The garden is a Memorial Garden, a garden of benevolence, a garden of love. It is a gift to our community from the God of Love, Jesus the Christ. The first “seeds” for our garden have come from members of the congregation and a designation from the congregation’s memorial funds. These seeds have brought us to the beginning of a journey that will last for many years. Guided by the Holy Spirit we will plow forth until row upon row of our work is accomplished and our community is better nourished. The Lord invites you all to be part of His work on earth strengthening and feeding His children. The garden is made possible by generous donations from the community, and grants from the ELCA Domestic Hunger Grants, the Alaska Food Policy Council through the Municipality of Anchorage, the Alaska Women's Giving Circle, The Alaska Master Gardeners of Anchorage, the generous support by the congregation of Lutheran Church of Hope, and support from the Alaska Synod of the ELCA.

Food from the garden in 2019 was sent to Lutheran Social Services Food Pantry, the Tudor Road Gospel Rescue Mission, and to Bean's Cafe.

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

2021 The Year of COVID-19


Potato Harvest
Onion Thinnings
Using the protocols of masks and distancing we were fortunate that no one working in the garden during the 2021 season got COVID. Actually the pandemic might have been a boon for the garden. We had more volunteers than ever. People came for a half hour or for many hours a week for many weeks. A very special thanks to all the volunteers of 2021 from January to October.

"Red" Cabbage
Radishes
In January of 2021 we planted petunias, lobelia, leeks, and peppers. In March these all were repotted. The lobelia and petunia seeds are really tiny so they were just sprinkled on some media to sprout and begin the process. They really grow slowly. These were made to put in baskets that we hang on the garden fence. The peppers were started about 3 weeks to a month to early so they will be planted later in 2022.

Turnips
The spring was quite cool so the planting was what I thought was late. However the first radish harvest was almost the exact day of the previous year. The final harvest for 2021 was 4,948 pounds. Smashing the old record of 2019 by about 800 pounds. I was truly amazed. So while the summer was generally cool the garden still flourished. Everyone is looking forward to 2022 and hopefully a new record harvest.

Zukes


 

We had a couple of turnips this year that were nearly 5 pounds each. They were not woody at all and tasted excellent. There were also a few carrots that were nearly a pound each. Many of the potatoes were more than a pound and a half. You have to love the long summer days in Anchorage. The plants just keep making that sugar. All day and nearly all night making things sweeter and sweeter. That's one of the big reasons our produce is so tasty.

Carrots


Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)