mulch which will be allowed to
compost in place for several months

Free Seeds

Free vegetable seeds are now available at all branches of the Leon County Library.  Anyone with a library card can obtain three packets of seeds.  There are 10 options to choose from.  Better go today. They disappear fast.

Spring is in the air

If we didn't  know better, we would think it is time to start planting spring vegetables. But we know from experience there may be at least one more freeze coming before spring. In the meantime several VegHeadz have been starting (or attempting to start)  seedlings  for use in the demo garden and for their own use. Advantages of starting your own seedlings include obtaining access to a much wider variety of plants and saving the cost of buying commercial seedlings.

Growing your own seedlings can be tricky and requires  an initial moderate investment for grow lights or cold frames and daily attention to your developing plants. The satisfaction of trying some new varieties should be worth it.

Vegetable Seeds for All

Volunteers have been diligently counting and packing seeds for 10 varieties of spring vegetables which will be available at all branches of the Leon County Library beginning February 13, 2016.  This joint project of the Library, Sustainable Tallahassee, and the UF Leon County Extension office is entering its second year and third planting season of making seeds available to anyone who has a library card.

Each library patron can select three varieties to "check out" for free while they last.   Due to the popularity of the seeds last year, the seed supply has been increased, but we suspect they will still be gone in a hurry. Included in the selection are two varieties of tomatoes, two sweet peppers, okra, eggplant, two varieties of squash, basil, and green beans.  All are desirable heirloom varieties which are suitable for seed saving at the end of the growing season to provide seeds for the next year's crop.

February 13 is also an important date for the Leroy Collins Leon County Public Library.  A celebration of the 25th anniversary of the main library at its location on Park Avenue is planned.  There will be a variety of special events, free gifts, and lots of fun, so plan to attend.  The library has thrived at this convenient location in the center of town on the site previously occupied by Leon High School and Lively Technical School in past years.  More information will be available soon through local news sources and on the library website. 

Adopt-A-Garden

It's exciting to learn of all the vegetable gardens around the city at churches, in schools, in parks, and other places.  There are also lots of groups who are thinking about starting a garden.  The Leon County Extension Office is sponsoring a program headed up by Extension Agent Molly Jameson which will provide a hand up to these programs.

Called Adopt-A-Garden, we are looking for volunteers to mentor one or more of these groups.  Volunteers can choose which gardens they are interested in.   Would you rather work with children?  Do you already have a connection with one of them, or live in their area, etc. 

Mentoring might involve just helping to find answers to gardening questions, or pitching in on garden work days, or helping to select seeds and plants which will grow well in the area selected, or teaching gardening skills, or giving or arranging presentation to the group--the type of help and the amount of time involved is  up to the volunteer and the gardening group they have selected.

No need to be a Master Gardener, although Master Gardeners are certainly encouraged to share their knowledge, but anyone with some gardening knowledge or experience, or teaching skills, or just a willingness to learn and find answers along with the group can participate.  All are welcome. 

Check out the Adopt-A-Garden website to find out more, including the list of gardens which have requested help.  We hope you'll consider adopting one of the gardens on the list. 

Leon County Libraries will distribute Vegetable Seed again this Spring - Volunteers needed

Thanks to Molly Jameson, Leon County Extension Agent for sustainable agriculture and community food systems, who is spearheading the library's vegetable seed distribution effort.  Seeds for this spring are in and volunteers are needed to package them.

All work will take place in the board room of the main library, 3rd floor (200 W. Park Ave.)  They will provide refreshments.

If you are interested in volunteering, all you need to do is show up on any of the following dates: 

Seed Packing Dates:

Wednesday, January 13, 2-4 PM
Saturday, January 16, 1-4 PM
Sunday, January 17, 1-4 PM

Wednesday, January 20, 2-4 PM

Saturday, January 23, 1-4 PM
Sunday, January 24, 1-4 PM

Wednesday, January 27, 2-4 PM

Saturday, January 30, 1-4 PM
Sunday, January 31, 1-4 PM

If needed:

Wednesday, February 3, 2-4 PM
Saturday, February 6, 1-4 PM

 Please help spread the word!

Perennial Vegetables Available Locally

Chaya

We hear Tallahassee Nurseries is now carrying a few perennial vegetables including Chaya and a perennial spinach.  If you shop there, please let them know it's appreciated and perhaps suggest some others for them to offer.

New Master Gardeners

Congratulations to the new Master Gardeners who received their certificates at the Leon County Extension yesterday (12/7/2015) at our Holiday celebration and quarterly meeting. Congratulations and thanks particularly to those who have volunteered in the VegHeadz demonstration garden.  Their help and enthusiasm have been invaluable in maintaining the garden in its best form ever.

We also heard a great presentation from Dr. Peter Anderson from the UF North Florida Education and Research Center in Gadsten County. His specialty is sustainable fruit and nut crops for north Florida.   Both his presentation and his handout were very informative.

