Community Garden directors, Cathy, Sue and Peggy are pleased to announce two garden workshops for Apple Acres and Wallisch Homestead community garden members. These one-hour workshops, held at the West Milford Library (1470 Union Valley Road), are hosted by the Community Gardens and will include speakers from City Green.
Upcoming workshops for community garden members:
May 30: Dirt Matters! Healthy Garden Soil
Community Garden member workshops are held at the West Milford Library
Springtime at Apple Acres
All the plots at Apple Acres are filled with enthusiastic gardeners this year. Screened, organic topsoil and manure has been delivered for use in all of the plots. Committees have been formed, and some early spring maintenance is underway. Tom Latchford set up the water tank and installed the faucets. Our official opening is May 20th, but the garlic is coming up and seeds are in the ground. We are looking forward to a productive year!
Community Gardens Opening Day at Wallisch Farms
April 15th was a successful garden opening today at Wallisch. The grass is mowed and whacked, gates are cleared for entry/exit and our gardeners energies outlasted the weed whacker battery juice. The community joined in to clear the raspberry plot for future growth, and gardeners shared spirit and cultivation of ideas for a great 2023 garden season.
Shout out to DeMarcos for pizza donation.
Ample Harvest is active at Apple Acres
With thanks to the West Milford Rotary Club for their $350 donation and the helping hands of Karl and Pat, the Ample Harvest plot was framed in the Fall 2022. To build a good soil foundation where plants will thrive, the plot was loaded with a combination of cow manure, top soil, kelp meal, humic acid and earthworm castings.
Cold weather seeds of radish, snow pea, beet and carrot were planted on two separate dates (April 9th and 21st)) to allow the harvest to extend and spread to multiple pantries. Radish, snow pea and beets are already sprouting!
The fence frame is up in preparation for climbing plants—zucchini and cucumber. We will round out the plot with a few tomato plants, parsley and basil. Beans will be planted along the fence by the back gate in keeping with John’s tradition. The seeds were graciously donated from Debbie.
We are trying to squeeze as much into a small space as possible to produce high yields for our grateful food pantries. If you have any suggestions, please contact Cathy Bruce.
Ample Harvest is a community effort! While a single plot is dedicated to Ample Harvest, we invite our fellow gardeners to share a portion of their excess harvest.
Upcoming work in the gardens:
Clear space and plant beans (mid May)
Plant tomato, parsley, basil, zucchini, cucumber (post Memorial Day)
Weed and water (ongoing)
Flags system refresher (mid to late June)
Harvest (target start date mid- to late- June)
We will be exploring expansion of Ample Harvest to Wallisch Homestead ,and are actively recruiting volunteers to help plant, maintain, harvest, deliver and grow the impact. If you are interested in joining the team, please reach out to Cathy Bruce to join the team!