Ginkgo Organic Garden Party and Hootenanny

There ain't no party like an organic garden party, cause an organic garden party's got crops.

Come hang out with Ginkgo after the harvest/workday on Saturday to enjoy a bite and socialize. We welcome guests to bring something to share: Food/Beverages/Enthusiasm. There will be shade, grills, meats, veggies, snacks, and I've heard rumors of a swimming pool*.
Tell your friends, especially if they have volunteered with us in the past.

Ginkgo over and out.

*Exaggerations are common when describing swimming pools.

 

 

Where: GINKGO ORGANIC GARDENS

             4055 N Kenmore Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60613

 

When: Saturday 21 July.  Around 1p... give or take

Boys to the Right.

The heat finally broke and it is good.  Somehow it seems like a turning point in the season.  It feels like the second half of the season is about to begin, as if the All-Star break is over and we will be getting some of our old players off the DL.  There are plenty of crops that are done for the season.  Benched until next year, but then again we have things to look forward to.

Soon we will have enough pole beans to start donating and these cabbages are looking good. We were surprised to find a couple of delicious large cucumbers growing. Last weekend we were looking at all sorts of crops that are almost there.  The words, "one more week" were in the air.  One more week and those gooseberries'll be ready.

And a side note: Has anyone noticed a strong trend of the male volunteers standing in a bunch in the back right corner of our group photos.  Myself included-- Just an interesting trend.

Yields to date

This afternoon, on the hottest day of the year so far, I started to update the garden yield spreadsheet for the 2012 growing season. The graphs that compare annual yields won’t be ready for some time; however, I can state the following:

1. We made our first delivery to the pantry this year on May 26. Although we only brought a few pounds of radishes and handfuls of herbs, we have not harvested this early in the season since 2008. 
2. 2012 is the year of the radish. Our current yield of 42 pounds is the largest since we’ve been recording. If only radishes were as enjoyable to eat as they are to grow.  
3. Our current yields for lettuce (20 pounds), sweet peas (9.5 pounds), and raspberries (12 pounds) compare well with those of prior years. 

Ratatouille and the Bacchanal Nature of Peavines

When stepping off the sidewalk onto the stone path shaded below the Ginkgo tree in front of the garden it is not uncommon to feel a certain lightness and relief from the humidity and berating sun.  It is easy to see that while the rest of us are sweating our ways through a heatwave and black-tar-to-the-soles-of-your-shoes days, the Garden is unfazed and enjoying the rays.  There is something about the place that makes the heat less oppressive.  Maybe it's the lack of pavement, or the mouthfulls of hosewater.  It could be the unrepentant snacking on sweet peas, russet belted apples and berries, but I think it's something in the compost.  

Although we don't see them in stores,
russet skinned apples are fine to eat and, like ours, often delicious.

 

Vines are the undisputed givers of life.   Bachus,
 the god of wine and fertility, spent plenty of time  in vineyards,
but for my money, the pea-vine is where the real business happens.

That's where eggplants come from.  This time of year I look 

around the garden and see ratatouille  in it's infancy.  

A small group of rugged volunteers pulled in the harvest and
basked in the sunshine.
We may never know what  the main draw to the garden is,
 but I think it's the mouthfulls of hosewater.

Radish Love

Our plan to flood the beds with radishes early in the season has payed off in large form!  On Saturday June 9th we pulled in twenty-five pounds of radishes and radish greens!  We still have not exhausted the radishes that were planted at the beginning of the year and as we pull radishes we have begun to replace them with other crops.  This was a great plan to come out swinging in the early season with plenty to offer to our friends at Vital Bridges Groceryland.

Pictured here: A French Breakfast Radish "frenches" Dave

We carefully wash radishes that have been kissed

So many radishes had we that we decided it was just too many to unload on Vital Bridges all at once.  According to Super-volunteer Susan, "About 2/5ths went to Vital Bridges 3/10ths went to volunteers and 12/40ths went to some new recipients."  The new recipients include Lakeview Food Pantry and Red Door Animal Shelter got the greens.  The greens, can be too much for our compost in large numbers because they need to be balanced with other type of matter and litter, and we assume that many of the donated greens end up in the garbage, so it's great news to us that we can be offering our awesome organic leaves to hungry bunnies!

Volunteer Annie posing before Ginkgo's bounty at Vital Bridges.

Weed of the Week: Velvetleaf

Allow me to introduce the Velvetleaf. Of all the weeds we battle at Ginkgo, this is my favorite - it's easy enough to pull up and has the softest leaves and stems imaginable. Cool seed pods too!

A member of the Mallow family, Abutilon theophrastii is an annual that can grow several feet tall. It flowers sparingly in the late summer and early fall and attracts several different types of bees. 

And while I can't personally attest to this statement from IllinoisWildflowers.info, I don't doubt it:  "In an outdoor emergency, the soft leaves can be used as a substitute for toilet paper."  

Berries and Plums and Pears, Oh My!

 

 Raspberries!  We arrived this weekend at the garden to Raspberries, development on our fruit trees, plenty of radishes, and lettuce.

 Did I mention Gooseberries?  Cause those are doing their thing too!  While I can count the amount of gooseberries that I've eaten on one hand, I cannot quantify my love for their translucent glowing green fruit.

Ginkgo's plums had a rough season in 2011, but, as you'll recall,  on Saturday September 12, 2009 we pulled in 60 lbs of Stanley Plums.  We didn't get to give the trees the TLC they deserve this winter because of the confusing weather, so it's hard to tell what will happen this year.  There are plenty of dead green plums on the ground and a few live ones still hanging in the trees, so cross your fingers for a decent plum season.

 Our growing pears look absolutely delicious.  I have my eye on this one.

 Other notes of progress: We began the 2012 season by loading our beds up with radishes.  Radishes grow quickly and grow well in cool weather, which means that we could get a lot of them in the ground while it was too cold for other things and then have early season offerings for Vital Bridges.  As we harvest the radishes we will replant the beds with other crops.

 For the second week in a row we have had a variety of radishes to deliver to the pantry.  Normally I'm not a big fan of radishes, but somehow I can't help but sample these beauties.

And none of this even mentions the fact that Evelyn installed a gutter!  We can finally start harvesting rain from the front half of the shed's roof!  WOOH!










 On another note, I give my sincerest apologies to anyone who came to the garden on Wednesday night to volunteer.  I was stuck in transit and arrived late by over half an hour. This is not at all typical of Ginkgo and I hope that nobody was discouraged from coming back this Saturday or next Wednesday.  Our Wednesday night hours are 6:30 until dark and this week was a fluke.  We appreciate your coming out and giving your time to a great effort.  This is not taken for granted.