SILVER SPRINGS - The harvest has begun. After those few weeks of hot weather our Sunday morning gardening group is greeted with an explosion of bounty. It seems that the Armenian cucumber grew from the normal size of an English cucumber (that you see in the market plastic wrapped) to the size of a baseball bat in just 7 days! (and I thought that only happened in 1950's horror movies.) The tomato plants that we thought were appropriately spaced in the beds have grown together as one giant tomato plant; green zebras embracing a plum embracing an heirloom snuggled up to a yellow pear that is just beginning to pop out with ripened fruits that resemble golden light-bulbs.
We pluck them as we water and clean up the beds and taste that robust squirt of juice and seeds with just the right amount of sweetness. We discovered more peppers of many varieties producing like rabbits; the tomatillos have decided to take over the bed that they share with the peppers and needed to be tamed and redirected. In short, the garden is flourishing.
Thanks to the help of both adults and youths, we were able to maintain a daily watering schedule for the garden and keep the planters along the side of the Schoolhouse alive. A new volunteer has come forward to reinforce the straw bales and the fence around the perimeter of the garden.
Harvest Used in Community Soup Dinners: And now we get to the best part. We are using much of the harvest for future community functions, specifically the monthly community 'Soup Nights'. With lead chef Cashion Callaway's direction, we will be preserving tomatoes, peppers, and using other vegetables fresh. We are drying herbs for cooking and teas. Last week Cashion demonstrated processing chilies and preparing chili rellenos. Her direct, hands-on manner of teaching made us all feel that the impossible can be possible, and we experienced the pleasure of eating that beautiful food. We look forward to more cooking opportunities, and we're also planning a winter garden.
In fact, on September 12th, Sunday afternoon we will have a Pizza/Salad event to use some of the garden vegetables. For time and location, check the community board at the Silver City post office.
Garden Improvements Coming Soon: Improvements to the garden, including new equipment and materials and gardening classes, will be funded through Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey (HCC), and the Silver City Task Force for the next few years, and matched by the on-going volunteer labor of the gardening group and many others in the community who have donated seeds, plants, soil amendments, use of special equipment, and expertise (see www.healthcomm.org for more detail on HCC)
Our Silver City community seems to have a knack for bringing dreams to reality!