The Clermont County Master Gardeners are excited to kick off the summer vegetable gardening season with a new and improved demonstration garden! This garden, located at the Clermont County Fairgrounds, is designed to teach and inspire everyone, regardless of gardening experience. Our hope and mission are that this space will be more than just a garden — it will be an educational hub where we can all learn together.

What did we do to prepare?

Construction: We began by working with a local contractor to design and construct a variety of raised beds. Our goal was to create a space that could showcase different gardening techniques while being accessible and educational for visitors of all ages. The beds vary in shape and height to demonstrate the versatility of raised-bed gardening and to accommodate a wide range of plants and users. 

Filling with Quality Soil: We took special care in choosing the right soil blend for our raised beds. A healthy mix of compost and topsoil ensures that our plants will have the nutrients they need from day one. Good soil is the foundation of any successful garden.  (Yes, soil—not dirt! Soil is alive with nutrients and microorganisms that plants need to thrive.)

Adding Support Structures: We installed simple fencing and trellises within some of the beds to support climbing plants like beans and cucumbers. These structures not only help vertical growers thrive but also make the most of limited space. As the garden grows, these trellises will be full of green life.

Ready for Learning and Growing: With the beds filled, the soil in place, and trellising installed, our demonstration garden was ready to plant.  You can find a variety of local favorites, such as tomatoes, peppers, beans, and cucumbers, to name a few.

This is a shared public space where we welcome visitors of all ages and gardening backgrounds. We’re excited about this growing season and even more excited to share it with our community. Stay tuned for more updates!

Potager Article #16
A series of articles presented by Candy Horton, an OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteer

As the weather has started to get warmer, I have been able to get out into the garden to start cleaning up. I don’t think it will take as long to get it all back into order as I feared it would. The rain has put almost all of my work in the garden on hold, so I have switched up my plans. Before all of the rain, I was able to plant radishes, cold-weather lettuce, and spinach in the raised feeder bed. I now have tiny little seedlings poking their leaves up through the soil. With the temperatures that we are experiencing, these plants are slow-growing, but they are growing. I will get out in the garden this week to plant more spinach, lettuce, and radishes. I have been able to clean out the cold frame, and I will get some seeds into it. I’m going to try some carrots to see how they will do. I also have another bed cleaned out and ready, so as soon as it dries out a bit more, I will plant bush and pole bean seeds in that spot.

There are several nurseries open in my area, so I have picked up seed potatoes, asparagus roots, strawberry plants, and onion sets. I will be adding the additional strawberry plants to the bare spaces in the strawberry bed. Once I get those planted, I will put some straw on them to keep them protected from the cooler temperatures. I will be starting a new asparagus bed because when I moved the asparagus the previous fall, I don’t think they survived the move. I have been debating whether I should give the transplanted asparagus another year to see if they do better, but I will clear that bed at the end of this year if they don’t. I am also going to try a spring crop of garlic to see if I can get two crops per year rather than just one. If the weather holds, I am hoping to get a lot of those things done this week.

Another thing that I am going to be adding to the garden this next week is container gardens. I purchased some rubber buckets that are about 17 gallons in size that I will be using to plant potatoes. I have three different kinds of potatoes, and I have 12 buckets. I want to plant a different kind of potato in each bucket. Then, in a month, I will plant seed potatoes in three more buckets until I have used all of the buckets. My thought is that by the time I get to the third or fourth set of buckets, my first potatoes will be ready for harvest, and about every month after that, I will be harvesting potatoes. I want to see if I can harvest potatoes to use in either my Thanksgiving dinner or even my Christmas celebration in December. I will have to buy all of my seed potatoes now, but I think if I keep them in a cool, dry place, it will work. I will let you know.

When I was out in the garden before all of the rain, I moved last year’s compost pile into the next bin. I was so excited to see that it has been decomposing really well. This fall or early spring, I will have a really good batch of compost to use in the beds. I have also started my new batch and will continue to add to it all year. Once the season is over, I will leave it be until next spring. As I have been working in my garden beds, I have noticed that after a year of natural materials being added back into my garden, I’m starting to find a lot of worms in the garden soil. I was really worried about that and had considered and even planned for a worm farm. However, taking on the idea that by amending and adding healthy nutrients to the soil, the soil will become healthy and be a wonderful place to grow food for my family.

I have started looking over the middle section of the garden. I have found a very small plastic pond liner that I will order and dig out a space for. I have the plans all set for the insect hotels, and I have their location determined.

A series of articles presented by Candy Horton, an OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteer

I know it’s been a while since I last shared with you.  I want to apologize for that.  Life doesn’t always go the way we think it should, and it can take a little bit of time to come back from those rough times.  I’m sorry for the break.

Because of the break, my garden has become disrupted and was put on hold.  It’s frustrating, but sometimes, we need to rest before taking the next step in a project.  It was such a nice day yesterday. I spent some time in the garden checking to see how much work would need to be done to clean up the garden.  Because of the way I had set up the garden with the raised beds and mulch walkways, it’s not that bad, and I think that with a good two weeks of working there, I will be back in business.   When I last wrote, I finished up the first third of the garden.  I have a nice cold frame, 2 large raised beds, 2 smaller ones, 3 compost bins, and a shallow raised bed.   I started to work on the second section, which is the resting spot in the garden.  It will have a water feature, insect hotels, tables, and chairs to enjoy the garden.   I have found about 4 or 5 unique birdhouses that I want to put on a post to attract the birds.  I have several colorful pots to plant blueberry bushes or beautiful flowers to attract pollinators.   Just thinking about it feels very peaceful.

I had thought that I would put a worm farm in this area until recently when I was listening to a gardening podcast on organic gardening; the subject was healthy soil.  The instructor was teaching what healthy soil looks like, what difference it makes in your garden, and the chain reactions to having healthy soil.  Part of the discussion brought about the idea of adding worms or a worm farm into the garden.  The instructor made a comment that really stuck with me and changed my mind about having a worm farm in this middle section.  The comment he made focused on the idea that if our soil is healthy, then we don’t need to bring in worms because they will be naturally attracted to space.   I realized that he was right; a lot of my garden problems would not be an issue if my soil were a healthy, well-rounded environment.  It all starts with the soil.

Focusing on soil health, there’s a lot that I can do at this time. If the soil is not frozen, I could take a soil sample from the garden and take it to my local OSU Extension office to have it tested so I know and understand what condition my soil is in now. I will then know exactly what will be needed to get my soil healthy. I can start adding manure, compost, or leaf mulch to help make my soil as healthy as possible.

I have to understand that it will take several years to get it where I want it and that I will need to continually be mindful of the health of my soil and amend it as needed to keep it healthy.  As the day’s weather permits, I could start to clean out the garden.  I don’t want to chop up the debris but move it to my compost bins or a brush pile.  That way, the eggs and insects nesting in the leaves and weeds won’t be disturbed and can hatch out when they are ready, but I can get the garden prepared to start planting.

I have already been looking in the seed catalogs and am really excited to try some new seeds and plants.  We will talk more about that next time.

I have added a link to an article written by a team of professionals from The Ohio State University that will help you understand the importance of soil health, how to test it, and where to get it tested.

Soil Testing for Ohio Lawns, Landscapes, Fruit Crops, and Vegetable Gardens | Ohioline (osu.edu)

Written by: Joe Boggs, Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Hamilton County

Cindy Meyer, Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Butler County

Gary Gao, Small-Fruit Extension Specialist, OSU South Centers

 Jim Chatfield, Extension Specialist, Agriculture, and Natural Resources