Thank you, Scarborough Cub Scout Pack 47, Bear Dens 1 & 2! We are so glad you could come to Harvest Fest at St. Nick's and help us harvest kale and swiss chard, sample treats and soups, and plant herb pots for the patrons of the Scarborough Food Pantry. Well done, kids. Thank you!

WEEK EIGHTEEN: September 20 & 22

WEEK SEVENTEEN: September 15

WEEK SIXTEEN: September 6 & 8, 2016

WEEK  FIFTEEN: August 30 & September 1, 2016

WEEK FOURTEEN: August 25, 2016

WEEK THIRTEEN: August 16 & 18, 2016

WEEK TWELVE: August 9 & 11, 2016

WEEK ELEVEN: August 2, 2016

WEEK TEN  July 26 & 28, 2016

WEEK NINE: July 19 & 21, 2016

WEEK EIGHT: July 14, 2016

WEEK SEVEN: July 7, 2016

This is our second season of growing for the community, and we're pleased to report that thanks to an abundance of great compost, helping hands, and an earlier start, we were able to harvest before Memorial Day, a full month earlier than last season.

We've had a few ups and downs along the way: we had just spread about six yards of locally made 'surf'n'turf" compost, laid down some paths, and planted our early cold crops of spinach, kale, and peas...then oh, no! Snow!  A few weeks later, we were celebrating the awesomeness of our spinach and lettuce harvests. What do they say about pride? Just as we were anticipating a second crop of lettuce, a wiley invader snuck in and ate it all up. All of it. Every. Single. Head.

But on the whole things have been good in the garden. There are more herbs, which do a lot to wake up a meal that starts from a box or can. We've added new crops like bok choy, leeks, and garlic - the scapes are fantastically artful as well as tasty. It's now mid-July, and we're at week 9 with a dozen or so harvest days. Cold crops like spinach are giving way to summer treats like basil, peppers, and just-picked-can't-getter-better-than-that green beans. There is joy, too. Lots of joy.

We think Master Gardeners are awesome -- they helped us get our garden ready to plant last year, and this year awarded a seed grant to help us keep growing. Thank you!

WEEK SIX:  JUNE 30 & 28, 2016

WEEK FIVE: JUNE 21 & 23, 2016

WEEK FOUR: June 14, 2016

WEEK THREE: June 7, 2016

WEEK TWO: May 31, 2016

WEEK ONE: May 24 & 26, 2016

Would you like to lend a hand in the garden? We're looking for help with planting, harvesting, and other garden tasks. No experience necessary, all skill levels welcome. Commitments range from one-time activities like helping to spread compost when the garden starts up in the Spring, putting the garden to bed in the fall, or special events like Touch-A-Truck, the ACE Garden Party, or Harvest Fest. Other options include helping to plant in early Spring and off and on throughout the season for successional harvests, or periodic "Weeding Wednesdays", or weekly during peak Summer and Fall harvest times.

HARVEST VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TUESDAY MORNINGS (8:15 - 9:15 a.m. weekly)

HARVEST FEST VOLUNTEERS NEEDED SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2016

WEEDING VOLUNTEERS NEEDED WEDNESDAYS

The Higgins Beach Association recently held their 'welcome back' auction and supper for its members, a time to catch up on what's been happening here and away. The annual event included a silent auction for which members of the neighborhood association collected great prizes from local artists and businesses. With good-natured and spirited bidding, members of the HBA raised a very generous donation for Project GRACE. While much of the gift is designated for fuel assistance, once again, a portion of the gift will also be used to help the Community Garden grow. Thank you, neighbors!

The Cumberland County Master Gardeners, Walmart Foundation and Sibley-Saltonstall Foundation awarded Project GRACE grants in support of its community nutrition work, including the Community Garden. Thanks to this key support, we can plant and grow. Thank you!

St. