Do NOT touch the water system!

Attention!!! As we've said before PLEASE DO NOT ADJUST ANY PART OF THE WATER SYSTEM! (Unless you are Trish!) Someone turned it on this weekend and created some leaks as the pressure is too high. This takes volunteer time and money to fix. No matter how much you want to touch the system, DO NOT! Thank you!

Coconut Curry w EGGPLANT!

Wondering what to do with all of that amazing eggplant from the garden?  Our garden member Laken made this yummy coconut curry for the potluck last night. 

Coconut curry recipe from Laken:

1/2 c unsalted butter
1 yellow onion
1 TB curry powder
1 c unsalted chopped cashews
1/2 c shredded coconut
2 c unsweetened coconut milk
2 c vegetable broth
8 baby eggplant ( I also used tomato. any veggies really)
1 cinnamon stick
1 dried red chile( I used a small green chili, red pepper powder and chili powder)
lemon juice and mint for garnish

1. melt 1/4 c butter in large pot. add onion ad curry. cook til soft.
2. add nuts, coconut and milk, and broth. simmer 15-20 mi
3. chop eggplant into small chunks ( I also added tomatoes). place in deep skillet with remaining 1/4 butter. and cook until charred and sticky
(it then says to puree the nut/ milk mixture but I didn't)
4. Pour milk mixture over eggplant, simmer 15 min with cinnamon stick and chile.
5. garnish with lemon juice and mint to bring out flavor. salt to taste. put with naan or rice!
Enjoy!

First August Garden Session

We are on tonight for garden session! Bring your weeding fingers (and toes if you are that dexterous!), we've tons of weeds to address! After a solid hour of weeding (and thinning carrots & baby chard as needed) we'll move onto harvesting all of the ripe: beans, tomatoes, TOMATILLOS, squash, cucumbers, eggplant, and peppers. We'll need to go through the tomato vines to find them all. Then harvest your own greens: kale, chard, arugula, herbs, radishes, beets. Finally- at 7 we'll wrap it up so we can enjoy a fun potluck social! See you all for a fun evening!

First Community Garden Potluck of the Season: Next Tuesday!

Join us for our first potluck at the garden on Tuesday, August 6 after the work session! Feel free to join us even if you cannot make the work session from 5:00-7:00.

harvest on July 30

Invite your families and friends including anyone who might be interested in the community garden! Bring a dish to share, a chair, and your own plate/utensils.

Week of 7/30

Happy Tuesday! That means it's garden night! Join us this evening from 5:00-7:00PM!

There are still a lot of weeds! Weed in the rows, between the rows, under plants (especially the squash, it's getting to be quite the jungle over there; pull out any beans under the squash. These are volunteers from last year and and are contributing to the jungle), even pull weeds in the driveway and around the edge of the garden.

Check for squash bugs!

Also check for aphids on the kale

Harvest anything that MUST be harvested, i.e. green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, tomatillos (things that will get too big if we leave them)

From the things that will be fine as long as we let them grow (i.e. chard, kale), harvest for your own personal use


As a reminder, there has been a group meeting on Saturday mornings at the garden as an alternate work session. Feel free to join them or to work on your own time!

Tomatillos

Crookneck squash and cucumbers

Different varieties of basil

Tomatoes and Eggplant harvested last week

Tuesday session: new activities!

Happy Tuesday! It's garden session tonight! To do: weed (pull put grass in the back beds by hand and shake off as much of the good soil as possible so we don't throw it away!), hoe up mounds of dirt around the potatoes in the front bed (leave about 6 inches of plant above the soil), stake and sucker tomatoes, and harvest! For harvest pick all the beans; look for 6" plus eggplants, 6" yellow crook necks and plump cucumbers; pick any basil tops that are flowering; and harvest your own personal handfuls of greens. Please make sure all tools make it back into the shed at the end of the night and last person to leave locks it! And once again, please do NOT adjust any watering! And have fun!

