Sunday, April 3, 2022

April 2022

*************************************************************************************
WCG IS HIRING!

We're looking for an Assistant Farm Manager (AFM) to help with our teaching farm, maintain our site, and assist our Farm Manager, Mackenzie. The AFM will work up to 15 hours per week at a pay rate of $20 per hour starting in April and running until November, with a possible extension depending on funding.   

Interested candidates should contact Jessica (jessica@growwilliamsburg.org) or Charlie (charlie@growwilliamsburg.org)

*************************************************************************************

Accessible plot available

While all regular plots at the Garden are now filled for the 2022 growing season, there is still one small plot available for someone who may have mobility issues. This plot is the result of a grant to provide accessible gardening space and it is located near the rear gate. The dues are $35 for the season. If you know someone who loves to garden but needs a little support, please have them contact me, Barbara Arnold, at barbara@growwilliamsburg.org.

*************************************************************************************


Welcome New and Returning Gardeners and Volunteers!

2022 marks the beginning of our seventh year of gardening and farming on this site. It seems like only yesterday when six gardeners (most of whom are still here!) started amending the soil in preparation for growing. One of those gardeners, Bill Wallace, has taken soil amending to new heights, using Starbucks coffee grounds, shredded newspaper and who knows what else to grow some of the largest and sweetest veggies in James City County. New folks should visit his garden– easy to find, just look for the sign: “Bill’s Garden.” Barbara Arnold has pointed out a number of improvements we have made over the last year below. Two major improvements, our Partners Path and new fence, were made possible by support from Williamsburg Community Foundation and the Williamsburg Health Foundation.. When you have a chance take a stroll on the path to “Robert’s Bog” and enjoy our new patio– shading to come! And of course the funding would not have happened without the efforts of our Board President, Pam Dannon and our President-Elect, Jessica Stephens. 

Our Teaching Farm has also come a long way in six years. The row crops within our fenced area and beyond are maintained by volunteers, coordinated by Liz Callan, and supervised by our Farm Manager Mackenzie Perkins. This area allows beginning gardeners to learn from experts and provides fresh produce for our farm stand and CSA subscription service. In addition fully half of the produce is donated to local food pantries and other local organizations. In six years we have grown nearly 10 tons of produce, and in 2021 volunteers– including high schoolers, college students, and other community members– logged more than 6,500 hours learning on the teaching farm. 
Watch for this online newsletter monthly. There are articles about pest and disease issues, tips from our own gardeners, and updates on site improvements. Many thanks to Barbara for keeping it going!
See you in the Garden!
Charlie Morse
Executive Director


Baby blanket made for Laurie Wehle (l) by June Skalak (r) from a picture of one of Laurie’s cabbages.


Cold-weather plant sale.

We were finally able to hold our plant sale on March 19 after a weather delay. Most all of the plants were sold and many made their way across the street and into our CG’ers gardens. Thank you for your support. Hope you enjoy the broccoli, etc.



This is where all the plants get ready for your plot-- the WCG Greenhouse!


Warm-weather plant sale.

Wonderful tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant are growing in some of our basements to be ready for sale on Saturday, May 7, Mother’s Day weekend. See below for a listing of what varieties will be available.  



State of the Garden

You will have noticed some recent improvements to the Community Garden over the winter.

  • The last 2 sides of the permanent fence have been completed. The new wood will have to cure before it can be painted. Plans are underway to secure the base of the fence with hardware cloth sunken below ground level to protect against inquisitive critters.

  • With the moving of the fence line, we have added 7 new 10 X 10 plots. The Garden is now at capacity with a total of 35 new gardeners for 2022. We have a total of 84 plots of various sizes and more than 100 gardeners in our community.

  • The Partners Path and a brick patio have been constructed to allow visitors to stroll through and enjoy our rain garden and water feature. Also along the path are planting boxes that have been constructed by Eagle Scout candidate Gracen Nelson and will house an herb collection. Flowers will be planted along the path near the front entrance and the back gate.

