What have we been up to this spring?
The past several weeks have been a very busy time for Healthy Waltham. With the weather continuing to warm up and seeds and seedlings (started indoors in February, March, and April) needing planting and care, we’ve been doing a lot more than usual, but were snapping photos along the way. Here is a medley of pictures capturing some of our more recent activities and garden growth from this past spring.
To enlarge these images for a better look, simply click on the photo of interest.
APRIL
April blooms
Early risers: radishes and sugar snap peas
Perennial chocolate mint
Perennials lemon balm & freshly-transplanted rhubarb
MAY
Radishes bulging out of the soil
Gathering sticks and making the pea trellis @ Stanley
The finished product!
Marking and digging holes for lettuce transplants from Waltham Fields Community Farm
Getting those greens in!
Tendrils feeling their way up towards the trellis and sun
First radish harvest @ Stanley!
We ate all of the fresh & raw radish roots and most of the tops (great in salads)
Rebekah and volunteer Lara @ the inaugural Moody Street 5K Road Race
Waltham Fields farmers Amanda and Dan finish their run!
A day for discovering garden bugs and animals (a baby vole)
Late May growth: yellow irises and kale in the morning sun @ Stanley
Our lunch lettuce crop from Waltham Fields and snap pea blossoms @ McDevitt
Chive blossom
Lettuces, cabbages (before they bolted), kale, broccoli, and kohlrabi
JUNE
Weeding and cultivating soil around snap peas for pumpkin seed planting @ Northeast
Cultivating for sunflower planting and watering newly-planted pumpkin seeds
At last: sugar snap peas planted way-back-when in March are ready for picking @ Stanley
Transplanting tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant; young summer squash seedlings
Inoculating and planting pole beans near the husk cherries
Pulling up romaine, red leaf, and green curly-leaf lettuces and picking cabbage flowers
At this week’s Stanley Garden Club and Waltham Boys & Girls Club session, we made a tasty lemon vinaigrette to dip our freshly-harvested and washed lettuces in. We put lemon juice, olive oil, shallot (you could also use onion or garlic), salt, and freshly-ground pepper in a bowl and gently whisked it until all ingredients were well combined. It was a simple and healthy snack that was enjoyed by all on two hot and humid afternoons!
Be sure to check in for weekly updates all summer long, as our garden work will continue at the school, Boys and Girls Club, and public housing gardens throughout these hot months (the best time to grow food in New England) and into the fall.
If you and your family are interested in helping us maintain our school gardens at Stanley Elementary, Northeast Elementary, or McDevitt Middle School, please contact me via:
rebekah@healthy-waltham.org
No experience necessary as training will be provided.
Rebekah
Images by Rebekah Carter (2011).
