I rented a plot at Meadowcreek Community Gardens this year. Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Department manages two community gardens (Meadowcreek and Azaela Park) each with about 50 plots available for residents to rent for $40 a year. Only two plots were available to choose from when I went to sign up - wonderful for the gardens, so not wonderful for selecting an "ideal" plot. We'll just say it's making an interesting gardening experience!
My triangular plot is at the end of a row where I was told the city previously kept a brush pile. They neglected to mention much of the brush was still on the plot...... thankfully it only took a few hours to remove all of the branches and the half decomposed leaves left behind made a nice little pile of mulch. The little bit of mulch was a welcome gift, but I still needed to work on the rest of the rock hard Virginia red clay in the plot. Fortunately, there is an enormous compost pile on site for gardeners to use. If you dig deep enough into the pile, there's plenty of
nutrient rich "black gold" hummus or fully decomposed leaves. After adding about as much as I could shovel into my raised beds, I began to plan my plantings.
After about two months, many smashed squash bugs, and a few replantings due to deer "damage", things are finally coming along. I've only harvested radishes thus far, but I'm anxiously awaiting zucchini and tomatoes that are coming along. Later in the season I'll hopefully have purple runner beans, melons, okra, and cantaloupe if the deer and groundhogs will leave them alone long enough to let them grow!
Zucchini plants and radishes.....
Deer damage!
and deer control.....(fencing over transplants)
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