On The Move; Guilford Community Garden

Now that summer is winding down; many of us are picking our last tomatoes, an occasional cucumber, and perhaps some are lucky enough to be getting squash out of the garden. For some, having a garden is just not possible. Those that live in apartments, rent homes, have poor soil, or just lack space. This is where the Guilford Community Garden serves a wonderful purpose! Of course the added benefit of this garden is a special section where the harvest is devoted to those in need by donating the produce to the Guilford food bank! Do you have more produce than you can use? Here is a link to find your local food bank. Michelle and I volunteered one Thursday in August at the garden. This garden is moving, which is NOT an easy task, so we showed up ready to work.

Take a look at a few of the gardens that belong to families in the Guilford area for a nominal seasonal fee. Some were quite unique with nice areas to sit and just "be" for a moment, quiet and peaceful, while surrounded by nature. Some were flourishing with nice produce and one had a garden member picking her produce for dinner! Now take a look at the raised beds. This is part of the job at hand that Michelle and I embarked on.

I arrived at the garden a bit later that Michelle; she was already deep within the garden hard at work. Her first task, to help roll up the chicken wire fence that surrounded the garden sections. I donned my gloves and joined in to help pull up the poles, once the fence was removed. I pushed, I pulled, I grunted, I heaved and hoed, all without success. Grabbing a shovel that was nearby, I discovered that the pole was not straight, it had a fairly large wing that was buried deep within the earth. Now that I knew what I was dealing with, I started to win against the poles!!

Nature break! I haven't seen so much milkweed since I was a kid! These pods are so fun in the fall when they open up and spill their soft pillowy filling. Native American Tribes used milkweed for medicinal purposes, and in the garden, the milkweed is a great helper. It helps with the pollenating process as it attracts Monarch butterflies that jump from plant to plant. Milkweed is a natural way to prevent insect pests in the garden. It attracts many insect species that consume the pests! Perfect - no need for chemicals on the food source!

Is that a drill in Michelle's hands??? No Way! So this was the day that Michelle used a drill for the first time and she killed it! No, not the drill, the task!!! We were surprised to find that there were two types of screws, square and philips head, requiring us to consistently change between two drills. We broke out the manual driver for the stripped screws and used big-time muscle power. No screw was safe against the Give Back Girls' determination to get the job done! Once we removed the screws, we were able to start digging out the boards, all while protecting any plants that happen to be growing in the area.

Hurray! When a board was freed, after such great effort, it was the best feeling!! We piled all the boards, poles, and fence as we went along. This day was a full work out and it felt great!

Nature break! Can you find a friend in this picture? Look close. A praying mantis made an appearance on our walk toward the meadow. This insect is quite big, about 4 inches! While they do eat certain insects that are considered pests to the garden, they also pray on bees and monarchs that help the garden. So their usefulness is questionable. Some of these can even pray on hummingbirds! That is ambitious for sure. This impressive insect will interact with humans though. They will sit on the palm of your hand and stay there without attempting to escape!

The garden was full of monarch butterflies. On the way out, we saw this beauty! I looked it up and even though it is mostly black and blue, it is called a Red-Spotted-Purple. This little butterfly held Michelle up a bit since it was planted right behind her car! Before we left, we were given some lemon balm and spearmint to take home and plant.....IN POTS! These are great herb plants to have at home but need to be contained. Thank you for reading about our adventure. If you live in the Guilford area and want to help out at the garden, send us a message and we will get you in touch with Terri. She would certainly appreciate the help with this big move!