Youth Garden Update 7-29-11

The State provided cleanup help to Vinton in the form of some Anamosa State Prisoners. Last Friday and again on Monday, they were helping at the Youth Garden.  They took the brush that was about 6″ in diameter and smaller and fed it into a chipper. 

Martha, our Super Helper, is on the left. She isn't part of the Anamosa Prison contingent, as far as I know....

 

This is a brand new chipper that Vermeer sent to Vinton. I'm a little unclear as to whether the State or the company brought it in, but it was working overtime all over town.

The view is a lot better than last week…

 

Just a few days ago, you couldn't see the building across the street.

The apple trees are still standing. But the tree across the street had to come down.It used to be a lot harder to see across the street. There was a large maple tree on our side and a large locust on the other.

One of the two new mulch piles we have from the storm debris.

 

Al, from the Parks Department, used a skid loader to move a bunch of that mulch to between the beds. That should help cutdown on the weeds.

The tomatoes are even starting to ripen, and they don't look the worst for wear. Some of the plants have large fruit. I can't wait for the kids to try them!

 

This is the bed that had the pine top on it. The oregano and chives made it through. And there is some kohlrabi that survived.

 The Garden is starting to look like we can get (somewhat) back to normal.  Lori, Martha and I were at the Garden today spreading the mulch around and weeding. Martha is already looking forward to when the kids can take the extra produce to the Farmers’ Market!

Dig it!

Posted under Youth Garden

This post was written by Eileen Loan on July 29, 2011

Youth Update 7-21-11

I stopped by the Garden on Tuesday when it was really, really hot and really, really humid to pick some beans.  I was surprised to find that the evergreen top had been removed from the raised beds.  A couple of posts had been broken off, and some plants were squished, but it already looked better.  Or at least less hopeless.

The bed looks pretty bare. It was mostly empty anyway, but this end held the herbs.

This is what is left of the herbs, although the oregano does still have some green and I found some chives on the other side that may survive.

These tomatoes were under the tree top. The one on the left may not make it, but we are certainly going to give it a chance to recover!

It's hard to see, but this is the tomato cage that was around the previous photo's critically injured tomato. I'm not sure I can get it back into a round shape.

This is the space the eggplants were in. The stems are there, but there are no leaves, flowers or fruit. I don't think they will come back.

The northern evergreen. This is the one I really hope gets chainsawed into a cornstalk or something garden-like.

This is the middle tree. It still has few branches, but I'm pretty sure they will have to be taken down.

The beans managed to stay out from under any trees and they look great!

I didn’t get the beans.  I was too sweaty from moving the few things I did in that 115 degree heat index.

It sounds like the cleanup of the brush at the Gardens will be completed by Monday or so.  I can’t wait to see what it looks like!

Dig it!

Posted under Youth Garden

This post was written by Eileen Loan on July 21, 2011

The Youth Garden Takes a Hit

The storm took most of the mature trees in Vinton on Monday. That includes the trees around the Garden.  The following photos are in the order I took them:

Some of the debris may be from surrounding properties, but the pine stuff on the left of the image is Garden. And it is sitting on at least one of the beds.

There used to be three beautiful pine trees here. Now there is 2/3 of one.

There are four raised beds on this side of the garden. One looks unscathed. One has flattened tomatoes. Two have a pine tree on them.

Oh, the humanity! Downed tomatoes. I managed to get most of them back up. Hopefully, that will be enough.

The scarecrow lost its hat. If you look closely, the post is still in the ground... and attached to the scarecrow.

This bed holds the herbs. To the right is a tomato bed. On the left, that board debris is what is left of a nice bench someone made for us last year. Hopefully it can be repaired.

This was a beautiful maple across the street. One of the ladies living there said a few branches landed on the roof, but otherwise the buildings are sound.

The sign stayed up. And it looks like the tree on the right side of the photo made it through. The maple on the left lost a lot of branches and you can see the bent posts in the raised beds.

I think the peppers will be okay. Not sure about the broccoli, though.

The tree at the far end of the lot dropped it's top onto the power lines. We dragged a few limbs from near the fence over to the far lot. No powerlines were approached, so we weren't in any danger.

This part of the neighbor's tree took out some of their fence. The dogs (scotties) are okay. They were out making sure we were doing our jobs correctly. Underneath the largest branch are some raspberry bushes we just planted. We managed to uncover a couple more, but I think we may have lost two or three.

This is our water tank. It was moved away from the tree and limbs dropped on it. It didn't appear to have been cracked or busted, but I didn't look too closely. I'll check that later.

Amazingly, the apple trees came out pretty good. Sarah said she stopped by on Monday and a couple were leaning, but when she straightened them up, they stayed put.

I am worried about the apple tree on the left. It is close to the debris pile and I am worried that whoever comes to pick up the debris may not see it. I didn't have anything large and bright to tie around it.

These are the tomatoes I am not sure will survive. The one on the right looks like it might actually survive if they get the tree off of it soon. I won't pester the city, though, since they have plenty to do.

This tomato cage is crushed between the upright post and the tree. I guess it will have to wait until the tree is removed

You don't even know where to start

What is left of the northern pine tree. I wonder if we can get a chainsaw artist to make a cornstalk....

This is the homemade bench. Hopefully it can be repaired.

Mother Nature does provide beauty in destruction.The bark being split from the rest of the top of the pine

This is really beautiful. Too bad it is at the expense of the life of the pine.

Despite the dead lower branches, this was a healthy tree. It is sad to see it on the ground.

A sad sight.

Of these three pine bases, only one will probably be left standing.

The pink flamingo welcoming everyone to the Gardens is MIA. If anyone finds it, his mate would be happy to see him again. The branches on the right are from trees across the street, along with the ones we dragged their from the Garden.

The poor wren house did not fare very well, although when I went to put the wire back on the rear of the house, Momma wren flew out. That gives me hope for the little 'uns.

The fabric blew off in a previous storm. This wind twisted the frame. It probably would have ended up a few blocks away if it weren't for a couple of bolts in the cement.

Dig it!

Posted under Youth Garden

This post was written by Eileen Loan on July 14, 2011

Youth Garden Update

I must say the Gardens look a whole lot better this year than they did at this point last year.  That is mainly because we didn’t get started until late May or early June last year and we were playing catch-up all year. This year we started early and we have managed to keep it looking pretty good.  So far!

I spent the better part of three hours weeding the little bed next to the concrete slab. We had put a lot of annuals in it, but it also had dianthus (a biennial) and some roses that got transplanted from the Peony Pit. There were also some columbine that apparently seeded. Edwon and I then mulched around the flowers to keep the weeds down and keep it looking good.

This area had some raspberries and asparagus that I planted on the hottest day of the year last year. Needless to say, the plants didn’t make it. The weed patch has won this round, but take heed, weeds!  I will win the war!

The Weed Patch

The raised beds are doing very well again this year.

Potatoes look terrific

One bed of the tomatoes...

The other bed of tomatoes

There was even room at one end of a tomato bed for some eggplants.

While the kids were planting, I was weeding, so I don't know if these are beets or radishes. I am almost positive they are beets, but don't quote me on that.

The peppers look great. They are benefiting from some old tomato cages.

The beans look fantastic! I can't wait to see if they are ready to eat this week. For the kids, of course!

The squash/zucchini/pumpkin field is doing very well. The plants are really starting to take off.

Here’s to keeping it looking this good in another month after we get really, really tired of weeding!

Dig it!

Posted under Youth Garden

This post was written by Eileen Loan on July 4, 2011