Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Spring 2018 Garden Updates


I know it has been a while since our last post, but we have been busy in the Gami Gardens this winter and spring getting ready to launch our CSA for this summer. Over the last 8 months we have built a cold frame, started a bee hive program, built a new produce stand, and have started initial planning for fruit trees on and around campus. As a thank you for all of their hard work at school, our Urban Farming students were rewarded with a trip to a fully functional farm and tourist destination in Cape May, NJ.  Students visited with Christine from Beach Plum Farm and they got to sample fruits and vegetables, collect eggs from the hen house, and take a full tour of the facility. Christine discussed the amount of physical labor it takes to run a farm, but also got into the detailed planning that is required to ensure they are meeting the needs of their clients and customers. Beach Plum provided produce for a number of restaurants in the Cape May area and their planting schedule reflects the needs of those establishments.  If you are looking for a great day trip in the summer, consider spending a few hours at Beach Plum Farm where there is something for all members of the family.

Our two biggest projects this year have been the introduction of the bee hive and the development of our CSA, community supported agriculture. The bees have been a lot of work but we know the end result will be rewarding. Due to the weather and some other factors out of our control, they are off to a slow start with nectar flow but we are hoping to fix the issues this week.  We have to give a special thanks to our Beekeeper, Bethann who has been coming to Absegami whenever we need her to check on the bees, provide guidance, and assist us with the program.  We are confident with continued monitoring, we will have a nice flow of honey in early summer. Our CSA is off to a tremendous start and we had 12 staff members join the trial one in April/May. Those 12 members made a donation at the end of April and have received a bag of produce once a week since that time. Produce this spring included spinach, kale, radishes, lettuce, herbs, mint, and other items. We plan to open slots for our summer CSA in a few weeks and our product list will expand with the summer vegetables. Our egg sales continue to be successful and we have been able to harvest additional produce that we can sell on our roving market cart. I hope to update the blog more frequently this summer....stay tuned for more information.  Pics below of all of our activities this spring.

Thanks for the support!
Ron