10/27/2025
Veggie Volunteers Report ( Oct 22) We welcomed new volunteers Vickie and Jacob this morning and while there was still some gardening to be done today, it was a very abbreviated list as the growing season is winding down. The last of the warm weather crops include eggplant, basil, a few cherry tomatoes, and one lone okra plant. The first fall planting of garlic has sprouted and the turnips had to be thinned. The bed of greens which we labeled as kale were identified by Vickie as Daikon radish. These spicy greens were grown in the greenhouse by Stevie from seeds donated by Brie A. Cynthia cleaned and sliced one giving most of us our first sample of this spicy radish.
Iryna’s brush idea to protect plants is a charm. The uncovered chard and pansies were nibbled by deer, so most of the remaining basil was pulled to use as a cover for them. Leslie built brush pyramids around the chard and we carried that idea over to the other plants as well, hoping it will give the broccoli and brussels sprouts protection, as well as room to stretch and grow.
Zack made a couple of trips to take cartloads of w**d debris out to the road for Dempsey’s pick up. This included the mass of luffa vines strangling the fence and the saltbush tree. The black swallowtail caterpillars have left the parsley and fennel and hopefully are somewhere safe wrapped up in their chrysalis.
Vickie cleaned and raised the border bricks around the chard, Zack thinned turmeric whose roots will be used to grow more plants; Cynthia and Leslie worked wonders on the perimeter, and our harvest for the day included most of the luffas, a handful of okra, a modest amount of eggplant, cherry tomatoes of varying degrees of ripeness, and a couple of stray potatoes.
We finished up the day by watering the beds, tidying, and answering visitors’ questions. Next week we look forward to our tour of CFBG, while future plans include planting leeks, repositioning Jesse’s tripods, and fertilizing the garlic, and of course there is always a little Wednesday w**ding.
Although things are wrapping up for the season, and entering into the more relaxed phase of fall gardening, we will continue to nurture the veggie garden throughout the winter – this garden that brings joy in learning new things, meeting new people, and gardening together.
