Fencing and planting

Hey everybody,

it's been awhile since our last post, as we've been extremely busy. Our fence is finally here and in the ground. It was installed on Wednesday/Thursday of last week, and the finishing touches (reinforcements with smaller mesh for the bottom, and gates) will be here tomorrow morning. The smaller mesh is necessary as we had our first critter culprit sneak in through the mesh of the fence and eat some of our broccoli plants (see photo album).

However, the fence will be fully functional tomorrow, and that means it's been a lot of planting. Since our last post, we have finished planting our tomatoes, our hot peppers, and have also planted beds with carrots, corn, radishes, and chives. We are starting to see the first signs of actually having produce in the near future. The plants are flowering and some of the tomatoes already have little fruits on them, which is really exciting

We also have installed rain barrels off the corners of Newell 4 as our first step towards having an irrigation system. We have ordered a pump that we can put into payne creek for an additional source of water.

The goal is to continue planting these next few days until everything is in the ground. We just received the last of our seeds this afternoon, so priority will be given to planting the most time sensitive things first. Be sure to keep posted and to check out the photo albums as their will be many many pictures along the way.

Rob and Stacey

A garden at last

We had a beautiful week of sunny weather and made good headway on the garden. We acquired a number of vegetable starts through purchases and generous donations. Throughout the week we managed to plant a variety of squash, cucumbers, broccoli, eggplant, peppers, and a couple tomato rows. The tomato rows are particularly time consuming due to the additional processes of mulching and staking. We still have a number of hot peppers, tomatoes, herbs, nasturtiums and flowers to get in the ground.

For the meantime our crops are protected by row cover until this coming Wednesday when, hopefully, our 8' deer fence is installed. We have been weary about deer and other animals getting into our plants, so we are very much looking forward to finally having our fence. The bottom two feet will be reinforced with 1x1" wire mesh to keep out small mammals as well.

In other news, we also ordered a larch shed from a local Amish family. We are hoping to get our shed this week as well to have a safe place for our tools. We are still in the process of ordering an irrigation pump. We are relying on Mother Nature and the bucket brigade system for now. With plants in the ground, a shed, fence, and (hopefully) irrigation on the way, it finally feels like we have a real garden!

Be sure to check out our pictures from this past week, and as always, feel free to stop by the garden if you are in town!

Stacey and Rob

Digging in the dirt

Hey everybody,

We finalized our layout and are ready to start planting (see the new photos just put up today). We had hoped to start putting plants in the ground this past weekend, but mother nature wasn't cooperating. Not to be deterred, we spent the last few days digging paths around the garden and between the beds. We've been piling the dirt from the paths into the beds themselves, which creates a sort of raised bed which will be great for draining later. The process of digging wet dirt is slow, but our mud-moving skills landed us a minor role in a small independent film, click here to watch. (Just kidding) With the help of more modern tools such as shovels, hoes, and a new rototiller, as well as a number of enthusiastic volunteers, we have been making great progress.

The weather is finally turning for the better, and tomorrow is going to be a big day as we (finally) will be putting plants in the ground. Aside from that, we are having compost delivered to the site tomorrow morning and will be finalizing some of our larger purchases in the coming days (shed, fence).

Be sure to keep posted, many pictures will follow tomorrow.

Rob and Stacey

Update 6/8

Hey folks! The last two days have been very productive. We meet with the Advisory Committee last night and had an informative meeting. With the advice from the Advisory Committee we have finalized our garden layout and are ready to start planting when we can acquire plant. We plan to buy some starts from local nurseries and farmers. This week we will purchase our garden equipment and seed plants as well. We are looking forward to starting the planting process!

We have received great support from the local agricultural community, and are forming friendships with many locals farmer. This morning we had the pleasure of working at Common Thread, a local CSA farm. While enjoying on time with our hands in the earth, we also got some helpful information on irrigation systems. Later this week we plan to visit a few other farms in the Hamilton area.

We are approaching the historic event of planting, and we hope all of our followers will continue to check-up on our progress!

Stacey and Rob

Upcoming week

Hey everyone,

Starting off the second week, we still have lots to get done to put plants in the ground. In the past week, we designed a layout, set up a meeting with our advisory committee, interviewed candidates for garden consultant position, and got in contact with various fencing companies. This week, we hope to finalize our proposals for the fence, toolshed, and irrigation pump. Also, we have purchased our first few plants (tomatoes from common thread) and are continuing to prepare for planting once we have a fence. Check back throughout the week for progress and pictures.

-Rob and Stacey

Groundbreaking photographs

For a complete album of the groundbreaking visit the Colgate garden photo site.

Day 1: Groundbreaking

Hey everyone,

It's been a historic day here at the garden as ground was literally broken for the first time. The plot was plowed and tilled, and finally looks like a place where a garden can be as opposed to a grassy field. We were joined by Lyle Roelofs, John Pumilio, Chris Henke, Ian Helfant, and Barbara Brooks to witness this momentous occasion. Tomorrow we have a full day ahead of us, as we are in the process of choosing our consultant and are meeting with potential candidates. We also have sketched out a few potential layouts for the garden and are planning on meeting with the Advisory Committee Monday for suggestions.

We will have more to share in the coming days as we are moving full speed ahead with planning and logistics. We hope to fence the garden, finalize the layout, and get plants in the ground in the coming weeks.

Be sure to check out our pictures from today and stay posted throughout the summer!

Rob and Stacey