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.