2017 RWCEG Spring Season Summary

A lot has happened at RWCEG this Spring Season. Below are highlights with pictures. Be sure to click on the pictures to enlarge.

The Great Potato Harvest

In mid-February, my family planted six varieties of potatoes from tuber seeds (All-blues, Red LaSoda, Yukon Gold, Desiree, Kennebec, and La Ratte). On May 21, we had many people experience a wonderful harvest that felt a bit like an underground Easter egg hunt since many of the potatoes are a bit egg shaped and came in many colors due to their specific variety.

Newest Garden Member and recent high school graduate, Cydnie, holds up a hand full of recently harvested All-Blue Potatoes. (Once washed, these potatoes are a deep purple in color, inside and out!)

Cydnie helping grade school children that wandered over from a birthday party at RW Park harvest potatoes. Their parents were very impressed when they saw what their kids were doing. RWCEG can add an extra spark to any party!

Evan & Gina harvesting from the other side:

Pictures of some of the potatoes harvested. Note the interior of the sliced All-blue.

 

 The Great Pumpkin?

In March, we transplanted a pumpkin sprout that arose from a Jack-o-lantern last halloween. As shown below, it became a huge vine. The main vine did have a pumpkin growing on it, but unfortunately, a "forest friend" (probably a rodent) decided it wanted a piece of the action, and ate part of the pumpkin. We ended up harvesting it Memorial Day weekend.

Evan and Gina standing next to the Great Pumpkin Vine. Note the large fan shaped leaves and yellow flowers that bud into the pumpkin squash.

Evan holding up the prematurely harvested pumpkin. Note the chunk eaten out of it. We had planned to cover it up to protect it but we obviously did not do this soon enough.

The Indian Garden

   In mid spring the Gullapalli family became RWCEG members and planted a crop of Okra, Beans, Spinach, and Cucumbers. The seeds planted originated from India! They initially filled up Garden Bed 3, but recently transplanted some the plants to the remains of Bed 2 to prevent overcrowding. Although they had a late start with planting, the plants appear to be doing well as of Memorial Day weekend. It is wonderful to have something growing in all three beds again (although Bed 2 needs to be rebuilt soon).

A proud Kiran Kumar Gullapalli inspects his thriving crop of okra and spinach.

Fabulous Fennel

  On Memorial Day weekend, Evan harvested fennel. The stem and bulb of this plant strangely tastes like licorice!

Educating the Educators

  The RW Garden is a Community Education garden. So Becky and I were pleased to discuss the origins and purposes of RWCEG with Graduate Student, Aaron Niznik. Aaron studies Environmental, Political, and Economic Sociology at Brown University. His research interests are centered on identifying how grassroots environmental movements such as community gardening are developed. His dissertation work compares the socio-political structure of the urban gardening movements in Boston, Massachusetts and Austin, Texas. Special thanks to Becky who is not only the Garden Treasurer, but our Historian as well. She brought an iPad full of pictures and the "RWCEG Book of History" to supplement the discussion. We wish Aaron well with his research efforts and look forward to reading his findings.

Aaron and Glenn discussing the history and purposes of RWCEG with help from Becky!

Blog posted by Glenn Starnes, RWCEG Caretaker.