EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was submitted by Erin Salva.
MOUNT VERNON — A small group of gardeners weathered rain and chilly temperatures to attend the second Meet Me in the Garden learning session about Gardening Basics at the Arch Park Community Garden.
Gardeners were able to ask questions of local Master Gardener, Judy Divelbiss who demonstrated a variety of functional tools and shared resources for beginning gardeners.
Simple tools that fit your hand well, such as a trowel, small garden fork, scissors and sharp knives are often the best.
Judy also offered some suggestions for companion planting to save space in small garden areas. Radishes, which can be harvested in 25 days, for example, can be planted beside beets which will mature later.
Sabrina Schirtzinger, OSU Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources was also on hand to provide tips and suggestions for backyard gardeners.
Erin Salva, site coordinator, gave a tour of the garden starting with the perennial flower bed along the front fence created by Arthur Bolduc in 2015.
The Friends of Arch Park decorated the fence with flags and flowers for Memorial Day in honor of Mount Vernon veterans and Arthur who was a Navy vet.
The Arch Park Community Garden features a pollinator bed and two mounded hügelkultur beds.
The mounds were constructed by students in Kenyon’s Permaculture class using organic materials, such as logs, sticks, wood chips and composted leaves which will break down over time and release nutrients into the soil.
The larger organic materials also serve as a water storage mechanism allowing crops to thrive in dry, warm growing periods.
The students also created some educational signage about pollinators, biodiversity in the garden and natural children’s play spaces.
The Friends of Arch Park are expanding our Children’s Garden area to include a ‘Sunflower House’, moveable sitting stumps, a Pole Bean teepee, picnic area, and a planting area for creating container plantings with children.
We will be hosting a series of special events for children this summer.
You are invited to attend the third Meet Me in the Garden learning session event on Composting at Community Roots on Tuesday, June 24 at 6 p.m.
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