Cold Frame Construction

During our final workday of the season we built a new cold frame for one of the garden beds. It’s not often we get to use power tools in the garden, so it was a fun experience. A cold frame is a high wooden frame with plastic or glass on top of it. The structure acts like a little green house, holding in heat from the sun and protecting the bed from wind. Our new cold frame will allow us to grow vegetables into the winter season.

  

Public Service Spotlight: Claire Hitchens

Our very own Claire Hitchens was the focus of this week’s UVa Student Council Public Service Spotlight. It highlights all of the great work Claire has done for the garden since she first got to UVa. Read the whole article here: http://www.uvastudentcouncil.com/2011/11/public-service-spotlight-claire-hitchins/

The Great Pumpkin Potluck

The Great Pumpkin Potluck last Friday was loads of fun. Despite the cold and ominous looking weather, a number of folks came out to the garden for the potluck. We carved some amazing looking Jack-o-Lanterns and ate tons of delicious food. Only as we were cleaning up did it actually start raining. What luck!

   

Humpback Rocks Hike

Last Friday, gardeners from the UVa Community Garden left grounds and headed into nature for an adventure. We hiked up Humpback Rocks, where we saw sweeping views and stunning fall colors. What a great way to spend a Friday afternoon! Want to see more pictures? Search for UVa Community Garden on Facebook!

Humpback Rocks Hike on Friday

Tomorrow, Friday October 21, we will not be having our regularly scheduled workday. Instead, we will be going on a hike to Humpback Rocks! We’ll be leaving around 2:00 and getting back around 6:00. The weather tomorrow is supposed to be lovely and we’ll get to admire the fall foliage just as the leaves are starting to change. Email uvacommunitygarden@gmail.com if you’re interested in joining us!

Community & Environmental Planning Class Workday

Last Tuesday we were lucky enough to have students from Professor Beatley’s Intro to Community & Environmental Planning class come out to work in the garden. We removed plants that were past season, added compost to the soil, tilled the beds, planted cover crops and watered the garden. It was helpful to have so many hands at work. If you’re part of a club/department/class that would like to arrange a garden workday, let us know at uvacommunitygarden@gmail.com!

Corn Fest Success!

The Community Garden’s 2nd Annual Corn Fest was a huge success! It was a beautiful day, and dozens of folks showed up to enjoy corn and community. We ate all kinds of delicious food, and had ample amounts of corn on the grill. We enjoyed some live Irish fiddling and bongo drumming, and learned an Irish line dance. For more pictures of the event, find us on Facebook!

Corn Fest — POSTPONED until Sept. 29

Due to tomorrow’s impending rain, we are reluctantly postponing Corn Fest until the following Thursday, SEPTEMBER 29th!

It will be at the same place (UVa Community Garden on the corner of Alderman and McCormick) at the same time (5:00-7:00). It will have the same games, same wonderful people, and same amount of corn (maybe even more!).

Don’t forget to bring a tasty dish to share and your own plate + utensil. Other items to consider bringing: blankets to sit on, lawn games, instruments if you play any, friends.

So re-mark your calendars and don’t miss out on the 2nd Annual Corn Fest on Sept. 29!

2nd Annual Corn Fest!

Back by popular demand: CORN FEST!

Corn Fest is a special time of year when we celebrate our love of corn, our harvest, and the wonderful community involved in (or hoping to get involved in!) the UVa Community Garden. It will be an event full of food, friends, lawn games, and (of course) corn!

When: Thursday, September 22, 5:00-7:00

Where: The UVa Community Garden (Corner of Alderman and McCormick)

What to Bring: A delicious dish to share, your own plate and utensil, hungry friends, lawn games

See you there!

Friday Follow-Up

Last Friday’s interest meeting and work day was a huge success! About 25 people came out to work in the garden that day. We did a whole lot of weeding, tilling, planting and watering. The garden was lucky enough to receive a donation of compost from Panorama Pay Dirt, a great local source of compost. This allowed us to fertilize our garden beds and improve the soil for the lettuce, spinach, arugula and broccoli that we planted that day. In addition to getting lots of work done, Friday was a great opportunity to meet new people and munch on some fresh produce from the garden. Thanks to everyone who came out to the UVa Community Garden for the work day!

Don’t forget we’ve got work days every Monday from 10am-noon and Friday from 3:00pm-5:00pm. Hope to see you at the garden!

Preparing the bed for planting

Two gardeners work together to till a garden bed

Harvesting veggies from the garden