Those 1200 or so peas that were planted in April were still going gangbusters at the end of June and into last week. Several families have been able to come pick a bunch to take home. I, for one, didn't think I could ever get tired of fresh snap peas and snow peas, but I just may have reached my threshold. Most of the peas have been cut down now, with the roots left in the ground (where they have fixed much-needed nitrogen in the soil, we hope) and the stalks used as mulch. Newly planted beans and corn now occupy the sunniest area of the front garden (July 1 may have been a little late for planting corn, but we're trying it anyway). Also in front are several cucumber plants planted by second graders and the third grade "snack garden" - mostly tomatoes that are growing, but not really thriving. It's hard to say why, though I suspect the soil may still be out of whack. We also have some dill gone wild and a couple rogue sunflowers! There is space left where we will put salad and more beans for a fall harvest.
Then we left it for two weeks while we tried to deal with the front garden. This is what the back garden looks like now:
We just don't know what is going on back there. We want to get a trained soil expert to come and look at it for us and help us figure out what to do. I have a nagging feeling he or she would say to scrape off the top 6" and fill it in with new, good soil, but that would be a large and rather expensive undertaking. So for now, we've planted bush beans with inoculant (to fix nitrogen) and we may try a cover crop of winter rye in the fall. We're hoping for the best. I'm also hoping Crestwood kids like green beans because we sure are growing a lot of them!
On a last note, I wanted to mention that if you volunteered to help out this summer and are wondering why you haven't heard from us, it's because we are still trying to figure out what's going on with our soil and what to do about it (see above re: various problems getting stuff to grow). Some areas are planted, some aren't, and while we try and clean up the plots and get a plan in place, it just hasn't made sense to ask extra volunteers to come and help. That said, if anyone out there has ideas or expertise, please do share!!
Cheers,
Susan