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The week will be my last at The Healing Ground. When I got to the garden this morning I was shocked (as I am every Monday after being away from the plants for two days) to see the growth that had taken place in my absence! Even more surprising is the growth that has taken place over the past few months. We even have two watermelons that are growing! There was a point where I wasn’t sure any of the watermelon plants would even grow taller than 5 inches.
Read MoreToday a veteran helped me lug 73 pounds of produce to my car from the garden! If harvests keep going at this rate I am going to need to start lifting weights! This last harvest puts us within 7 pounds of reaching a total of 150 pounds of donated fresh produce! The harvest box was full of zucchini, cucumbers, banana peppers, corn, and a few tomatoes. I hope some of you were able to catch the article that was written last Wednesday about The Healing Ground and it’s impact on the vets at the VA. It was good to see how the garden is helping out the vets.
Read MoreThe Healing Ground has donated 69 pounds of produce to BMAC! The majority of this has been zucchini which have been producing like mad in the past week. We have also harvested pickling cucumbers and banana peppers. The tomatoes are finally starting to blush and ripen. The cherry tomatoes were first to start and today I spotted a beefsteak that was showing some pink color. The carrots are still working their way to maturity and the corn’s tassels are starting to look brown.
This week The Healing Ground has seen many volunteers. Sometimes, more than five vets will come out to the garden! It is such a dramatic and fantastic shift. I am very pleased with the new participation. Some of the guys even got together a few days ago and made a scarecrow! He is doing his job well. Every now and then I will look around the garden and think I have company but it’s only the scarecrow.
Scarecrow keeping the garden safe
The Healing Ground has an article in the Walla Walla Union Bulletin today. It’s about the program and how it is working for the veterans. If you want to know more check out today’s issue of the Union Bulletin!
Read MoreLet’s start with an update from last week. The Healing Ground had a community opening last Friday. Members from the Agriculture Center of Excellence and Walla Walla Community College who contributed to the building of the garden were in attendance as were several VA employees who were interested in the garden. There was a short invocation and people were thanked for their support and help. We are hoping that this publicity will encourage more veterans in the community to take an interest in the garden.
The Healing Ground
Over the weekend with all the rain we had, the garden continues to grow at an outrageous pace. Today a few volunteers and I harvested 19 pounds of zucchini and 7 pickling cucumbers! The banana peppers and tomatoes are continuing to grow and ripen by the day. Bark was laid down last Thursday to outline a four foot path along the border of the garden and mulch will be added around the plants this week to retain soil moisture and prevent weeds.
Sometime this week or next I will be hosting a presentation about composting for any one who would like to attend. We are building a compost bin for the garden and the presentation will be a sort of side dish to the addition to the garden.
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