The Gardening Project

Ambrosia Melon

This will be my first time growing a melon. The melon is of the ambrosia variety, which is a close relative to the cantaloupe.

Melons are ground spreaders and take up a considerable amount of space. To combat this problem I have built a trellis in the shape of an “A” for it to grow up and down. The trellis is simply made out of cattails from the river next to my garden.

Growing vertically can save space and allow you to fit more plants into your garden. Saving space in your garden is always important, especially for someone like me who has a small urban garden.

Calories and Nutritional Information for Cantaloupe Melons

Gardening ideas pictures

The month of June has had lower temperatures and increased rainfall. Tomatoes like warmer weather. Colder temperatures cause the plants metabolism to slow and which in turn slows growth.

Since I started with soil full of rich composted material, my tomatoes are looking better than I would have thought.  My father’s tomato plants were planted about two weeks before mine, and are about a foot shorter and still don’t have any tomatoes over the size of a golf ball.

This is just another example of how rich composted soil and full sun can increase your yields even during tough growing months. Hopefully the good weather stays, and I will be picking tomatoes in about two weeks.

Calories and Nutrient Information for Tomatoes

Compost Pile News
For the first time in recent memory, we are using our own compost!
Previous years have seen our litter laden compost piles removed by
truck and disposed of as hazardous waste.

This left us with the burden of purchasing additional finished compost for use in our gardens.During the last 3 years, the leadership team, headed by current president,
Tim Horn, has started managing our compost in rows that are
turned 4 – 8 times per year.

In June, we ground up all of the compost and plowed last year’s stock into large piles in each composting area. We are mixing NITROGEN with the compost and covering it with black cloth to ‘cook’ as a hot compost pile during the summer. Once the pile cooks for July, August, and September, we will be able to uncover at least two piles in October for addition to our gardens.

-Fenway Garden Society Summer Newsletter 2009 http://fenwayvictorygardens.com/forms/Summer-2009.pdf

Growing Beans

Beans! Growing green beans in your garden is about as easy as it comes. Place them in a glass of water for 24 hours and most of them should germinate.

After this, just dig a trench in your garden about 2 inches deep and space them about 6 inches apart. Wait 50 days and eat. I love gardening, it’s so easy.

Over the next few weeks I will be adding articles about gardening. These will be short “how to”s that will give you all the information you need to get gardening.  Here we go.