Friday, September 7, 2012

September in the Garden


As a newcomer to Brookline and the 200’ Garden, we have enjoyed getting to know our neighbors. We get tons of compliments and comments whenever we are out weeding, watering, and simply walking by. But not everything we hear is positive. Last week I was reprimanded because the tomatoes were not getting large. I tried to explain that we only (mostly) planted cherry tomatoes. The same person was upset about the small (pickling) cucumbers. Another person last week was upset that we picked a couple of small eggplant and told me that they were "too small". But by and large, what we hear is positive. It’s great to pass by and see people harvesting some veggies, to be told that their son found another cucumber. We even get people’s phone numbers. Here are just a few things people have said to us:

“This garden is my favorite part of summer”.

“My child only eats vegetables out of this garden".

“Thank-you so much for doing this. I don’t know why you do it. You’re a nicer person than I am.”

After a short visit, two people have said, “Hey, I just met you, this is crazy, but here’s my number, call me maybe.” 

Is it odd that two people are called “Maybe”?

Monday, July 16, 2012

Is July 15 too early for cukes?

If Roberta has tomatoes ready, then I suppose it's OK to have cucumbers! Thanks to Laura, Christina, and Hannah who weeded and collected the last of the peas last Tuesday. Regular worknights are winning the battle against the weeds. Yahoo. Special thanks to Hudson for watering all 200'.

Friday, June 22, 2012

The First Strawberry!!

Look who is loving this weather:

 p.s. Please eat the peas and the lettuce and arugula.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Midsummer 2012

As promised, here are a couple of photos of the garden, about an hour after the summer solstice. Plants are super thirsty. Hopefully not too stressed with the >90F week! Summer is here. See you next Tuesday.
 
Arugula, red lettuce, and peas (all ready to eat)

Strawberries, tomatoes, and peas (less thirsty now)


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Tuesday Work Nights

Tonight marked the first weekly worknight. We're going to go with tradition and continue to meet Tuesdays at 7 pm. Regular maintenance is keeping the weeds down (phew!). Let's keep it that way.
Unfortunately I left before taking photos of the lettuce and arugula (I did taste them - yum!) but given that it will be over 90F the next couple days, I'm pretty sure that I will be back to water. Stay tuned for photos. If you are passing by, the peas are also ready to be enjoyed.
This Thursday we'll also give a drink and some support to the tomatoes. We ran out of time (and materials) tonight. Special thanks to the amazing micro-weeder Max from Olympia.
Happy Summer Solstice to all (Wednesday June 20th, 7:09 pm)

Thursday, May 17, 2012

The Peas, the garlic, the strawberries oh my! 

The 200' Garden is off to a great start! Thanks to all who helped plant the peas and garlic (Pat, Roberta, Laura, LuraLee, Ryan, Cedar, Hudson, and Noah). We picked up a few herbs from the BNAN perennial swap and also planted some unconventional veggies, aka fruit. The nice folks from 20 Webster (Nancy and Kim) have planted a plethora of goodies down at the south end and Bountiful Brookline has some chives and raspberries coming our way. Yvonne reports that the tomatoes are doing great! We'll plant those next on June 2nd... Hope to see you there! Simone & Jenny



Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Spring has sprung!

The 2012 Season is Officially Here

Welcome to the 2012 growing season for the 200’ Garden. The 200' garden this year is being coordinated by Simone Smith and Jenny Molina. Our FIRST GARDEN PLANTING (and prior weeding) will be taking place this Sunday, April 15th at 2 pm. Please feel free to bring your favorite garden gloves and trowels. 

We are excited to be coordinating the garden this year and look forward to seeing you there. As always, volunteering your time and/or ideas is always welcome.
A bit about this year's coordinators:
  • My name is Simone and I am excited to be a part of the 200’ garden this year. We are new to Brookline and are recent neighbors to Pat and Tracy. My husband Ryan, and I moved here last September from Kitchener (Ontario, Canada) with our 2 boys (Cedar and Hudson). We have many years’ experience gardening in our 200’ backyard. Previously, our biggest challenges were the squirrels. The boys learned at a very young age to chase them out of the garden. But as soon as they started attending school, the squirrels took notice, and most of our seeds.
  • My name is Jenny Molina and I am stoked to be a part of the 200’ garden this year. I have been involved with various farming initiatives through the Boston Natural Areas Network Master Urban Gardener (MUG) Program. Still, most of my gardening takes place in containers on my front porch. I am currently doing a Master’s in Urban Planning and my focus is on food systems and environmental health. I grew up close to Boston but I’ve been away for 8 years, busy seeing the world while playing soccer for Mexico.
p.s. If you’re missing Pat’s eloquent words, this summer you’ll find him at the Pen and Pepper Farm.
We look forward to meeting you on Sunday!