We'll be sharing updates about the Giving Garden (and hopefully other P-Patch Gem updates as well!) periodically on our website.
The Giving Garden (GG) is the nearest garden to the shed and the produce grown from it is donated to the Seattle Food Bank. Sharon Schrenzel is our current GG Lead. If you've ever met Sharon in person and had the pleasure of talking with her, you will not be surprised she's taken this responsibility on--her sunny personality, optimism, and generous spirit makes her a wonderful fit for this role! As of August 3rd, our P-Patch has donated 451 pounds of produce to the food bank, with 366 pounds coming from the Giving Garden and 85 pounds coming from individual gardeners. These donations are so important to our community, especially with many facing economic hardship during this time.
If you are a returning Solstice gardener, you likely have noticed the changes made to the organization of the GG. I asked Sharon if she would be willing to share some background about the changes made this year. She graciously put the timeline below together, and also sent the pictures included in this post. It's clear that the revamp took a lot of effort and collaboration - a beautiful testament to the "community" aspect of community gardens.
SEPTEMBER 23, 2019: The North beds in the GG were reconfigured from East-West to North-South, to accommodate trellises for tomatoes and beans to go skyward. The lead garden guru for this re-configuration was Sandra Whiting, along with learner-Sharon Schrenzel.
OCTOBER 2, 2019: Cover crop was placed on GG Beds, but not where the poles are to be. Crimson Clover, and other seed.
OCTOBER 26, 2019: (A Garden Work-Party):
Precursor to this event: Materials needed were investigated, measurements taken, math done, materials purchased by Sandra Whiting. The pole trellises were put in place by: Frank Whiting, Tim Peterson and Jim Cummings.
MARCH 20, 2020
Four wheel-barrels of Moo-Doo compost/Fertilizer was placed on the GG beds: The entire GG was reconfigured to make raised-flat top beds, where by more produce could be grown. The Moo-Doo was placed by our P-Patch Community and the raised flat-top beds were 85% done by Sandra, the remaining by Sharon and her son.
MARCH 28, 2020
White pine needles were harvested by Sharon Schrenzel and placed between all the rows in the GG Plot.
APRIL 26. 2020
Irrigation for new GG configuration was built by Jim Cumming. The drip system was turned on by Jim on May 17, 2020. The poles were wrapped with pole twine on May 1 and May 12 by Sandra and Sharon.
JUNE 2, 2020
The first pole beans (Blue Lake from Territorial Seed Company was planted, (June 2, 2020) and the first harvest of eleven pounds of delicious green beans went to the West Seattle Food Bank on July 26, 2020.
Thank you so much to Sharon and the other volunteers who have helped make the GG successful this year. If you were inspired by the hard work and generosity of our fellow gardeners and would like to contribute, donations are welcomed with gratitude (in the words of Sharon) and can be placed in the marked cooler in the shed. It is very visibly marked for the GG produce. Please mark either your plot number or names on the produce given. There are plenty of paper bags on the shelf to put the produce in, and pens in the volunteer log book. Donations are taken to the food bank on Monday mornings. Keep your eyes peeled for opportunities to chip in the garden later in the season!