  • We have received a huge load of horse manure from a board member. It has been deposited in the field beyond the porta potty to compost before we can bring it into the garden. We received a 10-yard delivery of compost from the county (it is almost gone!) and it is unclear whether we will be able to get more from them. They also gave us 40 yards of fine hardwood mulch. Once again, we have been fortunate enough to have raw wood chips available from a local arborist.

  • Reminder, please do not plant mint in the Garden. It is incredibly invasive




Spring Report from Farm Manager, Mackenzie Perkins

 

Hey there community gardeners! I'm excited to share with you all the new things that are happening on the farm! We've extended the deer fencing in the far field and added a ton of new beds to grow vegetables for donation, our subscription service (CSA), and farm stand. Final count to be determined but it's looking like 15-20 new beds in all. The plan is to use that extra space to increase quantity of all the crops, incorporate more succession planting into the farm schedule and give more space to winter squashes, watermelons and cantaloupe. New crops this year (some in small quantities, more of trial run) include fava beans, Lima beans, black eyed peas, snow peas, snap peas, peanuts, and celery. 

 

We have a spring CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription service this year, running from April 16th - June 18th. Ten weeks of fresh veggies picked up by subscribers every Saturday for $250 and and we still have a few spaces available if anyone is interested in participating. It's a very early start to the season, which is definitely a challenge, but we have lots of fresh salad greens already planted and putting on size, some overwintered greens, flats and flats of seedlings were planted last week with many more going in this week, and direct seeded beets and peas have sprouted, just waiting on the carrots to sprout. So greens will be featured heavily in the beginning and transition to root crops and legumes and just a long list of cooked greens and Asian greens and cabbages and broccoli to follow. We'll have a fall CSA as well, dates to be decided. 

 

The farm stand is slated to open April 16th!

 

We'll have three paid interns this summer and will be accepting applications soon from junior and senior high school students, so if you know any likely candidates please send them our way. Interns will work 10 hours a week and split their time between general farm work and a project of their choosing funded by the Farm to School grant we received last year through the USDA. 

 

We have a walk-in cooler in the works! All credit to Charlie with lots of help from David Sobash, Brock Reggi and Robert Reining. The structure itself is complete and Charlie is currently working to upgrade our solar power to keep it cool. It's very exciting and will be so helpful to keeping produce fresh for delivery to our donation partners. We'll be continuing donations to Grove Christian Family Outreach, St. Olaf's Food Pantry, and we're adding a partnership with Olde Town Medical Center. We'll also be donating to Warhill, Lafayette, and Jamestown High Schools. 

 

We have had A LOT of volunteer involvement lately to our regularly scheduled volunteer days and have large groups scheduling visits as well. We have a small group from William and Mary that comes every week and we've had boy scouts, girl scouts and church groups visiting recently as well. And thanks to Eagle Scout Candidate Denis Fulks and friends we now have a new shed for storing materials for the farm. Many hands make light work! I'm very much looking forward to spring and I'm sure you all are too!

 

Mackenzie


Denis Fulks (left), Eagle Scout candidate and helper Luke Bascom

 


What to plant now?

 

Reminder that we are considered Zone 7b and our last spring frost usually occurs between April 5 and April 15. This is not a guarantee, however, and last year we had a killing frost in May. Remember that our micro-climate is considerably colder than many areas nearby thanks to our winds. 

 

There is an excellent guide for when to plant in our area from the Virginia Tech extension and it can be found here:

https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/426/426-331/SPES-170.pdf

 

Between now and April 5 here is what is “safe” to plant:

 

                    As seeds: beets, carrots, peas, potatoes, radish, turnips

As transplants: kohlrabi, mustard, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, leeks         As seeds or transplants: swiss chard, kale, collards, onions, spinach, lettuce


 

 

 


No comments:

Post a Comment

What's Happening!

November 2022

These images highlight how far we have come since 2018 and plans for the future. The hard work and dedication of our volunteers and growers ...