I seem to have my hands full gardening at home.

Is there any "community" in your community garden.

WOW - that's a great price!! I paid $40 for 8' x 8'. I actually got two, one on the south side of the garden and one on the north.

This is my first year at a community garden but I'm guessing that bind weed will be an issue for me also.

So far, I have planted potatoes and onions. I plan to add corn, beans, pumpkins, cucumbers, melons. Perhaps some peppers too.

To try and keep pests at bay, I'll add some companion flowers.

Bonnie, how much more can you grow?? You crack me up and make me smile.

How about little marigolds to line the perimeter?

I'm pleased that you have this, Bonnie. Keep you out of mischief!

Nah! I think you will find community there. I was in a community garden at one time but it had much larger plots. I started with nearly 1,000 square feet, if I remember right. Took over another plot and declined to take a 3rd!

Pilfering was a small issue but a real one. I had one guy walking thru tell me that "God grew the vegetables." He seemed almost ready to step over my fence and take whatever he could carry.

I called the police on one guy who seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he was stealing out of someone's garden. I imagine they got quite a laugh about the call down at the police station -- there was no response.

The most serious pilfering by any measure was from the wildlife. The wildlife came from city park property. We weren't even supposed to throw rocks at the marmots. They seem to be very dim-witted critters but after many seasons, they learned what a vegetable is . . . essentially one right after another and along with the deer, brought the entire thing down.

I guess God made marmots and deer . . .

Steve

Do you like spaghetti squash? I grew Small Wonder (from Park) last year and really liked them. They're about half the size of those at the store.

I'm also trying Waltham Butternut this year.

Jclepine, I like that idea, I'll have to add marigolds, just to prettify it, LOL!

Well, the winter weather stopped long enough for me to drive over to the garden this afternoon to pick out my plot. Some guy rented the space behind me, you know, the area with all the bindweed. He already had it tilled up, and a few little sprouts planted that were covered with water bottle cloches. If he keeps his area weeded, maybe the bindweed won't be as bad this year.

Anyway, the guy running the garden met me there, and offered me a second plot - for free (sorry, Deb). He had his brand new tiller there, and turned over both plots for me. How awesome is that??? Saved me a good two days work with a shovel, and probably several doses of Advil.

I am soooo excited about having a whole 400 sq.ft. ... just think of the possibilities!

I also met our newest gardener. She is 13 years old, and her grandfather rented the plot for her. Isn't that sweet?

I'll try and get some pictures of the garden after I get things planted.

I am SO jealous!! 400 sf!! And someone with a tiller!!

I was reading on the tomato forum that spider mites are attracted to marigolds in full sun. Is this an issue in CO?

I have never seen spider mites on my plants.

What's that you say, Austin'n'Hanas'Mom -- you don't grow dahlias? Okay, check the underside of the bush bean leaves as the plants are on their way out, at the end of the season.

I'm not in Colorado so I'll stop . . .

But Wait! I don't remember spider mites being much of any kind of problem on tomatoes! And, don't expect more than a week or 2 of production from the bush beans; then pull them. You've got good water pressure in that community garden, Bonnie? Dish soap?

okay . . . now, I'll stop.

Steve

OK - here's my dahlia story -

Last year, I made the commitment to grow dinnerplate dahlias and dig them up for fall/winter storage. I ordered tubers online and started the plants early.

The dahlias were about 4' tall when I planted. Some went in the front bed and some in the back yard. Each morning, the front bed dahlias would be chomped down to nothing. Some dahlia forum folks claim it was earwigs. I did the earwig trap thing but still, each morning, the plants would be munched to the ground.

I was wandering the yard and noticed that the back yard dahlias were 6' tall and showed no signs of pest munching. Next to the dahlias were volunteer sunflowers that were covered with lady bugs.

I bought lady bugs and spread them around my front bed, did the "PLEASE STAY" dance and waited. Sure enough, the front bed dahlias grew taller and bloomed!!

