2016
GARDEN: KERHONKSON
Some seven miles northwest of Ellenville, in the hamlet of Kerhonkson, a friend of John's had a 1,000 sq ft fenced vegetable garden that had remained uncultivated for several years. Learning of the community gardens initiative, John's friend freely offered this plot for the project.
The former gardener in Kerhonkson had applied organic principles, and, though high in clay content (after all, this was Clay Hill Road), the soil was of a reasonable quality for growing.
A gem of an asparagus plant still flourished here (the root system was nicely established, and produced thirty spears), and a few perennial herbs had survived, otherwise the plot was fallow.
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| Asparagus |
John cleared the plot of weeds, and, now able to view the site clearly, a 23-bed plan of cultivation was devised.
Several dozen old decking boards were donated for this garden, which John cut to size and secured into the ground to serve as frames for the 23 vegetable beds (20-inch wide paths give access to all beds).
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| Lettuces growing within a framed vegetable bed |
A kindly sponsor further helped this garden's successful cultivation, providing one cubic yard of sandy soil, which was mixed with the existing clayey soil in each of the vegetable beds. Finally, a balanced soil mix was achieved with the digging-in of compost, as conveniently left over from the time of the previous gardener several years previously. Of course, we now sustain ourselves with compost each year.
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| Radishes |
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| Radishes |
Flowers By Lynn, of Ellenville, donated fifty starter plants each of tomatoes and bell peppers for this garden, and another kindly sponsor provided twenty hooped, galvanized steel tomato cages.
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| Tomato plants |
A 10-inch width of soil was also prepared for sowing peas, beans and cucumbers along the entire interior length of the garden's strong, 6ft-high fence (vertical growing of cucumbers works well).
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| Purple pea flower |
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| Pea plants |
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| Sugarsnap peas |
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| Red bean flower |
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| Purple bean flowers |
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| Pink bean flowers |
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| Red runner bean flowers |
A nice selection of vegetables (rotated each year, according to basic vegetable groups) is now harvested from this garden, with Praise Dominion's food pantry receiving the 2016 bounty, and the Rondout Valley Food Pantry collecting produce in 2017. Local restaurants have also enjoyed cooking with a surplus from this garden, particularly the excellent organic fennel, asparagus and summer squash.
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| Squash plants |
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| Turnip plants |
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| Kale |
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| Broccoli plants |
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| Carrot plants |
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| Beet plants |
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| Fennel plants |
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| Fennel |