Weed-a-thon tonight! :)

Don't forget our gardening session tonight from 5-7! We'll be doing similar things to last week, but first and foremost if everyone would pull weeds for a full hour that'd be great, especially in the back herb beds and front perennial area near the street. To do: weeding, suckering tomatoes, replant carrot bed w chard, make sure all drip tape is facing holes-up. See you soon!

Irrigation system

A note to all gardeners, we have set the irrigation system on a timer with the right pressure so please do not change/turn-on/off/adjust any of the system. If you think there is a problem send an email to gjmainstreetcommunitygarden@gmail.com ad someone will take a look at it! Thanks!

Work session tonight: tis the weeding season

Happy Tuesday! Today we'll be pulling weeds (need to get a handle on them now!), suckering tomatoes, staking tomatoes, replanting seeds that didn't germinate, clipping flowering basil, and harvesting some greens. 

This is a goat head plant, they've all GOT to go!! Use a spade to help get out the roots and put them in the trash!

Weeds are taking over... But since they are still small they are easy to pull out 😄

This is a tomato sucker, a leaf or stem that is growing between the main stem and a main branch. These we pinch out and remove, as shown below! 

Saturday Work Sessions!!

Beginning this Saturday, June 8, we will be holding Saturday morning work sessions at 9AM!

We know you can't all make it out on Tuesday evenings so we are designating Saturday mornings as a second option for a group work session. Saturday mornings will be less "structured" than Tuesday's sessions, but we will update this blog weekly (as well as our Facebook page) about what needs to be done at the garden.

This week:

mostly WEEDING!!

In the rows, between the rows, and even around the garden and in the driveway. At this point, I think all of the rows are planted. Watch for tiny greens, carrots, basil, beets, etc. just coming up.

If someone wants to take on the front section (the area between the road and the sidewalk) there are a lot of weeds in there as well.

Almost everything is in the ground at the garden! Thanks gardeners for all your help planting starts and direct seeding.

A few photos from our planting sessions:

Planting chard and kale starts

Laying drip tape

Kale

Staking drip tape

Planting!!

We will be planting the garden during the next two Tuesday evening work sessions! Please plan to attend at least one of the planting sessions:

Tuesday, May 7, 5-7pm:

finish setting up the irrigation system

lay black plastic

plant kale, chard, basil, and other herb starts

begin direct seeding carrots, beets, beans, squash, lettuce, etc

Tuesday, May 14, 5-7pm:

plant tomato, pepper, eggplant starts

any other direct seeding

Flowering!

Our first strawberries of the season are flowering! This will be our first year for strawberries since we just planted the plants last year.

Also flowering: the always happy, Johnny-Jump-Ups! These are great little edible flowers that dress up any salad!

Great first session!

We had a great sign up and first garden session! The garden has been nicely tilled (a special thanks goes out to Curtis!) and we spent the evening mainly cleaning weeds out from along the edges. We pulled more weeds than maybe ever before! The best way to stay on top of weeds is to start early in the season with a blank slate. We also staked the rows that will be built this week. Stay tuned for more info on next week's session!

Sign-up for 2013 is this Tuesday from 5:00-7:00PM at the garden.

Hello Main Street Community Gardeners!

Sign-up for 2013 is this Tuesday from 5:00-7:00PM at the garden.We will also be having a work session (weather permitting) to till up the rows, remove rocks and weeds, and install the irrigation. Should be a super productive evening! We'll also have lemonade and a snack at the sign-up table. =)

Each member must complete a garden registration form and pay the $35 per household membership fee (checks made out to Cameron Place CSA). We will once again be limiting membership to 40.

