HOSPITALITY GARDEN

An olde sage once said     “Though an old man, I am but a young gardener.”

Young and old have learned that even planting tomatoes late in the season, they fruit and ripen based on the length of the day and ambient temperature and other mysterious things that the folks at Cornell Extension have figured out.  Many have ripened too early. (Tomatoes that is, not the folks at Cornell).     And even if squash is planted late in the season, those ##!@!#!# squash bugs still find their way to the plant.

Even one volunteer cape gooseberry (aka groundcherry, aka Physalis peruviana) can produce a lot of fruit if left to its own devices.  (Do you wonder what devices are at its disposal?)  It is flopping all over the  beans in the next row; still the beans look good: many flowers = fruits very soon.

Speaking of sage, our Salvia officinalis  is flexing its shoulders and the zuke nearby is being pushed out.  (Fried sage leaves on fresh pasta is one solution.)
A failing tomato plant (Rutgers var.) has been pulled out and a cucumber plant now sits in its place. Just waiting and hoping for fresh dill, vinegar and salt.
There is room at the end of the row (where the sunflowers were) for some kale or something else that prefers the cool, like nasturtiums.

It was a small group that harvested a lot of leaves and pureed a big batch of pesto last evening.

Basil that was planted two short months ago moved into high gear under the influence of full sun, drip irrigation and some organic soil amendments (rich smelling cocoa bean husks and full spectrum compost).  Plus the grace of god.        If things go as planned, The three quarts of fragrant pesto that we froze will be used for the Garden Club’s fall basil demo tasting and fund raiser scheduled for Sept 18.

Tristen, Caroline and Catherine planted more basil, turnips and also some gorgeous little purple basil plants donated by the Grange. We have high hopes of course, that these will be part of the demo.

And the flowers. What a gift from nature! View the pics of our bouquets in the photo gallery page.

A slow steady rain is welcome after the heat and bright sunshine of last week. It will give the roof plants a moist respite. Butternut squash have been relatively free of bugs so far, but after this soaking we will have  to look closely and be vigilant. (Last year they were well established and got the upper hand.)

Dah wei has been extremely nurturing with the tomatoes; all the plants have been well supported, trimmed. And even tho some of the heirlooms (Black Krim especially) have succumbed to a nasty blight,  the Cherry tomatoes and other hybrids are thriving.  If only Dah wei’s alacrity could be spread around to some of the other gardeners….There are inklings, in some circles, that with out a good dose of human involvement, disregard and chaos will result.

p.s.  Green beans look promising for fall. Basil should be cut.

We planned for basil to be ready to harvest sometime in Sept, after classes started. But the seeds we scattered just about a month ago shot up quick like spouts. Then, after they were spread out and about, they really took off.

Now is the time to harvest and make pesto. You have your recipes and the olive oil, Parmesan & garlic. The Hospitality Garden has basil. Perfect. If you want to meet at the garden this Sunday 8/3 in the morning, OR Monday 8/4 in the afternoon, you could come and pick.  Let me know:   mhellermann@citytech.cuny.edu

Spring planted arugula and tatsoi had bolted and flowered, a few forgotten radishes went all tough and mealy. That got yanked and tossed on the compost pile: soon it will break down and return to the raised beds as a nutrient. Some spinach, chard and kale, in excellent condition, was harvested by the energetic and heat-tolerant Garden Club members Dah wei, Shellita, and Caroline.

Matt, the resident Grange farmer, donated a gardeners dozen of various tomato plants. He is a generous fella.   Black Krim; Peace Vine, and Sunburst were some of the best named varieties we got.   They went into the newly manicured long bed in a precise configuration that will maximize the limited space we have.

Tomorrow: squash seeds go in; drip hose goes back on; and in anticipation of early fall harvests, another bed may get turned around.

A lot has grown on in the past month or two of wonderful spring weather. The Garden Club had an excellent showing for our early Earth Day celebration, as well as a tasty offering for the Wellness Fair last week. Many thanks to all who were involved! We have some eager greens that have been growing nicely, and are about ready to be picked. We would love to use these greens to make a dish for the B-Tech Celebration this upcoming Monday. Prof. H, Dahwei and Brian will be meeting at N201 on Monday at 1:30p. They will head to the garden to pick the greens, then head back to school to prep and cook. All are welcome to come and check out what’s going on these days at the garden! If you’re interested in joining, please let me (Tristen) or Prof. Hellermann know:

tvail90@gmail.com or m.hellermann@citytech.cuny.edu

Happy Spring!

All those chard, kale, spinach and komatsuna seedlings that were started inside by various members of the Garden Club are transitioning now. Yesterday they went from the warmth and security of the greenhouse to a rather harsh environment — the raised beds out in the windy urban farm. A few of the peas, tatsoi, and lettuce that went directly into the ground just before the last big freeze, have started to come up too. Craig, Sarah, Blessing and I felt pretty good about the look of our rows.

It was great to be up there, and Sarah will post some photos if she hasn’t already done so.

First day of spring was a perfect time to replenish the raised beds for another season of garden greens and beans.  Shellita, Dah-wei, Sarah, and a white-haired professor spread a few hundered pounds of organic compost and then planted redleaf lettuce, mustard, radishes, tatsoi, mustard, peas (for cutting as pea shoots), arugula, spinach, and did I say mustard?  We have a lot of mustard seed that’s why.

It was beyond blustery up there, and so we talked about sending up a kite from the roof.  If this fierce wind continues, someone will need to drag a hose out and sprinkle these seeds; and if it is Shellita up there, someone better go with her to keep her from sailing away. Like the red baloon.

Greenhouse Seedlings

The plot beds are ready for seeds to be planted! Sara and Tristen raked, shoveled, and leveled the plot on a beautiful, windy Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, some bok choy seeds went into a flat in the greenhouse and the seeds we planted last week are starting to sprout! This Thursday, March 20th, some of us will be meeting in N201 around 10:30am to go plant some field greens and other seeds, and possibly transfer our greenhouse seedlings. Professor H also got us a good amount of organic compost we can work into the soil as well. Thursday should be sunny with a high of 52* so come on out and get your hands dirty!

Our plots are ready for seeds!