Year One Recap

Fall has come and winter is creeping in! We’ve reached the end of our first season and can’t believe the garden is now “closed” for the season! Here is a bit of a recap to look back on our first season:

  • We were able to fill all 22 plots, with some people sharing.  This gave us the opportunity to provide gardening space for 35 families, and individuals.
  • The LARA Summer Camp had their own plot. They completed a summer curriculum with our garden interns learning about gardening, the environment, and nutrition.  The plot gave them space to cultivate tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.
  • The community plot was maintained by over 300 volunteers who were directed by two full-time interns from Bucknell University, and a half-time intern from the University of Vermont.
  • The community plot cultivated 46 different crops.  Some were more bountiful than others but all were donated to the Community Harvest Dinner, Dinner by the River, and the Union County Food Bank.
  • The garden maintained organic standards all season through.  Plot renters were provided with leaf mulch and compost.  Interns and local experts helped people troubleshoot pest problems.
  • No incidents of vandalism occurred in the garden, and there is only one known instance of produce theft.
Looking Ahead:
  • We will be planting a cover crop of oats over the entire garden.  This will be done to replace nutrients in the soil, and to improve the appearance of the garden over the winter.
  • The site will be tilled in the spring with the addition of compost and limestone.  This will further improve the nutrient composition of the soil.
  • The advisory board has determined that in order to continue to provide gardening opportunities to the community only 50% of plot owners will be allowed to return.  This will open up new spaces.  A two-year term limit is also available with the ability to return after one year off.
  • Betsy VanBuskirk, a Social Studies teacher at the Lewisburg Middle School, has received a State Farm Healthy Neighborhoods grant to revise the greenhouse at the Middle School and get students involved in gardening.  We look forward to forming a partnership with her and her students!
Thank you to everyone who volunteered, owned a plot, stopped by our various fundraising efforts, came to the Harvest Festival, or was in any way a part of our first year! It was such a success and we couldn’t have done it without all of your support. As winter fast approaches, the oats in the garden will grow and eventually die, but think of all the possibilities their nutrients will bring in the spring! With that, I leave you with these words from Elizabeth Coatsworth:
 November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.
With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.
The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
The earth sinks to rest
Until next spring.

Happy November!



Posted

in

by

Tags: