2021 Back to the Garden

 Is has been a strange and difficult year! But the Riverview Community Garden is growing and thriving as always!! 

First 2011 Full Member Meeting! Please Save the Date: Sunday June 12 at Noon

The 2011 season for the Riverview Community Garden has begun.  With 32 plots and 37 gardeners we are a full  house and still have 6 people on the waiting list.  Most of the gardeners are back from the 2010 season but we do have a good number of new members to spice up the roster.

We hope that everyone will settle in comfortably to their plots and enjoy the season as much as possible.  This year we will have a group of stewards to try to lead the management of the garden. But as always, the entire garden community will continue to carry out the day to day operations and care of our beautiful garden.

We have lots of news and garden business to discuss, so please save the date for our first 2011 Full Garden Meeting - 12 Noon.

Vandana Shiva: Why Gardening is Important!

Click HERE for video!

Luscious Lettuce

Harvesting  Lettuce

You can selectively harvest outer lettuce leaves before the plant reaches full maturity or as soon as the outer leaves are 2- to 3-inches tall. You can cut or gently break off leaves as needed without harvesting the entire plant. Or, if the plant has reached the desired maturity, the entire plant can be pulled.

Chives: Tasty, Colorful and Reliable

Enjoy the delicious stems and flowers of your chive plant.

 Allium schoenoprasum

Riverview Community Garden Opens the 2010 Season

Dear Riverview Community Garden Gardeners,

Welcome to the 2010 season! 

The garden got off to a brilliant start with new and old gardeners chucking the weeds and kicking up the soil in preparation for a new season of planting.   Thanks to the many hours of back breaking mulching by Ivan and Mario last year, very few weeds returned to the common areas along the fence this spring.  Most of the clearing and cleaning was finished today.  Going forward gardeners can focus on the detailed trimming, tough weeding and individual plot planting and care. 

The Composting Crew, Kao, Beverly, Melissa, Matt and Bob will be taking care of the composting bins for the season.   They are looking into expanding the current dual bin system into a three bin system.  In the meantime, please continue to put your raw vegetable and fruit scraps, eggshells, coffee grounds, tea leaves, and any seaweed you might have into the open uncovered bin.  Please put nothing in the covered bin.   Please do not put any “brown” composting materials such as leaves, twigs, straw and sawdust etc. into either of the bins.   This kind of material has to be mixed into the compost bin very carefully.  The Composting Crew will work together to make sure the materials are mixed in a balanced fashion.  Please also refrain from turning and rotating the composting materials.   This requires scheduling, which the crew will coordinate. 

All you have to do is drop off your “green” compost materials and your “brown” compost materials in the designated locations.  Please look for and read new signs on the bins and a compost material guide book in the shed.  If you are interested in joining the crew, just let Ivan know.   Melissa is going to invite a composting guru from Earth Matter, a composting organization in New York to speak to us about best composting practices, so look for the announcement from Ivan.

If you have photos to publish on this blog please send them to me: writebbr@gmail.com 

Happy Gardening!

More News from the White House Garden!!

Could there be a farmers market in the works for the President's neighborhood? Read here!

Riverview Community Garden - Late May Garden Notes from BBR

Spring rains of 2009 have meant full and lush blooming this year. The lavender and chives are bursting. The arugula is spicy hot and delicious. The rosemary, dill and chives are delicious too! wata-bbr

Avocado Advocate

From the Garden Helper:

"Avocado trees are very versatile in their adaptability to different soils, but they prefer a rich loose sandy loam. They will not survive in locations with poor drainage. . The desirable pH level is generally considered to be between 6 and 7. They will grow in shade and between buildings, but are only productive in full sun. The root system is extensive and will choke out nearby plants, so they should be given plenty of room--up to 20 feet. However two or three trees can be planted in a single large hole to save garden space and enhance pollination. Once established the avocado is a fairly tough tree. Once the tree is a year old, they should be fed four times yearly using a balanced fertilizer. Older trees benefit from feeding with nitrogenous fertilizer applied in late winter and early summer. Yellowed leaves (chlorosis) indicate iron deficiency. This can usually be corrected by a foliar spray of trace elements containing iron. "

YOU GROW GIRL!!!

Gardening for the People.
You Grow Girl™ was launched by Gayla Trail in February 2000 and has grown into a thriving online community that speaks to a new kind of gardener, seeking to redefine the modern world relationship to plants. This contemporary, laid-back approach to gardening places equal importance on environmentalism, style, affordability, art, and humor.

Check it out.

White House Garden 2009

Michelle Obama sets the tone for a healthy kitchen at the white house with her organic garden on the south lawn. Growing your own, buying close to home through CSAs, and eating and organics and "slow food", are practices we all need to incorporate into our lives if we want to ensure a healthy food supply and our own good health. Michelle Obama is providing a great public service in calling attention to healthy eating and by promoting food awareness.
wata-bbr