Franklin Community Garden Update

Hello Gardeners,

Every indication shows that we've passed the last of the cold weather, and have entered into prime gardening time.  The average last frost date for Franklin Massachusetts is May 1st, and the extended forecast shows pleasant weather in our future.  If you haven't had a chance to get down to the garden an prepare your bed now is a good time.  We have early weeds that are starting to go to seed, so get them pulled now before they spread the next generation into your bed and your neighbors!  Remember that you are responsible for weeding your bed and the area around it!

Raised bed in April, 2012

When you visit the garden you may also notice a new structure in it, we now have a garden shed with tools in it thanks to a generous grant from the Franklin Rotary!  The shed has a keyed lock on the front, and you can obtain your key to the lock at the Recreation department.  Please be sure to lock the shed after you leave, and return any tools you've borrowed.   If you'd like to further suppress weeds in your area feel free to take woodchips from the large pile and add them on top of any weed hotspots.  The wheelbarrow and tools in the shed makes moving them easy, and there are gardening gloves in the shed to aid handling.

The water seems to be running slowly, but hasn't been officially turned on.  We're in contact with the town to have to water turned on fully as soon as possible.

We have a number of gardening events coming up in May!

May 12th: 9:30 am to 11:30 am - An Introduction to Gardening and Garden Planning at the YMCA 45 Forge Hill Road Franklin, MA
May 19th: 9:00 am to 11:00 am - A Tomato Planting & Support Demonstration at the King St. Memorial Garden
May 28th: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm - King St. Memorial Garden 1st Anniversary Celebration at the King St. Memorial Garden

We hope to see you there!

The Franklin Community Garden Committee

Additional Event Info

An Introduction to Gardening and Garden Planning
Hosted By: Chris Clay, Friends of Franklin Community Gardens, and the YMCA
May 12th: 9:00 am to 11:00 am
YMCA 45 Forge Hill Road Franklin, MA

This class will give you a basic introduction to gardening and what you need to do to have a successful harvest.  We'll also go over the basics of planning out what you'll be putting in your garden throughout the growing season, and have materials on hand to help you plan your garden for this year.  All those who attend will also be able to pickup some free seeds, and meet fellow gardeners.

A Tomato Planting & Support Demonstration
Hosted By: Chris Clay and Friends of Franklin Community Gardens
May 19th: 9:00 am to 11:00 am
King St. Memorial Community Garden

Tomatoes are the most popular vegetable among home gardeners, and with good reason.  The flavor of a tomato fresh off the vine is something you simply cannot find at the supermarket.  They also happen to be my favorite vegetable, and in this presentation I'll go over the tips and tricks for successful tomato growing I've collected.  I'll also cover additional information on tomato varieties, how to prune tomatoes, and setup proper support structures for optimal tomato health.

King St. Memorial Garden 1st Anniversary Celebration
Hosted By: The Friends of Franklin Community Gardens and the Franklin Community Garden Committee
May 28th: 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
King St. Memorial Community Garden

On May 28th, 2011 the King St. Memorial Community Garden official opened for gardening.  Join us as we celebrate the our first successful first year of gardening, and the many years to come.  There will be seedlings on hand for sale to support The Friends of Franklin Community Gardens efforts to continue to expand on the garden, and other events and activities.  Drop by to share a story, a piece of cake, or just the view.
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Freeze Warning! Be Prepared

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Freeze Warning! Be Prepared

via Growing In Franklin by Franklin Community Gardens on 4/27/12

A note to our Gardeners from King Street Garden Coordinator Chris Clay:


Hello Everyone,

Tonight is the reason we don't plant our tomatoes and other hot weather plants until May, despite the amazing weather we've been having.  There is a strong chance of freeze tonight, and if you have planted tomatoes in your plot they will need protection to survive the night if the temperature dips to freezing.  If you do have tomatoes planted you have a couple of options to save them.

One is to transplant them out of the garden and keep them indoors overnight.  Tomato root systems are incredibly durable and can handle the transfer.  This is the only fool proof way to save them that I know of.

Another would be to purchase some floating row covers to cover your plot.  They will provide at least a couple of degrees of protection and may make the difference, though it will be dicey.  You can add additional coverage by placing multiple 2 liter bottles filled with warm water in the plot under the row covers.  This will provide a couple more degrees of protection.  If you buy a light floating row cover leave the cloth as doubled up as you can while covering the bed.  If you have other non-tomato warm weather plants this may be your best chance to save them.

Option three is to gamble that the weather service is wrong and see what happens.  In the worst case scenario you can always replant.

Peas and other cold hardy plants should do fine tonight, though a row cover never hurts.  This is primarily a warning for anyone who has planted warm weather plants.

