Season Wrap-Up

We spent a lot of time in the garden today cleaning up plots and preparing the beds for winter. Many gardeners planted wheat as a cover crop for the winter. We also did a demonstration on bag composting. Perhaps the best thing that happened today is that we got to plant Winston's masterpiece bulletin board (pictured below). This board will serve the gardeners as a communication device for gardening information and much more. We all agreed that Winston did a fantastic job building this structure.

Master Gardener Demonstration Gardens

The 3 master gardener demonstration gardens are all doing well.  Produce is being harvested on a regular basis and donated to the St Therese food pantry.


Asian Garden

Celery in Asian Garden

Traditional Garden

Blueberries

Garden Dedication

Community members, partner organizations, and gardeners participated in the dedication and ribbon cutting for the Platte County Community Garden. This event officially puts the garden into commission.
Commissioner Dusenbery was on hand to help cut the ribbon and participants enjoyed an air-conditioned reception at the National II clubhouse following the reception.

Harvester's Blog

Mary McClure (Chair of Harvesters Board of Directors and University of Missouri Extension Master Gardener) recently shared this blog: veggievillegardening.blogspot.com. Of course, we encourage all gardeners to Plant A Row for the Hungry to help Harvesters. The Platte County Community Garden has a local host food pantry. If you would like to donate food from your garden plot, you can take it to St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Therese Catholic Church located at 7277 NW 9 Hwy on weekdays between 9am and noon.

Compost Bins

The compost bins are finally assembled and ready to receive compostables. There are a few rules: 1) No Kitchen Scraps, 2) No Diseased Plant Material, and 3) Please Help to Keep it Wet.

As you visit with gardeners, you might mention these rules to them so that we can hopefully keep a good compost pile. I'm working on a sign to point out which bin is "open." We still need to drive the rebar into the ground until it is flush with the timbers.

Master Gardener Demonstration Gardens

The vegetables in the 2 master gardener demonstration gardens are doing very well especially with the rain we have been having. Most of the seeds have germinated and are sprouting as shown in the pictures. The little celery plants, tomatoes and peppers are flourishing. Most of the other plots have been planted with a variety of vegetables and flowers by the other gardeners and it really looks like a community garden.

Asian Garden



Traditional Garden 

The Path is a Path

When we arrived this morning, the garden was almost impossible to navigate due to the mud. 4 hours later and a lot of hard work on the part of the Master Gardeners of Greater Kansas City, the path is level and covered with mulch. We also spent some time building a raised bed for the blueberries (thanks to Chris for his generous donation of two bales of peat). Judy brought a ton of plants that were left over from the plant sale. Many of them were planted in the planter on the patio or in the ground around the patio. Many of them are left up for grabs for anyone who could put them to use. While we were there, we received delivery of 5 of our 8 benches from Beverlin's Statuary in Weston. They will finish the bench installation next week.

Our Plots are Planted (mostly) and The Water is On!

Today, several of us worked to prepare the three plots in the Community Garden that we will use to demonstrate vegetable gardening to the public. Ted (now known as "Tiller Ted") stayed quite busy with the tiller...Thank You. We also unloaded a truck load of compost into our beds. As we were finishing things up, we heard word that the water would be connected within a couple of hours. So we planted as much as we had. We still need to plant the lima beans, leeks, Judy's Peppers and Chris' Cucumbers, along with the entire South Garden. Not too long after that we watered everything in.

Where to Take our Produce

The produce from the Master Gardeners of Greater Kansas City plots within the Platte County Community Garden will be received by St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Therese Catholic Church located at 7277 NW 9 Hwy. The Church is located approximately 1 mile north of Hwy 45 on 9 Hwy. This society serves all persons regardless of race, creed, color, or status. They are delighted to receive our fresh produce for the Food Pantry. The Pantry is marked along the driveway in the back of St. Therese. It is open each weekday morning from 9:00 until Noon. Their telephone number is (816) 741-8661.

The Patio is Installed!

From solid soil, we spread crushed gravel, compacted it, added landscape fabric and a layer of sand. Then we arranged the flagstones and filled in the spaces with more sand. Now, thanks to the very hard work of some dedicated Master Gardeners, along with some knowledgeable friends (thanks James, Eric, Adam, and Jim), the Platte County Community Garden has a patio. We also have the Platte County Parks & Recreation Crew and their Bobcat to thank along with Homestead Landscaping Materials for helping with this project. Of course we couldn't have done any of it without the grant from Platte County Parks & Rec. Next stop - Benches.

The Irrigation Line is In

The National Golf Club had some contractors in the garden installing the water system today. The water isn't connected yet, but will be very soon. As you can see there is also some dirt work that needs to be done before the gardeners can come in and plant.

Prepping the Plots

Thursday, April 14th, was another perfect day to spread the mulch, and prep the flagstone floor of the meeting area. In the pictures; Platte County Parks provided bobcat work, Bob Halford and his tractor and the dedicated group of Master Gardeners with Marlin Bates.

GROUNDBREAKING!

It was a perfect day for the Platte County Community Garden groundbreaking on Wednesday, April 13th. The permanent sign was set in place just in time for the ceremony. Members from each of the PCCG partners were on hand to kick off the first garden season. Representatives from the Y were Kathy Armitage, Angie Mutti and Paula Oxler. From The National; Jim Allen, Eric Witley and Nick Block. Platte County Parks and Recreation was represented by Jim Kunce. The Master Gardeners included Marlin Bates, Gisela Pursel, Judy Eickhoff, Maggie & Ted Basch, Lu Tarr, Marcia Schulz and Sally & Bob Halford. Kathy Armitage kicked off the ceremony with a few words on how the project evolved, with thanks to The National community, Master Gardeners of Greater KC and Platte County Park. Jim Allen expressed his vision for the community. Marlin Bates and Gisela Pursel spoke of the mission of the Master Gardeners, expressing special thanks to Platte County Parks for awarding the grant to the Garden. Jim Kunce from Platte County Parks acknowledged the grant and how the Garden will be a great asset to the community. Get those golden shovels into the ground... Now the fun begins!

The Fence is Up!

Here is a pic of the garden with the perimeter fence installed.

Fence Installation at the PCCG

As you can see from the picture above, work on the fence around the PCCG began on March 24th with workers drilling holes for the fence posts. Thanks to Bob for sharing the photo.

Marking the Garden Plots

Here are a few pics of several master gardeners measuring and marking garden plots from March 12.

PCCG Calendar of Events

Key dates for Master Gardeners

• March (no date established) MOU signed by all partners of PCCG
• March or April (no date established) fence and water supply installed at PCCG
• Wednesday, April 13 11:00 AM groundbreaking ceremony at the PCCG
• Thursday,  April 21 5:00 PM meet the master gardeners event at the YMCA in Parkville. This will be the kick off for master gardeners to answer questions regarding the PCCG and the YMCA will sign individuals for garden plots.
• April (no date established) training for master gardeners working at the PCCG
• April (no date established) spread mulch in garden
• April or May (no date established) install flagstone common area PCCG
• April or May (no date established) plant 3 master gardener plots at PCCG
• Late May, early June (no date established) Dedication of PCCG. This event will be held at an off site location for example, Parkville YMCA. Location to be determined.
• June 25 KC Urban Farms garden tour including PCCG