The VegHeadz also shared information about and rhizomes from three edible gingers in the VegHeadz garden--Galangal, Turmeric, and Ginger Root, as well as Arrowroot.  They disappeared like snow in July.  Hope everyone who got some has success in growing and using them.  Also hope we get reports of their results.  Feedback is always good.

Macon Community Garden Upgrade

 

On a recent Saturday garden members, neighborhood residents, Master Gardeners, and other high school and community volunteers joined together to upgrade the gardens at Macon Community Garden.   Under the guidance of Patricia Byrd and Lizette Kelly, an amazing amount of work was accomplished in just a few hours.

The students were given a short course in using garden tools. Many new raised beds were built, filled with compost, and planted with a variety of fall vegetable seedlings.  The grounds were cleared of some volunteer trees and vines around a big beautiful pine tree at the front of the garden, and a van full of fresh vegetables from Calvary, Georgia were sorted, packed and distributed by the students around the Macon neighborhood.  Vegetables distributed included collards, sweet potatoes, and onions. 

It was a beautiful and productive day, and a good time was had by all. 

 

Patricia Byrd and the ultimate plane for Macon Community
Garden created by an FAMU student volunteer

Lizette Kelly supervising building of garden beds

New beds were quickly put together

Garden Soil and compost on hand

 

And filled with soil and compost

Then the planting began

Soon the new beds and the existing beds were filled with green

An abundance of vegetables for distribution to the Macon neighborhood

The Master Gardener volunteers

 

Fall Harvesting Has Begun

Buddha packing vegetables for delivery

After several weeks and lots of rain, we returned to the garden to find a lot of weeds--and a lot of vegetables for harvest and delivery to the Kearney Center for the Homeless.  It's very rewarding to be able to share the fruits of our garden.

A cornucopia of fall vegetables and some surprises

We were able to pick a variety of salad greens, radishes, and herbs.  The most pleasant surprise was tomatoes and peppers that had been planted in August.  Thank you Louie for your late summer experiment.  Unfortunately most of our winter greens--collards, kale, etc., have been too ravaged by small caterpillars to share.  We have dusted with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) and we hope new growth on the plants will fare better.  Aphids have also been a problem in this warm weather, but we did see a lady bug out hunting.  Watch out aphids!

Just a couple of Better Boys, but still a good
surprise

As usual, the cherry tomatoes did best

Big healthy peppers in November

Other task included weeding, including the nice row of hairy vetch cover crop (not many weeds managed to grow there), and thinning carrots in our container gardens.

Janyce checks for weeds in the hairy
vetch cover crop

Kathy is thinning carrots in one of
our container gardens.  Note the
baby carrot on the adjoining bucket.
They're coming along just fine.

Kearney Center Garden

Recently, many volunteers came together to organize and build a garden at the Kearney Center for the homeless.  Master Gardening Student Carroll Murrell coordinated the building project and over a period of a couple of weeks, eight beautiful 8 x 10 raised beds were built, filled with garden soil and compost, amended with worm castings, and planted with winter vegetables.  It is truly a labor of love.  This week, only a few weeks later, the first meal was served using greens and lettuce from the garden to supplement the meal being served.   Thanks to Extension Agent Molly Jameson, to Carroll and to all the many others who contributed to the establishment of this beautiful garden. 

A number of shelter clients participated in the construction and planting.  It is hoped that they will continue to be involved.   Even among the observers there were many reminiscing about childhood memories of family gardens and the delicious meals produced from them.

On the planning board are a micro irrigation system and compost bins. 

Garden Resources

 
 
 
 

The VegHeadz have located a source of free compost materials--fresh horse manure mixed with sawdust.  We composted some last year and used it as an amendment to our rows with good results.  Last week we made another run and got two pickup loads.  We have three new piles of compost working.  It should be ready for us when we prepare our garden for spring crops.   Who knew hauling horse manure would be such fun. 

 

VegHeadz Garden News

A Wednesday work day in the garden

Have we ever been busy in the VegHeadz garden this fall!  All garden beds have been refreshed with composted wood chips from the aisles between the rows, weeds are under control, a new gate opening to the mulch pile has been completed, and fall crops have been planted.

Most of us have been showing up on our new work day, Wednesday, which seems to be working out well.   Others come when schedules permit,

We are preparing to show off our garden during Tallahassee's Seven Days of Local Delights, the last week of October.   Our garden will be on a tour on October 29 from 4-6 p.m.  However our garden is open every day if you'd like to visit and if you come on Wednesday morning, we'd be delighted to show you around.

Louie and Laurie work on the herb gardens

Cathy and Elaine are planting fall crops in C rows

Thanks, Mike, for our new garden gate

The gardening crew on one fun Wednesday morning