Central Library garden received a tidying up last Friday from a group of Plot Against Hunger volunteers. We weeded, tied sunflowers up against the tennis court fence, and watered. It has been very dry and our irrigation system was down for a time.
Puwen waters the cole crops by the tennis courts.
One of the plants we weeded out was purslane, which makes a nice addition to salads and is used in Middle Eastern cooking. We had thought it would be nice to let people know it was an edible wild plant, but ultimately, it spread so aggressively it had to come out. Nonetheless, if you see it in your garden, throw some in with your salad greens. It has a lemony flavor and is apparently full of omega fatty acids.
Jill with an armload of purslane!
We harvested patty pan and summer squash, okra, eggplants and some tomatoes. Now that the rabbits have been shut out of the garden, we hope to be able to harvest beans soon. Kristin trained some of the beans up their poles and pulled a lot of honey vine, which also likes to grow up the bean tipi.
The herbs are flourishing, and after Kristin’s work on the beans, they will be, too.
In preparation for fall, we planted some Malabar spinach and assorted lettuce seeds in the square foot garden and transplanted some okra there.
Kristin and Puwen work on the container gardens while Don and Jill add okra and lettuces to the square foot garden.
The Central Library Garden will be submitting a vegetable display in a basket to the County Fair, which starts Wednesday and runs through the weekend. Who knows? Maybe we’ll win a prize!
Part of Friday’s harvest.
Even if we don’t, we have lots of new vegetables coming on and plans for fall gardening. Watch the white board for information on crops, talks, and more.
This little patty pan squash probably won’t be ready for the fair.
