June 29 .....tomato plant pruning

Having a bit of an ish with photos on the blog but here goes........Last evening Hanson continued with the pruning of the tomato plants while yours truly watered the garden (thanks Capital Weather Gang for not delivering on the rain!)

With extreme care, Hanson removes some of the weaker parts of the plant to allow for growth.  Just a tip - don't remove the part with the flowers on it!  We already have some little tomatoes growing!

In go the leeks and general garden maintenance.....June 22

 Today the ground was prepped to plant the leeks......

 Hanson pulled out his totally cool "wheel swivel hoe"....this is used to keep the areas around the plants weed free and the soil turned........

 and with my very clever photography I totally hid the part that turns the soil!  What a talent!

 Michael starts placing the leeks...notice the outfit - totally important to cover up to keep the bugs away!

 Yet another clever tool!  A "Mantis mini rototiller".....the potatoes are growing like wildfire so this handy tool (1/2 horsepower) turns up the dirt onto the plant to help encourage new potato growth.  I sound like I know what I'm talking about.......HA!

The soil looks gorgeous and the plants obviously love it.....keep praying for rain!

I didn't used to love rain this much........June 20, 2011

 Our lead gardener, Hanson, has been out of town for a bit over a week on a well deserved trip to Pennsylvania.  While he was gone, the garden took off thanks to rain and a couple of man-made watering interventions (thanks Jeff!).....

 This is the view at about 9:30 the morning of June 20......

The tomatoes are ready for a little support as they grow.......When Hanson returns he'll figure out what we do next.  I'm just glad we didn't kill anything while Hanson was out of town!  Keep the rain coming!

Wow! Amazing how quickly things grow!

 This picture was taken about 9 this morning...we had a brief light shower this am and we're hoping for more rain this afternoon.......

 These are the rows of potatoes poking through the soil.......

 And a few corn plants taking root.......

Doesn't it just look great?! 

Two interesting links

Hope everyone takes a look at http://sites.google.com/site/afacplotagainsthunger/Home ....this is a really good site sponsored by the Arlington Food Assistance Center that has lots of interesting garden info from all over Arlington.  The St. Andrew's garden is part of this effort.

The second link is www.ecfvp.org/vestrypapers/caring-for-gods-creation/meeting-god-in-a-faith-garden/.....very interesting background info on one church's experience with a garden.

In goes two kinds of sweet corn.....

 The area is prepped .....

 Then this totally cool 30 year old seeder went to work (the machine, not Hanson!) - my only question is can we please design a planter to get 200 tomato plants planted in 100 degree weather?!

 If you look closely, you'll see the corn kernels (courtesy of Don and Puwen, friends from AFAC)

 Then out came the roller and the rows of corn and potatoes were rolled.  The roller weighs about 15 pounds and it helps compress the ground where items are planted.

So 98% of the garden is planted.....only the leeks need to get in the ground.  From here on out its "Pray for Rain"!!!!!!!!

Family Fun Night participants bless the garden with Jenny

 On June 3, a Family Fun Night event took place at the Rectory and we used that opportunity to take the gang to the garden and bless the work and hoped for results!  Even the dogs loved it!

 We love visitors to this beautiful place.........

 Hanson talked about the garden and the organic methods we use and everyone was impressed!

After the blessing, it was cookout time! We hope to see you back in the garden soon!

Week 1 .....and the heat continues.........

 Lots of progress this week........here is Hanson using one of his favorite tools to prep the area for potato planting.

 This tool was a donation to our garden through the Arlington Food Assistance Center and it has been a lifesaver!

 Area is being prepped for more plantings - to the left are green peppers.

 Our garden is part of the "Plot Against Hunger" effort to grow vegetables for those in need - we wear our sign proudly!

 Have no idea what this is but the picture is nice.

 Hanson has carefully and methodically measured out rows and furrows ......

 This handy tool makes sure the rows area straight..........

 And this handy tool helps direct the plantings in the right place at the right depth.

 Hanson and Michael ....

 Here's Michael placing compost....

 And we wondered why plants weren't growing in one part of the garden!  Hanson pulled this out so maybe the plants will grow now!

 Here are the potatoes given to us by AFAC....We figure with donated seeds from AFAC and time growing seedlings by Hanson, we have about $1,200 worth of plantings in the ground. 

 Jeff Knight had the great idea of planting some flowers around our proud sign!

On June 8 Hanson will plant sweet corn with his seeder and we will be just about done planting - only leeks to go.

So our garden has:  tomatoes, green peppers, tomatillos, potatoes, corn, flowers, and probably other stuff!  Keep coming back to check on progress!