We are officially a "People's Garden"! And the County loves our landscaping.......

The United States Department of Agriculture has created a "People's Garden" program that recognizes and encourages gardens like ours to exist.  I signed us up.....and they sent us a sign! 

Well, we stopped praying for rain cause we think 16 inches in August and September were probably enough!  Kind of a disappointing tomato year but everything else seemed to kind of keep plugging along.

The other big thing that happened was the County Board recognized St. Andrew's with a beautification award citing us for contributing to the positive appearance of our county.  Jim Williams accepted the award for St. A's and here he is (in the middle) with the County Board Chair Chris Zimmerman (on the left) and the county staff director on the right.  The description of our location to the board included mention of our garden!  Yeah!

Award winning photos of our youngest harvester! August 27

Is there a cuter picture of a happy St. Andrew's harvester on this stormy day? I think not!  Even with a hurricane threatening our shores, our youngest harvester and her mom made their way to the garden this morning to make sure our AFAC clients get fresh produce!

It takes a whole lot of basil to up our poundage totals!  We are at 277 pounds now with many items left to pick.  If the deer, birds, squirrels and rabbits hadn't feasted on our tomatoes our numbers would be higher!  But every pound helps!

Thanks to our St. Andrew's harvesters for all your hard work........and bring your cameras next time you harvest so we can add to our display........

Kudos to Hanson for his talk at Central Library - August 10

Through our garden work over the last 4 years, our gardener, Hanson Gildemeister, has become known in the Arlington community for some of his gardening techniques.  On August 10, he gave a talk on different trellis setups for plants.

The library garden has become a real showplace for gardeners.  It is at the main entrance and very visible to all who visit the library. 

One of our garden pals coordinates these talks and they are very well received by the community.  And we are very proud of Hanson for all of his work.........

Harvesting kicking into really high gear.....August 9

Today was Michael's turn to harvest and deliver the vegetables.......He started out admiring the flowers and clipping the dying blossoms.....the flowers are in really good shape!

On to the peppers......we have different kinds and they are growing at different speeds so he checked the different plants to see what was ready to be picked.

The okra has survived the onslaught from "Thumper" and has some pods ready to be picked.

So today's harvest totaled 59 pounds!  So far this year we have donated 175 pounds of produce to the Arlington Food Assistance Center! 

Keep praying for rain!

Our first harvest day - July 26 - thank you Jane and David Massant!

Jane is a veteran harvester......she really knows what she's doing ........here she is looking at one of the unusual kinds of okra.

Here's David looking through the okra plants so he can clip off those that are ready.

On to the green peppers. 

Plants are getting so big it can be a tad difficult to maneuver.

So Harvest Day 1 is a success! 

Surveying the lower 40 before harvesting begins.......July 25

Hanson and I did a walk through the evening of the 25th to confirm that harvesting can begin.  The garden looks lush and ready for early picking.  The dear rabbits, also God's creatures we must remember, have eaten the corn and the beans, and the squirrels carefully bit off some of the sunflowers and carefully moved them to one area and stacked them up! 

 Hanson did a quick check on the potatoes - they aren't anywhere near ready.

Same with the beets - they look ready but once pulled up the actual beet is pretty small.

Some of the okra is ready to go.

Hanson is very happy with the green peppers - we have several different kinds and all sizes and shapes and they are ready to be picked!

The tomatoes and eggplant are also right on the cusp! 

So we are good to go with our first harvesters tomorrow - Jane and David Massant!

We are fast approaching harvesting.........July 11

Laura, a dedicated AFAC staffer, visited the garden and delivered some donated seeds and clips (much needed!)......Hanson gave her a tour and a bit of a pruning lesson and I have to admit she was pretty impressed!  Our garden is a bit off the beaten track but once you find it you are dazzled!

These are the clips that were donated to AFAC and AFAC generously donated some to us.....We immediately put them in use and we are all impressed!  Michael put the clips to good use on some of the peppers and zinnias that were too big to stand on their own.

Look at this gorgeous butterfly!  He was a bit unhappy that people had invaded his space but once he settled on a flower he stayed still long enough for a quick photo op.

Michael and Hanson are tying up the very last row of tomatoes!  This completes 8 rows and gets the plants up off the ground. 

Look how far the tomatoes have come!  And how tall our sign plants have gotten!  Amazing that this whole area was planted over Memorial Day and later and we're almost ready to harvest......

June 29 - some miscellaneous pics

 Cannot believe the potatoes!  Look at them reaching for the sun........a little "lean to the left" action!  They love their home in the garden.

 The eggplants(should that be eggplant plants?!) are also thriving.

 Another potato shot with Hanson showing just how healthy the plants are.

Let's just say we won't be having corn this year.  We have two rabbits that we have decided ate the seed......but we decided not good for St. Andrew's to "eliminate" a bunny rabbit!  They can have the corn - leave the rest for AFAC!