Is there any better event than a garden walk? There will be a Garden Walk on Wednesday August 16th @ 6pm at the amazing Urban Farm Church. I cannot wait to see all the progress they have made! We will be talking summer harvest and fall planting plus many more topics as well as taking your questions.
The event is free and open to the public although registration is required. Bring your friends and your questions!
Lots going on in the garden this week. It is planting time for the last batch of summer veggies, time to start fall cool season vegetables, plus maintenance of our current crops with pest, weed, and fertility challenges. Plus 90 degree heat. I will be out in the community all week talking these topics on two garden walks plus a trip to the Bronzeville Grower Market.
Tuesday August 2nd: A Garden Walk at Bexley Community Garden South @ 6:30pm.
Come join us at the Bexley Community Garden South, 925 Ferndale Place, Bexley for a free in-person class to discuss:
Wednesday August 3rd: A Garden Walk at Mari Sunami Community Garden on the South Side @ 6pm.
We have two more garden walks at Mari Sunami! In the first walk on August 3rd we will be talking about what summer crops you can still plant for a fall harvest. For the second walk on September 7th we will talk fall planting of cool season crops. Plus lots more about pests, weeds, disease, fertilizing, and harvesting. The walks are free and open to the public so bring your friends and your questions!
Also, there is potential space available if you are in need of a garden plot! Contact Jess at the phone and email below if you are interested.
Here is a close up of the map to get you to the location
Thursday August 4th: What to Plant NOW for Fall at the Bronzeville Growers Market @ 4pm.
Plus you can do some shopping and get some fresh produce! See you out and about!
What is in harvest? What bugs are we seeing in the garden right now? What is coming up in June and Summer weather? Check out this two minute FAST Update in the Community Garden to see what is happening right NOW.
May is a busy time in the community garden! Lots still to plant, lots to harvest. Come talk about what is happening right NOW in the community garden in this free virtual class event. The class is free and open to the public but registration is required so click on the link below and bring your friends and your questions.
Hi there,
You are invited to a CarmenZoom webinar.
When: May 4, 2021 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: May 2021 Update in the Community Garden
This update provides information on what to do right this minute in March to get the garden ready, what to plant now, how to prep the beds and what we have in store for our weather.
#2020 was quite the year. One positive was the number of backyard growers, community gardeners, teacher educators and urban farmers that either wanted to learn how to start growing or to increase their production of fresh, healthy produce. Growing Franklin was there every step of the way with a year long string of content. I am creating this post to assist any new growers as well as the seasoned grower progress through a years worth of content, starting this spring through summer, fall and even winter.
I highly recommend you subscribe!
Link is in the column on the right. ——–>
It is time to get started growing again!
SPRING
First things first – Time to take a look at our upcoming weather prediction:
There is a greater percentage of warmer than normal and wetter than normal through April. Make sure to take advantage of that. If you can start some cool weather seedlings and protect them with season extension you can get an early harvest of lettuce, spinach, radishes, kale, carrots and bok choi.
The next step is to start planning that spring garden. Here is a virtual class event to help get you started.
When people started to social distance at home it was not just vegetables that they wanted to learn how to grow. Backyard poultry keeping saw a similar jump in popularity. Here is a virtual class recording to help get you started in poultry keeping.
One of the most powerful tools in your toolbox is starting your own seeds. This allows you to grow whatever you want to grow, whenever you want to grow it. The whole seed catalog is available to you. I will be starting seeds any time now for spring transplanting. Want to learn how to start your own seeds? Below is a whole recorded webinar if you want to go in depth, as well as a short snappy video that introduces the topic.
Recorded webinar class:
Quick introduction video:
What if you do not have a spot to garden? Try growing in a container! Container gardening lets you grow just about anywhere and is a great way to get a harvest from a small space.
Once you got some seeds started, depending on how you started them, you may need to pot those up into larger pots to get ready for transplanting. This short video will give you an introduction on how to pot up transplants prior to planting.
Kale is a tasty and healthy spring vegetable. Join me and my OSU Extension Franklin County colleague Jenny Lobb to learn how to make nutritious and delicious kale chips.
SUMMER
Now let’s talk some summer planting. We are big into spring harvest but we need to start thinking about some hot weather crops and how to get ready for them.
I am a huge fan of summer squash and zucchini. Here is a quick 2 minute video made in collaboration with my OSU Extension colleague Jenny Lobb on How to Grill Summer Squash
Tomatoes are the taste of summer. They are also one of the crops that generate the most questions sent to me. I have lots of content to share on how to get your best tomato year. First up is a virtual class recording on Tomatoes 101:
Here are three great articles with pics on some of the most common tomato weather questions:
Let’s take a look at a summer garden in full harvest and talk about summer growing. Here is a tour of my plot at Wallace Community Garden, an actual Victory Garden remnant from the 1940’s
Summer gardening usually means pests, weeds and disease. They can devastate your garden and drive you crazy. Let’s talk about managing pests in the garden:
If you are still hungry after the summer squash video then join me and my OSU Extension colleague Jenny Lobb on How to Grill Sweet Corn
FALL
While it is still summer, we need to start thinking about our Fall Garden. Each seasons gardening plans are made one season (at least) prior. So let’s start thinking about our fall garden and what we want to think about planting:
Once you get some transplants for fall, and have your seeds ready to go, it is time to plant the fall garden. Fall garden planting will allow a harvest right through Thanksgiving with some sound timing, the right varieties, and some season extension.
Organic matter is the foundation for great soil health. Fall is the ideal time to get a compost pile started to provide a stream of organic matter to use to get your best harvest. Here is a Composting virtual class event to get you started as a composter.
Fall is also a great time to get some end of season chores done plus get a jump start on next years growing. So when we say End of Season we are talking about the main season but as we will see below, we use all the seasons.
WINTER
Ohio is a four season growing environment. Picking the right varieties, timing your plantings and using some season extension will allow a harvest all 12 months of the year. Let’s talk growing over winter.
Believe me, you can eat fresh, healthy produce that you grew yourself all 12 months of the year. Here is an update of a January over-wintered planting.
I hope you enjoyed a trip through #2020 growing virtually. Feel free to share. I will be hosting more classes this year to support growers so I recommend subscribing. Feel free to send any questions my way to Tim McDermott.15@osu.edu or if you are not a Franklin County resident, find the contact for your Extension educator at Extension.osu.edu
This is the webinar recording for the Pests in the Garden presentation held on July 29th in partnership with Franklinton Farms for those who wish to re-watch the virtual class or were unable to attend. Feel free to share. We discussed Integrated Pest Management techiques to deal with the insects, disease and weeds affecting garden production.