Donated pounds update

As of today we have harvested and delivered 576 pounds.....the tomatoes are coming in fast and furious  and look great.  Pictures to follow!

Good pics from Jim Williams 8/17/12

These shots really show just how tall and healthy the garden looks this year.  The signs are dwarfed!  Also note the stump of the "invasive species" tree that was removed prior to this growing season....the garden loves the newfound sunlight.

So as of August 17 we have donated 420 pounds of vegetables.....this past week alone we harvested 104 pounds.  Thank you zucchini!

So now it is early August.......

The garden is glorious!  As of August 14 we have donated 366 pounds of vegetables to AFAC and we're just getting started.

The scarecrow still stands in the midst of towering tomatoes and zucchini plants that could probably consume him!

Our Sunday School bean garden is loved by the rabbits but we keep hoping to have a bean or two!

We have corn for the first year and it has done really well.  Last year the seeds never made it out of the ground.

This is one of our super producing zucchini plants.  Just incredible how fast the stuff grows.

We are harvesting several times a week and we are grateful for our cadre of volunteers who love this place!

July 7 AFAC Garden Open House

Boy was it hot!  But we had some very dedicated people show up between 9 and noon to see our garden.  Farmer Hanson shared our story.....

We did a Vacation Bible School session in June

In June, Cherrydale Baptist Church asked if we would do a session for their Vacation Bible School about our garden.  The kids really worked hard!

One group worked on the compost piles to move the material from one container to another.

A second group created and "planted" a scarecrow!  We figured we could use one to keep the birds at bay.

The scarecrow has weathered the derrecho, the beating sun, and has worked diligently to keep the birds away.  Its kind of freaky to see it everytime you go to the garden!  The birds think so too!

Going back to June 2012.....

Yes, that is a while ago.  We did a Sunday School project and we studied water, soil and seeds.  The Sunday School kids did soil samples which we sent off to Virginia Tech for analysis.  The results we got were really good.  Lots of numbers and analysis but Farmer Hanson is happy!  All of his hard work over the past 5 years to enrich the soil has paid off.  The kids watered the garden and then created and planted their own garden of beans.  Totally fun!

We used a basic kit from Home Depot to set up a small garden area and then with help from Dads we moved the soil to the garden location and began our hard work!

We tried to protect our bean garden but some rabbits seemed to love the growing plants even with our makeshift protection.  We keep tending it in hopes we get some beans but I'm not sure that will happen this year.  

I have been negligent with my blog! August 15, 2012

I admit it.  Events happened so fast and my blogging ended up on the back burner!  I'm going to start with just how great the garden is this season!  The fence and water improvements were lifesavers thanks to a grant through Extension Service.

We have two water hookups in the garden now at the corners.  This makes for super easy water access,  the water pressure is great and two people can water at once if needed.

And note the glorious fence!  Supplies were donated by Long Fence and Greenview Landscaping did the installation.  It has really helped keep critters at bay.  We have had no damage within the fence since it was installed.

So thank you Extension Service for helping with these two critical needs.