UVa Community Garden

The Garden is a growin’

UVa Community Garden — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:29:08 +0000

All of our hard work the past few weeks is paying off! Our China Rose Winter Radishes and Bath Cos Lettuce (both compliments of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants) are starting to sprout. Additionally, our artichoke is blooming and our strawberries are ripening. It’s a great time to be in the garden!

Tomorrow we’ll be planing lots of tomato, eggplant and pepper seedlings. Come join us in the garden from 2:00-4:00!

Contain Yourself!

UVa Community Garden — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 02:19:34 +0000

Click to view slideshow.Friday’s container gardening workshop and potluck was a big success! The weather was lovely and lots of folks joined us in the garden for fun and food. People planted peppers, tomatoes and herbs in pots, which they get to keep and care for. We ate pasta salad, mashed potatoes, grandma’s homemade jam, chocolate cake and MORE! A delicious time was had by all.

See more pictures from the potluck on our facebook page! (Just search for UVA Community Garden).

Go Ask Alice (Waters)

UVa Community Garden — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 01:53:03 +0000

Last Wednesday Alice Waters, owner of Chez Pannise and founder of the Edible School Yard Project, visited Charlottesville. She braved the rain and joined us in the garden! It was such an honor! Other gardeners and food enthusiasts from across campus joined us, and we shared our various food projects with her. Alice gave us inspirational words and great advice.

See the article about her visit in UVA Today!

Contain Yourself!

UVa Community Garden — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:39:04 +0000

Living in cramped quarters with little space to garden? Never fear, container gardening requires little space and can be very rewarding. Need to learn more about it? You’re in luck! We’ve decided to pair our April potluck with a container gardening workshop.

Join us in the garden on Friday, April 20 from 4:00-6:00.We’ll provide some pots, potting soil and seeds. Please bring a dish to share, and your own plate and utensil.

Hope to see you there!

Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Rye

UVa Community Garden — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 22:39:10 +0000

Wednesday’s workday was spent trying to tame the Gilmer garden. Our primary task was to remove weeds and cover crops. Rye planted as a cover crop the winter before last was bound and determined to take over the garden yet again, but in the end we triumphed! (For now). Check out this bunch:

Everything is gonna be all rye...

Spring planting has begun! Last Friday we planted carrots, parsnips, radishes, fennel and golden beets in the main garden space. We even used some compost tea from our very own worm bin to fertilize the beds we planted. More planting to come!

Planting radishes

Planting golden beets

Friday Fun in the Sun

UVa Community Garden — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 22:20:14 +0000

Friday was a scorcher, but we still had a good turnout for our first full workday of spring. There were some garden regulars and a few new faces too! We worked in the hot sun to trim and till the Gilmer space, and we tended compost, weeded, and harvested in the Alderman space. Our harvest included kale, chard, asparagus and rouge parsnips that were planted in seasons past.

Join us for our next workday from 10-noon on Wednesday!

Homegrown asparagus

Mystery parsnips

Tilling in the Gilmer space

Starting Off Spring

UVa Community Garden — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 02:01:07 +0000

Last Friday we rounded up several members of the garden leadership team and a few students from the Urban & Environmental Planning program to get down to work in the garden. Cover crops such as red clover and hairy vetch were growing abundantly. We tilled these into the soil to make it richer. Within the next week or two we’ll start planting our spring garden in these beds.

Additionally, the folks at the Farm at Red Hill were kind enough to let us use some space in their greenhouse to start some strawberry seeds growing. While we were there, they showed us around the greenhouse and chicken coup. What an inspiring place!

A Furry Feet chicken and a Top Hat chicken scurry about at the Farm at Red Hill.

WWTJP? (What would Thomas Jefferson Plant?)

UVa Community Garden — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:01:50 +0000

Today we were extremely fortunate to receive a seed donation from the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants. They gave us all kinds of interesting and heirloom seeds, such as Florence Fennel, China Rose Winter Radish and Anne Arundel Melon. Can’t wait to see these plants popping up in our garden.

The Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants is located at Tufton Farms and is owned by Monticello. While picking up our seeds, we were able to take a tour of the center’s gardens and greenhouse. It was a beautiful day to spend some time in the country, and it looks like they’re doing great work over there.

Low tunnels at the TJCHP

Inside of a low tunnel at TJCHP

So many seeds! Thanks, TJCHP!

Greenhouse at TJCHP

TJCHP

Soup & Stew Potluck this Thursday!

UVa Community Garden — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:50:16 +0000

It’s potluck time! Get ready for fun, friends and soup.

When: This Thursday, February 16, 5:30-8:00

Where: 104 Stadium Road

What: A glorious sharing of soups and stews. We also plan to watch an informative, food-related documentary of some kind. The movie is to be announced, be rest assured we’ll be getting our learn on.

Bring: A soup, stew or side to share!

Still growin’ strong

UVa Community Garden — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:33:49 +0000

The spring semester is underway and things are still going strong in the UVa Community Garden. Despite some cold days, there are still plants growing in several of our garden beds. Our chard, kale, arugula and broccoli are still producing. Look at them grow!

Stay tuned for more information on workdays and events this semester!