Room to Grow

Kirk built a wooden box so that gardeners can drop off their vegetables to donate (see picture). You may have seen it outside the back door of the Catholic Worker. It has holes on the side so the veggies can breathe.

We have been able to provide a nice selection to the food pantry lately. We've been stocking the fridge with bags of salad, green beans, squash, turnips and collards. However, we could easily provide 3-4 times more produce without being excessive.

When the time comes, there will certainly be enough tomatoes, but some of the other crops could have been planted more densely. With that in mind, there has been some major planting going on so that we'll be strong by the end of the season. We can certainly ramp it up for next year.

While it may look like all the space in the garden has been taken up, there are spots all over that are available for planting. There are some sections where nothing has really sprouted, and there comes a time to admit that it's not happening there and re-till it. Tim & Frank H. found room in some of those areas to put more beans. There are piles of what used to be sod all around the no-till corn section that are already perfectly mounded up for squash. There is a 3-foot wide perimeter that goes around the whole garden where we have been storing our supplies and mulch. There is quite a bit of room in there for more crops. I've been squeezing in squash and bean seeds all over. Just when you think there is no more room, you find there is a bounty.

There has already been talk about how we might organize this for next year. Some folks who did not get on board want to participate next year, including members of the Latino community. The current gardeners gobbled up the space and quickly expanded to other sections. It is fun to watch the enthusiasm and to see what plans the Holy Spirit has for this!