Growing through the Heat!
July has been a hot month! The gardens have flourished in the heat with our regular watering schedule in place. Each member of the Trail Town Outreach Corps was given a morning to water a specific garden and the gardens have appreciated their efforts. On arguably the hottest day of July, Emma, Elisa, and I met with Marty, a community garden volunteer, to spruce up the gardens in front of Highlands Hospital, a community hospital in Connellsville. Marty donated Hostas from his garden and the hospital brought more plants to fill the near-empty beds with life and color. After planting, we gave the plants a long drink of water and did the same for ourselves.
In the Armory garage garden, the tomatoes have grown into a bushy forest with shiny Italian basil undergrowth and bright marigolds scattered throughout. The cucumbers are climbing the chain-link fence with yellow blossoms and a few full-size cucumbers hanging on. The beans and squash have blossomed and flowered and the peppers have shown beautiful variations of leaf colors and shapes. The community center garden has a bounty of green tomatoes, full-size Spaghetti Squash, Emerald Gem melons, Purple Haze purple carrots, red geraniums, and sunflowers that are taller than I am! Our donations to the Connellsville foodbank and Salvation Army soup kitchen grew this month, with Spaghetti Squash, Swiss Chard, Collard Greens, mixed lettuce, and peppers. Along with produce, we had a bounty of great ideas and volunteers this month!
Dave Stupka, a master gardener in Connellsville, proposed two great projects for the gardens along 3rd St. The first, on the 11th, was a classic Schwinn road bike that we planted in the middle of the beautiful Painted Lady Runner Beans and named a “bean bike.” We wrapped the fast-growing vines around the frame, wheels, and handlebars, and within a week the beans had enveloped the bike entirely with beautiful red and white blossoms. Dave’s second project along 3rd street is a pilot irrigation system involving a just PVC tube and gravel. The tube will be planted below ground after sawing the top off and filling half of it with gravel, allowing roots to have a steady reservoir of water that is easily monitored and filled by gardeners. This system was installed by volunteers from the Youth Action Crew high school group as an experimental garden concept that could be applied along the entire street.
Looking forward to August, the tomatoes and peppers will soon ripen! BLT season is on its way!
-Maggie Adams
