This happened to our greens today. These were taken after it melted some. Yikes!

Today’s work day was a big success and we accomplished all our goals in just 2 hours. Thanks to Sandy, Deb, John, Steve, Ella, Mindy, Boden, Axel, Xane, Jeanette and Wyoma for making quick work of the tasks at hand. While the adults pulled weeds, caged tomatoes and planted seeds, the kids planted potatoes.

The first full CSA Member distribution took place on Monday including a tasting of a Garlic Scape Ganouj made from our own tasty garlic scapes. Most members hadn’t even heard of garlic scapes before so before they were released with their own, they had to listen to my explanation of what a garlic scape is and how we come to eat them….Hardneck garlic produces something called a ’scape’. it’s a stiff growth that comes out of the middle of the plant and ultimately straightens out and flowers. When the scape first appears it is curled (thus the reference to a slinky) and when it straightens this is one indicator that the garlic bulb is nearly ready. Cutting the scapes from the garlic plant is commonly believed to cause the garlic bulbs to grow larger. And many people like eating the scapes in pestos, soups, stirfrys, etc.

The scapes taste like the a garlic equivalent of a scallion. Slightly milder than a garlic clove but still distinctively garlic. Below is the recipe for the ganouj that I made for distribution last Monday.

Vegan Garlic Scape Ganouj
1 cup chopped garlic scapes
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup tahini
1/8 tsp salt
juice of 1/2 medium lemon

Mix all ingredients in blender or food processor. Serve as a dip or spread with crackers or veggies.

This past weekend we planted 15 varieties of heirloom tomatoes at The Urban Farm.  We also planted Bell Peppers, Zucchini, Watermelon, Soybeans, Butternut Squash, and Eggplant.  More veggies are on the way.

We had excellent help from some of the TUF Kids who help out around the farm on Saturdays.  Sydney, Catherine, Petey and Becky planted peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and flowers.  And then they drug the hose around to water it all.

Community volunteers Cheryl, Carly and Jeff also helped tremendously… first by working the beds the week before and this week by planting eggplant, squash, tomatoes and basil.

Some of you may have been wondering why your photos and kudos were not posted after our work day last week. I took a ton of (what I thought would be) great photos. Ten (or more) volunteers/members working to plant the plot at Salem United Christian Church…. lots of before and after pictures of each yard…. a picture of the cutest little girl in the world (no she’s not related to me ;) checking out the Bondy’s chickens…. and then when I got back to my computer the pictures were irretrievably lost. I’m stubborn and only now have I accepted that high likelihood that even I won’t be able to recover them. So although a picture speaks a thousand, you’ll have to settle for less than that. We had an incredible turnout for our first work day – thank you SO much to all of you who came out.

We installed watering tape, shaped yards, planted tomatoes, corn, winter squash, zucchini and more. We made short work of what would have been days and days without your help. I was so happy to see returning faces and meet those of you who are new.

I’m looking forward to a bountiful season. And now, let’s enjoy the rain.

I spent a lot of time with the plants today. I was happy to notice several lady bugs in the garden and the greenhouse.  If you know me, you know that I think that nature rarely needs help from humans… and almost never from me. But today I couldn’t help myself and I picked up a ladybug and took it to the kale plant that has aphids on it and became utterly fascinated watching nature …  I watched and watched.  I’m not sure what I expected from a tiny bug eating even tinier bugs but the whole scene was quite rewarding for me.

For those of you who don’t know, ladybugs are one ‘cure’ for aphids. And aphids can anihilate our plants, especially the greens.

This weekend in addition to removing grass from 2 more yards in Krisana Park, SOC joined Revision International to help place garden plots in yards in West Denver. We removed grass and plotted gardens… learning some Spanish along the way and finding two excellent helpers!

Stay tuned for next weekend when the big planting happens! Let us know if you are available to volunteer.

This weekend SOC volunteers changed a 50×25 plot at Salem United Church of Christ from grass into beds for vegetables. We used a technique called sheet mulching to kill the grass and convert to beds. We started with a layer of cardboard which the rain helpfully wetted down for us during the night. We then pile manure, leaves and topsoil on it to create a growing medium while killing the grass below.

After creating the new garden we continued to the additional gardens in Krisana Park and planted chard, beans, and onions. Followed by broccoli rabe in the Hackman yard. The new watering tape was installed at the Hackman’s as well as the Bogen’s and Downing’s. Progress is happening.