From the Dust of the Earth

I have helped in a couple of gardens my mom created growing up, but I was so young that I don't remember a whole lot, just a few select memories. Last summer I attended the Idaho Fall's celebration of Earth Day where I learned that Idaho Falls offers community garden plots for the summer months. I thought that was an awesome opportunity Idaho Falls provided for those who are interested. This past June I was invited by Angela and her mom to be apart of a garden they were planning on growing, a garden that would provide food for four families total. This garden would be grown on a plot of ground in one of the many community gardens since none of us had a yard where we could grow a substantial garden, especially for four families.

One of the great things about this community garden is that it is completely organic. There aren't any kind of chemicals allowed whatsoever in the garden. The plot of land was only $40 for the summer and if we contributed to keeping the garden clean and attended work parties we would get $20 of the initial cost back. It didn't take us much time at all to sign up.

We were given a tour of the community garden to see the different plots available to us to choose from as well as get a feel for what other gardener's had already begun planting on their plots of ground. We decided upon a plot of ground about 30' long and 15' wide. It seemed plenty big for the three of us to manage. We all made a list of desired fruits and vegetables we wanted to plant, then condensed our lists, and then plotted it out on paper. It didn't surprise us that we had a lot more plants than we did earth to grow them in. Kristy had a gardening book that listed which plants grow better together and which plants we needed to keep away from each other. This helped us tremendously in planning where everything would be planted in the garden.

Then came the weeding, tilling, measuring/plotting, and planting. It felt so rewarding when we finally got everything planted and the weed-filled plot of land we started with looked somewhat like a garden. The real excitement came when we finally started seeing the plants start sprouting out of the ground!

Right side: Squash

Front/Middle: Lettuce

Back: Tomato and Bell Peppers

Front Left: Radish and something else, Zucchini (not pictured)

Second & Third Row: Carrots and Bush Beans

Fourth Row: Strawberries & String/Pole Beans

Far Back Row (against fence): Corn & Pumpkins

We had an unexpected freeze early one morning that almost killed our tomato and bell pepper plants. We were lucky that they survived; some of the other gardener's weren't so lucky. It did kill some of the corn seeds, we later discovered, which was disappointing but grateful that it wasn't worse. Idaho weather is really unpredictable.

Once everything is planted it seems like all the hard work is done; just sit back and let it grow. But a garden is not something that can be neglected. We learned that when we realized how bad the weeds had taken over the garden after a short time of sitting back to let the garden grow. Many hours and days were spent crawling around pulling weeds, not exactly one of my most favorite things to do. But it looked so much better!

It's been about two months now since we began this garden. Take a look at it now!

HOLY GARDEN JUNGLE!!

Take a look at it up close...

Everything you see in this picture is lettuce. Whoa.

Squash

Tomatoes and Bell Pepper plants (forefront)

Tomatoes

More Tomatoes

Bell Peppers

This is the right side of the garden where you will find Radish, Carrots, Bush Beans, String/Pole Beans, Strawberries, Zucchini, Corn, and Pumpkin plants.

Close up picture of the Bush Beans with the Carrot tops below...and my finger.

This shows the back right section of the garden: Strawberries, String/Pole Beans, and Corn.

Here are the rows of Carrots and Bush Beans.

My mom has also created an amazing garden that could feed a colony of people. In her family emails she always talks about how her garden is doing, the large amounts of produce she's harvested, and any interesting findings she's had. Some of these findings have been little critters, some good and some not so good. In my most recent visit to the garden Angela and I found a couple of little critters ourselves, both not so good.

You might be wondering why I am holding up a bundle of carrots from the garden and how they have anything to do with critters. These carrots were affected by a not-so-suspected critter. As Angela and I were driving up to the community garden to water we spotted three little critters in the midst of our garden. We quickly jumped out of the car and made our way to the garden to ensure that these critters did not get away. Hiding between the carrot and strawberry rows were three little kids, all with carrots in their hands. After asking them non-accusatory questions we instructed the kids (none of which were related) to take us to their parents so we could talk to them.

Having people steal from the community garden is an on-going problem that has been happening from the creation of Idaho Fall's Community Garden. The only thing that 'protects' the garden area is a chest-high chain-link fence (as you might have noticed in the background of some of the pictures). The gates to the garden are not locked; the fence can easily be jumped if the gates were pad-locked. Finding somebody in action stealing from the garden is rare since there is usually somebody working in the garden at any given part of the day. Finding things stolen out of the garden is a lot more common as it is not monitored during the hours of the night. It is a chance you take when growing a garden in a community garden area and not on your own property.

Another obstacle you face when growing a garden organic-style, is this:

This grasshopper was huge! It was immediately disposed of after discovering it in the garden.

It has been a lot of fun growing this garden; a great learning experience. I am seeing a greater and greater need and importance for growing gardens for health, financial, and self-reliant purposes. Plus having the satisfaction of enjoying a meal or sharing your crop that was created from the work of your own hands can't be found elsewhere. I am so grateful that I was invited to join in growing this garden!