Gardening.... A Gateway Drug!

In the words of Roger Doiron, founding director of Kitchen Gardeners International:

"...It's not long after you plant a garden that you start to say...

'Hey, I need to start to learn how to cook!' "




Thank you, Twitter Feed!

(Yup, Growing in Franklin is on the Twitter, check us out! See who we follow, too!)

We get the Best Mail.

We're all aglow.

Yes, veggies were grown. And eaten. And Shared. But....

When you turn green beans into Friends, well, a whole new world opens.

This is what it is all about.

Growing veggies = great,

Growing Gardeners = Outstanding!

Thank you for allowing us to share your note, Mary Cotillo!

*****

"I've been meaning to write (but never seem to find time) to share some of the stories about our garden.  We grew tomatoes, beans, sugar snap peas, radishes, broccoli,carrots, green peppers, basil, and rosemary.  My four year old son was a huge fan of the garden.  Any time we were in the car and turned as we would to get to King Street, he would ask if we could check on our "beanie friends."  (I worried that identifying the beans as friends would make him reluctant to eat them.  Not so!  He loved to pick and eat them straight from the plant.)  While my daughter would practice soccer, my son and I would visit our "beanie friends."  He loved returning to the soccer field munching on a carrot with the greens still attached - "like a bunny."  Both kids loved seeing the sprouts grow, and they really loved eating the final product.  At dinner the other night, my daughter (9) picked at her pork chop, my son wouldn't touch his mashed potato, but they both ate two servings of green beans!  

Thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity. " 

Sincerely,

Mary Cotillo

8th Grade Language Arts

Horace Mann Middle School

You are so very, very Welcome!

(ssshhh..........I hear beets make great friends, too.........see you all next spring!)

September in the Garden: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

September.  It always starts out summer day hot, and always ends in chilly morning frost here in our corner of New England.

In the garden, it is the best of times.  It can also be downright Ugly.
Ugg-ah-lee.

The tomatoes are trying to do everything at once.  They are at death's door and they know it; they hang on for just one more day of warm sun.  Most of the leaves on the vines have succumbed to whatever ill has come through, yet the ends are still alive and growing and setting fruit.

***

Below:  from the Pantry's Giving Garden.  

These will continue to ripen and will be delivered as they turn. 

There is double that amount still waiting for harvest.

Give 'em a week.  They are still looking healthy.  

***

It is a gamble, the picking game.

Too early, they won't turn.

Too late, they'll spot or crack.

Too cold, they will liquefy.

Last week's delivery was this:

Today's, a bit smaller:

It will dwindle to nothing soon.  

Come on, Garden.  Keep cranking those veggies out. 

I think you are beautiful.

Ugly at times:

 but mostly beautiful.

August in the Garden

Hello Everyone,

The gardens are looking incredible.  Keep up the good work!


Many thanks to the Franklin DPW for our newest sign and recent waterworks tweaks.

Also a public thank you to a certain friend of the community gardens (ahem, that's you, Diane Rappa) for the donation of 3 compost bins she set aside for us last year!  They're up and running (or should that be cooking?)

Here's a couple of pics from the garden front:

Merrie Whitney's first tomatoes of the season!

2 cases of lettuce from the Giving Garden Beds for the Franklin Food Pantry, wow!

green and wax beans, also headed to the Pantry



Here's the gardenmail in case you missed it:

A notice to all Franklin Community Gardeners:

1-Please harvest your produce regularly......if you are on vacation ask a fellow gardener to harvest for you and perhaps donate to the Franklin Food Pantry;

2-One of the agreed terms to renting a plot is to keep the surrounding area well kept....please weed the area AROUND your raised bed and if the mood strikes you please weed some of the common area near the fence;

3-Regarding the Franklin Food Pantry:  There will be boxes at the garden on Friday from 6:00pm-7:00pm. If you have extra produce kindly place in the box and it will be delivered to the pantry.  You can also take your produce to the pantry yourself if need be.

4- If you are growing veggies or fruits that have taken over your bed with vines....be considerate of your neighbor and don't let those vines take over their plot;

5-A reminder: to drain the hose after you water;  the water is on until 8:00pm every night.

6-Some have inquired about the volunteer hours that is needed by each plot renter.....this year we are not going to keep track of the volunteer hours performed but here are a few ideas to help out...
  a. See number two above,
  b.  When we schedule a work day to build, repair, clean the area...try to attend
  c.  Come to our meetings; we hold them twice a month....plan to attend at least one a month:(Sept 12, 26) (Oct 17) (Nov. 7, 28)
  d.  Participate in Plant-a-row  (see website for more information)
  e.  Come and talk with your neighbor....great way to get recipes for all your freshly picked produce!
Thanks,
Committee of the Franklin Community Gardens

Enjoy Your Harvests! 

July Community Garden Update

July is here and the community garden is looking spectacular!

Important Garden Updates 

New Watering Window -  We received a number of requests to have water available earlier in the day for those who would like to water before work, and now you can.  The water will be available from 6am until 8pm.  If you experience any issues with early morning water please contact the garden coordinator.

Missing Decorations - We received reports of several missing ornaments from the garden.  If an extra ornament shows up in your bed please let us know, and if more go missing please report it to the garden coordinator.