Cheers,

Chris Clay


If you don't have any row covers, I have had luck with old towels and blankets, prop them up with sticks or pots or whatever works.  Just be sure to remove them in the morning!
 ~ Amy

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Growing in Franklin

The Community Garden is showing signs of growth already. While not all the beds are fully planted, some of the gardeners have taken the opportunity to put some peas in or layout their beds. A walk through the garden beds on Saturday gave me the opportunity to take some pictures of the progress.



More about the Community Gardens can be found on their website
http://www.franklincommunitygardens.org/

"families out gardening together"

Amy Acevedo of Franklin was happy to have her hands in the dirt at the Franklin Community Garden in Memorial Park yesterday, leading a volunteer group of gardening enthusiasts in a day of weeding, mulching and planting. 

“This is primarily a vegetable garden, but the vegetables need pollinators, so we are going to be planting some sunflowers to encourage some honey bees — plus it looks nice,” Acevedo said. 

It was Acevedo’s dream to start the organic garden, so maintaining it on Earth Day weekend made sense.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x643676114/Earth-Day-inspires-a-weekend-of-lending-nature-a-hand#ixzz1slecoNDC




Chris Clay shares a good reason for gardening via video by the MDN reporter.

Earth Day at the Community Garden Saturday instead of Sunday!

Hello to our Gardeners, Supporters, and Friends!

This weekend is Earth Day and the Town of Franklin is encouraging everyone to pitch in around town on Sunday 4/22 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. 

We hope that you will help us out at the Community Garden location at King Street Memorial Park!

The forecast is for Rain on Sunday, 70% probability in the morning.  Good for the planet, Bad for our workday.

So, we are moving our particular community garden Earth Day event up a day---It will be held on Saturday instead from 9-12 a.m. 

We have a big pile of fresh wood chips to spread, weeds to pull (yes, already!), rocks to pile, compost to turn, pollinator garden beds to dig (flowers!), and more.

Please come lend a hand!  Community Service Certificates will be available for those who need them.

While we have a few gloves, shovels and rakes here at the garden, there might not be enough to go around.  

Please bring your own labeled tools and heavy duty gloves if you can.

If you have extra garden tools or equipment that you would like to donate to the Garden, we'd LOVE to have them!

Thanks to our great new shed---built for us by the awesome Tri-County RVTHS students & paid for with a Franklin Rotary grant!---we now have a place to safely store them.

The water at the garden is not on yet, that will happen some time in mid-May. We will have ice water there to drink for our volunteers this Saturday morning.

How about packing a picnic? 

Thanks for your continued support & we hope to see you at the Garden on Saturday!

Need a map to find us?  The Google map link is below:

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&cid=4653072776726811227

Thank you for helping out!

The Franklin Community Garden Green Team

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children." -Native American Proverb

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Gardening for the Hungry (video)

Grow a Greener Garden shares a program PBS did on Ample Harvest founder Gary Oppenheimer.

After finding his garden too bountiful, gardener Gary Oppenheimer gave his excess harvest away to friends and neighbors, and soon that route was maxed out as well. He didn’t want to waste great food, so after donating the rest to a local women’s shelter, the idea grew to figure out a way to connect home gardeners to the food banks who are prepared to handle and distribute fresh produce. 

So Gary founded AmpleHarvest.org, with a focus on doing just that, so that surplus harvest can go to hunger relief and not the compost bin. Today, from Master Gardening groups to your friends and neighbors, more people are sharing the bounty and there are some great and easy ways for you to do the same.

You can view the PBS episode here Episode 220: Gardening for the Hungry (time = 1 hour)

Gary Oppenheimer also spoke to the TEDxManhattan event in February (time = 14 minutes)




The Franklin Food Pantry is registered with Ample Harvest.

News Flash from The Garden Front!

Hello Gardeners, Friends, and Supporters!

Just found out this morning that tomorrow our new garden shed (paid for by an awesome grant from the Franklin Rotary Club!) will be constructed on site at the King Street Memorial Garden.  The students at Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School will be there setting it up.

When: Thursday, March 22

Time:  In the morning, around 9 am

If you are able to join us and lend a hand (or a round of applause!) we'd love to have you.

Bring something cool to drink, it will be quite warm out.

If you would like to donate any gardening tools we now have a place for them to live! 

Many thanks to the students and staff at Tri-County RVTHS, the Franklin DPW, the Franklin Rotary Club, Town Administrator Jeff Nutting, and all of our gardeners and volunteers!

Hope you can join us at the Garden!

Many Hands make light work!

Deepest Thanks,

Your Friends from the Franklin Community Garden

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Visit us on Facebook!

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