Welcome to the 2014 season of the PRGC! (Season FIVE!)

Surprise! We are up and running for the 2014 season! Greens in the greenhouse are coming up and are being begged to be made into tonight's salad. A good group of folks has stuck around for another year and work parties are getting things moving forward steadily.

Moisture has been low already and there is delay with tomatoes due to a watering issue. However, they seem to be recovering. We will try doing corn in three stages this year to get a prolonged harvest. We will also do the Bring Your Own Peppers to Garden Day again this year where garden members bring several pepper plants each to get the peppers into the ground.

So, our long time garden members Evan and Jennifer Stubbs have moved up north. They will be missed this year for sure. Turns out, though, that they entered some of the produce from the PRGC in the Lincoln County Fair last year. So we can now say we have award winning food, right?  Right! The ribbons are seen in the picture and are on display in the green house.

Other PRGC sitings :)

PRGC Brandywine takes nation by storm

A picture of one of our brandywine tomatoes is on a Home Depot site about gardening.  Check it out here:
http://gardenclub.homedepot.com/popular-heirloom-tomatoes/

PRGC Glass Gem Corn International Star

The little Glass Gem Corn from last year is also pictured on an Italian food site called Sale&Pepe (Salt and Pepper).  The article is an explanation of the rediscovery of this particular corn type. Check it out here: http://www.salepepe.it/news/notizie/la-pannocchia-dimenticata-e-riscoperta-e-multicolor/ 

Thanks again for a great start!
More to come.

Corn and the end of season four.

CORN! There be CORN!

So, it was a very successful year at the PRGC. We finally got our rain... and lot of it. More folks showing up doing a lot of fine work. And more folks excited about the good food and things to do next season already. So many tomatoes! The potatoes did really well this year too. Tomatillos surprised us all with a bumper crop. And my personal little experiment was the popcorn... The glass gem corn. And it worked. We achieved corn and are now in the drying phase to see if we achieve POPCORN. Need to start a little sooner next season but I think everyone will be very happy with the colorful results. Thanks to all the new folks that joined us and all those still around having fun with us in the dirt. Getting cold fast and the garden is stripped down now but won't be long until the start of season FIVE! Get your gloves ready. The seeds for the glass gem corn came from the Native Seeds/SEARCH organization. http://www.nativeseeds.org/

And now we join Season 4... already in progress.

Welcome to Season 4 at the PRGC! This first blog of the season comes after the beginning. Seeds have been started. Gardens have been reset. Many tomatoes have been planted. Greens have been cut and made into many salads.

This year, we once again, have had an increase in members who are all energetic and excited about the veggies in our future.  The work parties so far have been very successful. Each sunday there have been multiple groups around the garden getting a lot of plants in the ground. 

An issue with peppers lead to the little or no growth of the seedlings. However, the coop came through and many members brought their favorite pepper plants from local stores and we should have a stellar pepper crop. The cause for the failure of the seedlings has not been determined. 

It has been a dry season so far and the cisterns are empty so we are hoping for some moisture. We are hoping for a lot of moisture. RAIN ALREADY! Though, please... no hail. But spirits are high and the playground is in full swing with happy kids every weekend and there is talk of bringing out the swimming pool anyway. 

More chickens around this year and a new installation of beehives in the back five have added some new welcome visitors. 

Just about everything is in the ground. The crops have been changed to help fit need or demand and we hope to refine that this year as well. Though apparently there is no such thing as too many tomatoes. 

So, the weeding portion of the season should begin shortly which means the beginning of the Thursday night Weed and Beers. 

The word for August is TOMATO!

Here we are in August. School is starting. The rains are still lingering around. And did I mention the tomatoes? It is harvest time along with continued weed time in the garden. Oh, and flowers. The added flowers this year have really add a lot of color and bee attractors to the garden.

We have potatoes, peppers, some squash, corn, tomatoes and eggplant coming in right now.  The fruit trees are also packed and heavy right now.

Thursday nights are still active and enjoyable in the late summer coolness.

Time to start making salsa, tomato sauce, caprese salads, super BLTs, etc. or freezing tomatoes.

Rain, Rain come back, just about everyday!

Needed Rain

Monsoons, or at least something that is monsoon like, have arrived. The plants and the weeds are happily growing along taking it all in. The beans and the second batch of corn has been planted. The first batch of corn was, indeed, knee high on the fourth of July. Folks are coming out when they are able and during the Thursday night weeding parties but the weeds are surging so more work is needed. The tomatoes in the greenhouse and in the productive structures outside are flourishing. The plants that were hit by the hail are trying to rebound. More items, like carrots, will be going in to take advantage of the rain and wet soil.

  

Weeds be here!

We are coming up on WEED season. Wait. Dang. We are IN weed season. Things are getting a lot of growth on them though. The hail storm right before the needed rainstorm cut back some of the leaves out there but it looks like most plants survived. We have had some great help replanting some of the things we lost. The first batch of corn is moving on up and the second batch is a little late but getting in this week.

Thursday nights are starting to pick up as the Weeding parties continue. The pool is up and has a newly configured heating system. A new playset is up and ready for swinging and sliding. 

PEAS are coming in and flying out of the garden right now. And the blossoms on the tomatoes show that we will have a record crop this year, no doubt. 

See you down at the garden. 

June and the rise of the 'maters!

Chard

     With a handful of work parties over the last few weekends we have almost everything in the ground. Did we mention the tomatoes? there are a lot of tomatoes out there and they are thriving. There is about a row and half outside protected in shade cloth or open-ended 5 gallon buckets to protect them from the wind as the start off. There is an additional row in the green house these year, as well. The first corn has been planted along with everything else. Wanting to have a "start of summer" potluck in the next week to meet the new members and see everyone we have missed over the winter. The new trampoline and setting up the pool will make it a kid happy garden time.  Now we take aim at the bugs and weeds and start thinking about this year's Weed and Beer nights.

Bucket Tomato