Hard to believe that time has passed so quickly, but it’s true.  This is the start of the fifth year and our fifth spring down at the Garland community Garden.  Our featured bed this spring is EAST MEETS WEST.  This bed is stewarded by Loving Garland Green President, Jane Stroud. 

The bed is divided lengthwise into two sections.  The east side of the bed features plants the European explorers and pioneers brought with them from the “old world.”  The west side of the bed features plants from the Americas (the new world) that these travelers took back to the old world.  A few examples of new world crops included maize (corn), white potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts, tomatoes, squash, pineapples, papaya and avocados. Among the old world crops we have rice, wheat, barley, oats, rye, turnips, onions, cabbage, lettuce, peaches, pears and sugar.

Spring is a great time in the garden—a time of hope and discovery.  It’s always interesting to see what has survived the winter and because our garden has so many different gardeners, there are always surprises here and there in the beds.  For example in our Okra/herb plot, one lonely iris has sprung up.  Someone must have planted it there last year, as I don’t ever recall having seen it before.

I was especially pleased to see that our wild Senna that we planted in one of the pollinator beds survived the winter.    [Fact sheet on Senna:  https://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_sehe3.pdf ]. This is an herbaceous perennial with lovely yellow blossoms that pollinators love.

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New Vegetables in the Garden

We also have a growing list of new vegetables and growing methods that we are demonstrating down at the garden.  Raj, one of our neighbors, recently returned from India and brought several types of interesting seed with him that we will be trying out.  One of them, a long smooth pod okra—I’ve already planted in the okra patch.  Another called “drinking gourd, I’ve also planted among our Luffa seed at the Luffa tunnel.  A few days ago I also planted some dark green bean seeds in the Tee Pee Tower.  These are also seeds that Raj brought back from India.  The pods are supposed to grow to a foot long or more.  We also have Kombocha squash growing in  several plot in the garden for the first time this year.

As for demonstrations of new growing methods at the garden, one of our new members, Diane Jenkins, has started a straw bale plot.  Although this method is not new to our members (as several of our members use this gardening method in their home gardens) it is the first time we’ve featured the straw bale method at the garden. 

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Loving Garland Green Plant Sale Saturday APRIL 7

10 AM TO 3PM  - Garland Community Garden

 This will be our second year to host this event on the same day as the famous annual Naaman Forest High School Plant sale.  We’ve found that folks will stop by our sale after they’ve been to the Naaman Forest sale as we are just down the road from them on Naaman School Road at the junction of Brand and Naaman School Road—Garland 75040.

Although our selection is not as huge as some, we will have at least 300 plants of all varieties from blackberry plants to zinnias; from tomatoes to Kombocha squash; from oregano to mint to name a few.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!  And when you stop, tour the garden.  Loving Garland Green members will be there to show you around.