Due to feedback from last year we will be sending out fewer emails and relying more on this website to relay detailed info on plants, to do lists, and other fun tidbits. We will not be sending out weekly reminders for Tuesday work sessions. Please assume that the weekly work sessions will be held every Tuesday from 5-7pm (weather permitting). Throughout the season, members will be required to participate in a beginning of the year event and an end of season event (planting and cleanup) as well as 10 hours throughout the season, which can be completed at any time. In order to allow everyone to keep better track of their participation, there will be a sign up sheet located on the side of the tool-shed. Every week there will be a garden leader who will be responsible for helping direct the activities, weeding, planting and harvesting for the evening. For more information about garden expectations, see below. =)

Keep in mind our garden is all natural and herbicide and pesticide free! (This means more manual weeding and sometimes creative ways to address bugs!) For those of you that are new, we plant the garden together, meet on Tuesdays to care for the garden and harvest once a week. Everyone present on Tuesdays is encouraged to take home a share of veggies. For people that can't make Tuesday evening work sessions you should plan on working and harvesting at a time that works for you.

Please let us know if you want to be a garden leader or waterer this summer, these are critical to keeping the garden going! Additionally, please let us know if you have any new ideas for the garden or would like to take on a specific role. We always welcome new ideas and more involvement in the garden!

We're all looking forward to a great season, and we hope to see you at the garden this evening!

____

GJ Main Street Community Garden Membership Expectations 2013

• Each gardener is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the common garden. Watering, weeding, harvesting and any other garden related maintenance are responsibilities which are shared among the community but expected of each gardener according to the schedule and commitment made at the beginning of the season.
• A limited number of tools and watering equipment (watering cans, shovels, etc.) will be available in the community garden storage shed for use during the regularly scheduled work time each week.
• Regularly scheduled work sessions will be every Tuesday evening from 5:00-7:00pm throughout the season. We will not send out an email every week as we have in the past. Instead, we will post changes and updates on the website.
• There will be a garden work session leader for each Tuesday work session. The leader will list weekly tasks for the session on a white board.
• If you cannot attend a Tuesday work session, you may work at another time that is convenient for you. We ask that each member put in at least 10 hours of work throughout the season and attend the planting day and fall cleanup at the end of the season. There will be a sign-in sheet posted on the side of the garden shed. Please sign in each time you work at the garden.
• Children are welcome in the garden! Please ensure our young gardeners are accompanied by an adult for their safety.
• Each gardener must complete a registration form.
• Garden times are from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. All gardeners are asked to enjoy and work in the garden during these times.
• The application of herbicides (weed killers) and pesticides to the garden plots is strictly prohibited.
• Membership fees ($35 per household) are due in full by May 22, 2012.
• We will have a group harvest during Tuesday work sessions. Each gardener may take home a portion of the harvest and the surplus produce will be donated to the Grow Another Row charitable outlet which distributes the produce to area food banks and emergency food programs in Mesa County.
• The common garden is an intentional attempt at providing organic food, grown locally for the neighborhood. In this vein, any gardener who harvests and sells produce from the Main Street Community Garden for personal financial gain will have their membership revoked without refund.
• Dogs are not allowed within the garden fence at any time. Dogs may accompany their owners to the garden property but should be restrained outside of the planting area in order to maintain the cleanliness of the produce being grown.

Vote for your faves!

Hello Garden Peeps!  Please vote for your favorite veggies etc on the poll to the right of this post before March 22nd.  You may choose as many favorites as you want.  If you have other comments or suggestions (or strong dislikes...anyone else hate picking okra as much as i do?!), please feel free to post them below. We will try to make the garden as tailored to everyone's input as seeds/transplants/availability allows. ~ilana

Seed Swap

There is an organic gardening group in Grand Junction that is holding a seed swap at the Botanical Garden

When: Sunday, February 10 at 2:00pm

What: Bring seeds to swap, envelopes for seeds, sense of humor. Seeds can be store bought, saved seeds, or plant cuttings. Please mark donations with the species, variety, date of harvest or any other pertinent information. (Please take only a portion, and do save seed from what you take, so you can bring it to the next seed swap!)

This is a great opportunity to pick up some new seed varieties (either for your personal garden or the community garden) and to meet other gardeners!