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They’re not quite the hanging gardens of Babylon, but they are still pretty amazing. Where there was once rubble, a garden now stands. A garden created out of love. A garden created with sweat, blood, biodiesel, compost, and a whole lot of shoveling. The biodiesel powered the tractors that laid the compost out in raised bed rows. We sweat and bled while shoveling pathways and created dimension in this ¼ acre space. The garden just gets better with every passing year.
This is year three in the Modena garden, or Mogreena garden, as we like to say. The gardens at 8 Union Street have evolved into multiple purpose spaces, with the majority of garden space going to veggies. We have gardens for food, gardens for entertaining, and gardens that serve as a pretty face. We have a soft spot for art in the garden, and reusing found objects of industry, but I’ll delve into those topics in a future post.
We added Biochar to a few of the beds this year, to experiment with water and nutrient retention. Our yields should be higher in the Biochar beds and we can’t wait till the harvest comes in! We’ve added more compost and fertilizer, organic of course, and the plants love it. We water the garden with reclaimed water and supplement with well water when needed. We were a little worried when it was dry for about 3 weeks in early spring, but finally the atmosphere is cooperating! Watching the garden grow after a good rain is a miracle of nature.
Garden day has evolved into more than just a day of planting, weeding, and watering. It has evolved into a social gathering of co-workers and friends. The garden is a place and time for relaxation, camaraderie, learning, and exploration. It is amazing what growing your own food can do to influence a willingness to try new vegetables.
Gardens are a joy best shared with others. This is the first of many blog posts where our Mogreena Garden will be shared with the world. I hope you enjoy them.