Garden Coordinator Hours  -  Chris Clay will be in the garden this Friday July 8th from 6pm to 6:30pm or until the last question is answered.  As always if you have specific questions feel free to contact the garden coordinator with the via e-mail at any time.

Garden Work Day - Mark your calendars and save the date for the morning of July 23.  We're looking to install the garden's compost bins and do additional maintenance around the garden.  More information to follow. 

Cheers,

The Franklin Community Garden Committee and Friends of Franklin Community Gardens

Office Hours, Hot Weather, Watering, and More!

Hello Community and Gardeners!

The garden is greening up, growing up, and looks absolutely wonderful.  Folks are adding their own personal touches which helps make community gardens such special places. Come by and say hello to our gardeners.

{There's just something about a garden fence. Strangers quickly become aquaintances: leaning, talking, listening, watching. Conversation happens.  People of all ages are connecting, talking veggies or weather or fingernails or whatever.  It's working!}

Here's a (long, grab a snack!) update:

Open Spots:

There are a couple of open spots available and we are going down our wait list and contacting folks to fill them. 

Gardening Help:

Garden Coordinator Chris Clay will be holding "Office Hours" at the garden this Saturday morning, June 11th from 9:00 am until 10:00 am.  If you have questions, or need advice, please swing by.

Weather Forecast this week: Hot Hot Hot:

Water well! Your plants will appreciate extra water this week! Might hit 100 on Thursday!
(Please tell me that's just a rumour, so early for That )

Remember to slowly and thoroughly soak the base of the plants at the soil line rather than sprinkle from above.  Bright sun will be magnified by the water droplets on the leaves and will actually burn the plants; remember science class when you took your magnifying glass outside and burned things?  Same thing.  Also, if you overhead water during the heat of the day, you could possibly cook (steam) your plants.  Save that for after harvest! If you can get to the garden twice a day, morning and dinnertime-ish, your plants will be happy. 

Pepper plants like it hot, but not too wet, so if you are growing peppers, one good soak a day will do it unless they are tiny seedlings that need to not completely dry out.

Weeding:

Don't forget to check for weeds in the path areas around your raised bed.  Simply pull some of the wood chip mulch aside, pull those weeds, and replace the mulch.  We will be setting up a compost area later this week, for now a small pile at the rear fence will do fine. Maybe a sign?  Feeling artistic?  Surprise us!

Section Coordinators Needed:

We are going to be on the lookout for a few section coordinators for the garden who will keep an eye on their area, and act as a liason to the garden committee.  Do you have to be an expert gardener for this?  No.
A section coordinator will simply keep track of the gardeners in their area, be a point person for a gardener to notify if they will be on vacation and need coverage watering, or if they are ill and will be unable to attend their plot for a short period.  They will have the contact info for the plots in their area, and can coordinate with the gardeners in their section to cover for one another.  It is also a good way to keep gardeners talking to each other. As a coordinator, you might have to occasionally gently remind folks about weeding and keeping tidy and following the rules.  If a problem arises, pass it on to the committee and we will take it from there. 

Franklin Community Garden Committee Meetings:

Here are the  upcoming garden committee meeting dates, we'd love to have you join us for your input.
We meet on Mondays at the Municipal Building at 6:30 pm, you can check what room we will be in by visiting our Committee Page on the Town website and clicking on 'Agendas:'
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_BComm/garden

June 20
June 27
July 18
July 25
August 8
August 22

There's always room for more at the table!  If you dig community gardens, and live in Franklin, and are available on a couple Monday evenings per month, you could be our newest committee member! Get involved!

Thank You:

Hoses are now hanging on spiffy holder things, thanks to Kim & Greg!

The Food Pantry gardens are chock full of donated plants from Grateful Farm, Tangerini's, Perduco Seedlings, and generous gardeners.  A fine crew has been tending as well, great job!


Have a great week!

Community Garden = Bundle of Sticks

What does a bundle of sticks have to do with a community garden?

Let’s step back a bit, and I will explain.

Last year, my youngest son came home with a short play script from an Open Circle meeting he attended in Mrs. Sherlock’s kindergarten class at Oak Street Elementary School.

The play was titled A Bundle of Sticks.   It was about a man and his 4 sons and a problem they were having (fighting amongst each other) and how a solution brought them together.

Read it for yourself:

(click to enlarge)

That paper from school did not go in the read/recycle box at home.  It went into my raggedy community garden binder, a collection of dreams and lists and examples of community gardens that had yet to be shared with anyone. 

My takeaway was that the bundle of sticks could represent any Big Problem for any project.  It was not about arguing; it was inspiration about solution-finding. That one person could not possibly break a bundle of sticks alone.

One day in May of last year, after having finally connected with a group of folks who had future community garden dreams as well, I re-opened my folder and saw the play.

What we had here was a really, really big bundle of sticks.  A full truckload of sticks.  How could we possibly make a real community garden? Even more, get one done in less than a year? Where in the heck would we even begin?

By giving out that truckload of sticks.

One twig at a time.

to everyone and anyone who extended an open hand.

And then everyone broke their stick,

(or stick after stick after stick)

Until that Huge load of sticks

Turned into a pile of broken sticks

Which, in turn, became

This:

Thank You to Everyone who broke sticks with us, or for us.  

Look what you have helped create:

 

What’s your particular bundle of sticks?

For more information on Open Circle:  http://www.open-circle.org/about_us/schools.html