Rain + heat = abundant weeds and a thriving mosquito population
When I walked up to check on things Wednesday morning, I saw that the dill, cucumber and volunteer tomatoes in the circle garden are growing just as well as wild grasses and amaranth. The overflow plot is quite overgrown, though I did spot a melon vine growing over the sunflower wall, as you can see in the picture above. The plots directly in front of the school are faring better, likely because they have been well cared for since early spring. We should have plenty of potatoes and carrots to harvest this fall! Unfortunately, the mosquitoes were swarming already and I got dozens of bites in just a few minutes of weed-pulling up front. For that reason, I didn't even go around to the back garden where they are generally even more numerous and aggressive.
In other words, the gardens are looking pretty typical for late summer! I'd venture to say some parts are doing better than usual because we've been able to add a lot of good compost on a regular basis, and have the support of our gardener-in-residence* and decent turnout for the workdays so far.
Let's keep our fingers crossed that the heat subsides by August 15! We need lots of helping hands to get the gardens ready for the start of school. Just be sure to bring your bug spray.
*While it is certainly a huge boost to our program to have Krysta Post on board, the GiR program restricts her to two hours per week during the summer recess, which is clearly insufficient for comprehensive maintenance of our entire garden program.