The Giving Garden

The Giving Garden Get growing.

On 8/20 Annabelle, Joelle, Sandy, Kelly and Andrea did an epic harvest! Check out the giant cucumbers! Additionally, the...
08/21/2025

On 8/20 Annabelle, Joelle, Sandy, Kelly and Andrea did an epic harvest! Check out the giant cucumbers! Additionally, they thinned carrots and pulled out the onions. We had a couple of areas that were empty so Annabelle did a succession planting of radishes, kale, and cabbage, all which should produce something before the first frost date.

The garden is growing so well this year. Our soil is still pretty wet but we are finally having a successful year after not having much produce last year. We couldn't do this without our amazing volunteers!

on 8/5, Max was out in the garden with Chris, Breanna, Tiffany, Michael, Pam, and Caitlin installing the pavers Erica do...
08/11/2025

on 8/5, Max was out in the garden with Chris, Breanna, Tiffany, Michael, Pam, and Caitlin installing the pavers Erica donated in the sweltering heat! a HUGE thank you to this crew for all of their hard work!!!!

First, they w**d whacked the long grass (thanks Chris!), then laid down cardboard (thanks for donating Tiffany!), then laid a bed of sand (thanks Max for picking up the sand, and everyone for unloading it!), then placed all of the pavers (thanks Alissa for putting the plan together)! It looks terrific!!

Talk about amazing teamwork! And what a pleasure it will be to not have to wade through the long, sloshy grass while working in the garden.

And on top of all that they harvested a bowl of beautiful veg!

Thank you, thank you, thank you All!!

On 8/5, I was in the garden with Alice, Tiffany, and Kathy. It was a bit hotter and stickier that we were expecting, but...
08/11/2025

On 8/5, I was in the garden with Alice, Tiffany, and Kathy. It was a bit hotter and stickier that we were expecting, but the four of us made quick work of harvesting 7 pounds of tomatoes, peppers, beans, cukes, a zuke, we thinned out the carrot bed, as well as pulled a couple handfuls of w**ds/dead leaves. The cukes are super happy and are stretching out of their own bed, as are the zukes. We did a bit of re-training of the vines to help them continue to vine up the trellises. And we discovered that a charming Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillar visiting the parsnips. 😊And double bonus we got a surprise visit from Jennifer and Annabelle - so fun!

Thank you Alice, Tiffany, and Kathy for supporting the garden!!

On 7/30, Breanna and Jennifer were in the garden harvesting 26 pounds of zukes, cukes, peppers, tomatoes. and beans!! Ou...
08/11/2025

On 7/30, Breanna and Jennifer were in the garden harvesting 26 pounds of zukes, cukes, peppers, tomatoes. and beans!! Our largest harvest to-date!

Thank you, Breanna and Jennifer!!

On 7/22, Ada spent some time in the garden taking some great pictures of all of the garden growth, w**ding, and harvesti...
08/11/2025

On 7/22, Ada spent some time in the garden taking some great pictures of all of the garden growth, w**ding, and harvesting 8 pounds of cukes, zukes, peppers, beans, and an onion! The cukes are loving their space in the garden and taking happily to the trellis!

Thanks so much, Ada!

On 7/18, Breanna was out in the garden checking that all is well, doing a bit of w**ding, and harvested 4 pounds of cuke...
08/11/2025

On 7/18, Breanna was out in the garden checking that all is well, doing a bit of w**ding, and harvested 4 pounds of cukes, peppers, and beans! Yay for continued growth and harvest!

Thanks so much, Breanna!

On 7/8, Jennifer spent an hour in the garden. She shared that she w**ded, harvested, and made our first donation to Open...
08/11/2025

On 7/8, Jennifer spent an hour in the garden. She shared that she w**ded, harvested, and made our first donation to Open Door Food Pantry - 3 pounds of mostly zucchini, but also 3 little peppers!! And check out the photos to see the oh so very cool cultivar that developed (hybrid zuke and summer squash)!

She also staked out a space in the celery bed to plant collard green seeds the celery bed. The celery is suspiciously absent so we're going to give another crop a try. She also noticed that our lettuce bed is not growing much. We may try more lettuce or a different crop.

Thanks so much, Jennifer! SO EXCITING to have our first harvest of the season!

7/2 - A HUGE THANK YOU to Erica for donating beautiful pavers to the Giving Garden! And to Alissa, Chris, Ada, Jen, and ...
07/08/2025

7/2 - A HUGE THANK YOU to Erica for donating beautiful pavers to the Giving Garden! And to Alissa, Chris, Ada, Jen, and Matthew for the heavy lifting of getting them from Erica's house to the Garden!

Excited for the next step - installation! The ground can be quite sloshy and muddy after a rain. The pavers should go a long way to abate the mess - and they will look amazing!

Also exciting to see the veggies growing! We are just about ready for our first harvest of the season!

6/27 - Pulse check on the garden. Continuing to see lots of beautiful blooms and excited to see veggies growing - lots o...
06/27/2025

6/27 - Pulse check on the garden. Continuing to see lots of beautiful blooms and excited to see veggies growing - lots of peppers, tomatoes, and zucchini. May have some to harvest by next week! The nasturtiums are also starting to pop up. With the cloudier weather and wide swings with the temps the garden is a little slower growing, but I'll take it over last year!

6/18 - Bethany checked-in on the garden today and shared an update and photos:The ground is very soggy, but the beds are...
06/20/2025

6/18 - Bethany checked-in on the garden today and shared an update and photos:

The ground is very soggy, but the beds are a bit drier. One tomato is quite yellow, but we do have grape tomatoes coming in, there are plenty of flowers on plants, and the parsnips and carrots are starting to poke up.

Thank you, Bethany! Go garden go!

6/10 - Jennifer and Annabelle where out in the garden today, and shared this report:We planted some pollinator support p...
06/20/2025

6/10 - Jennifer and Annabelle where out in the garden today, and shared this report:

We planted some pollinator support plants and took a water reading today—it is VERY wet in there. Despite this, the plants are looking good!

We planted marigolds, salvia, and alyssum in the three planters and planted cilantro in all three planters by the lettuce. The plants were crowded and a bit leggy in the store pot, so I separated them all and planted them here. This is not necessarily for harvesting, it’s for pollinators! Cilantro flowers attract all kinds of beneficial bugs to the garden.

Finally, we popped nasturtium seeds in amongst the cucumbers, squash, zucchini (where they will ramble around and serve as ground cover underneath), and in rows along the back of the carrot and parsnip areas (where they can climb up the fence). They should be sprouting by end of next week or so, but could be sooner depending on how warm and rainy it is.

A big thanks to Jennifer and Annabelle! I'm excited to see how the pollinators and ground cover helps with promoting growth and mitigating some of the wetness in the beds.

6/6 - Garden is doing much better than last year! The plants and seeds are growing, we have flowers, and some veggies gr...
06/20/2025

6/6 - Garden is doing much better than last year! The plants and seeds are growing, we have flowers, and some veggies growing already! So exciting - Check out the photos!

We are still battling overwatering with the sporadic storms - but we are taking proactive measures to stay on top of it. The Committee is hard at work thinking through and applying solutions. Max drilled holes in the bottoms of all of the beds to help with drainage, Chris has been mowing the grass, Jennifer & Annabelle have planted ground cover (watch for photos in next post), I've been tunneling holes in the beds for aeration. Open to any suggestions from the community as well!

A huge shout out to our Committee for keeping the garden growing!

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Eagan, MN

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