This year, I'm growing sunflowers to "protect" the front bed dahlias. I hope the lady bugs appreciate the more exotic sunflowers.

I am also growing sunflowers for my veggie garden and the community plot. Our community plot has very little water pressure - just tanks that ooze water.

Bonnie,

I just LOVE the idea of a grandfather securing a plot for his 13YO granddaughter! Imagine the things he can teach her ... not the least of which would be a love of gardening!

Mel

Now that everything is planted, I decided to bring this thread back, and post a few pics.

Here's a list of what's planted there:

Beans - Jackson Wonder Lima, Dixie Speckled Butterpea, Supernana Marconi Gold, Roma II, Garafal Enana, Black Valentine, Contender, and Vittoria

Cauliflower - Chef's Choice mix

Lettuce - Simpson Elite, Freckles

Melons - Rocky Ford, Far North, Noir de Carmes, Collective Farm Woman, Tigger, Golden Midget, Blacktail Mountain, Sweet Siberian, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Sweet Passion, and Cream of Saskatchewan

Tomatoes - Gold Medal, Caspian Pink, Earl's Faux (if it makes it), Brown Berry, Black from Tula, and Marianna's Peace

Peppers - Ancho, Alma Paprika, Beaver Dam, TAM Jalapeno, and Senorita Jalapeno.

Squash/Zucchini - Cocozelle, Black Beauty, Australian Butter, Bush Buttercup, Uchiki Kuri, and Gold Nugget

... and a small patch of Quinoa

All of that in a 20' x 20' plot!!! Have a feeling it might be a jungle in a few more weeks!

Anyway, here are some pictures taken today:

Beans

Cauliflower - you can still see some of the leaves are shredded from the hail a couple of weeks ago.

Lettuces

Melons

Squash

Tomatillo

Pepper - you can see the newer leaves are a brighter green, and the older ones are brown on the edges

A sad looking Earl's Faux (the leaves at the bottom weren't eaten by something, I pinched them off because they were dead)

A much healthier looking Gold Medal

An extremely pitiful looking ground cherry plant, and the others look even worse than this one! They were beautiful when planted a week ago ...

So you can see that some things are coming along nicely, and a few are just barely hanging in there.

I ordered an early birthday gift for myself, a stirrup (scuffle) hoe, which should be a big help getting those weeds under control at the community garden.

Jennifer, I just realized that I forgot to plant any marigolds there. Do you think its too late?

Bonnie

I'm jealous of all the space - sure wish I knew about community gardens back when I lived in an apartment. Still sounds tempting just to get more space...

Looking very good there.

Nice, Bonnie!

Way to go Bonnie! Seems the space is going to be quite the producer.

We grew Cocozellia for the first time last year and liked it enough to put it in the front garden. The other summer squashes are on the ditch bank to fight the weeds and wind. bonnie

I have a small plot (4ft by 10ft) in a community garden.
I use it to grow veges since my yard is severely over grown with trees and shrubs. (I am slowly cutting them back)
In the plot I have kale, beets, lettuce, peas and cucumbers.
I am going to transplant a few tomato plants also.

The church which owns the lot had lumber donated so they built these 4 by 10 raised boxes for gardeners. It brings the community together.

I hope there's time for us to run over there this year when I stop by on my way to Utah! I can't believe how much you always get into so little space! I'll make it my Summer Resolution to be organized enough this year to get out of here earlier when I leave so we can do it! Can hardly believe it's only two months away! I'm SURE you'll have a jungle by then!

Skybird

Decided to resurrect this thread since I just rented my plot again. Happy to have the same spot as last year, and found out that the manager tilled the whole area in the fall. Went by there just now, and even though there are some weeds coming up, including my nemesis bindweed, things look pretty good. The soil is nice and soft, not hard packed like last year. Maybe the bags of compost I added last year helped a bit.

It will be a while yet before I plant anything over there, but I can at least start planning out the space, now that it's paid for.

Anyone else renting space at a community garden this year?

Bonnie