Our Urban Demonstration Garden has had another great week: The team has now harvested and donated over 430 pounds of produce for the Agency Mart! Summer is such a productive time for a farm, and new fruits are ripening every day.
While most of the garden’s produce is given away to food assistance partners, the primary focus of the garden is to demonstrate an assortment of urban farming practices. It’s wonderful to know that the garden is helping the food bank provide healthy meals to people through the Washington metro area, but seeing even one mind inspired and empowered by revelation of one’s own ability to grow food is altogether a new and incredible experience.
Garden education
The garden team led a group of students Monday in many of the maintenance tasks around the garden, showing them how to turn over old dirt and ready the soil for new plants, weeding away nutrient thieves, and harvesting the finished product of all this work. Hosting these volunteer groups is one of the ways the garden provides visibility and hands-on experience for the community. Many were amazed by the possibility of growing peppers (what seems like a southwestern vegetable) so far north while others had never seen a pepper growing from a plant at all. That’s the name of the game in the Urban Demonstration Garden. This team likes to garden, but loves to give others the opportunity, skills and encouragement to garden for themselves.
Come Volunteer
All 24 of the garden team members are open if you have any questions about what we grow, why we grow, or how we grow, so please ask anytime. Now is a great time to get involved in the garden. These recent weeks of transition to fall harvest mean it’s four seasons in a day and you can easily see every part of the life cycle happening somewhere on the plot. Lettuce, peas, radishes and spinach are starting in the ground this week and cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, okra, beans, and a few straggling raspberries are ripe and on the menu.
As for the growth and maintenance part of the life cycle, the team is sustaining peanuts, beets, and asparagus through the heat and weeds this week. These growing opportunities are open for public participation – any help to battle weeds or water wilting seedlings will be met with the upmost appreciation and excitement. If you are interested in planting, harvesting, or just taking a look-see around the garden, please contact Katelynn-Marie Griner at kgriner@capitalareafoodbank.org.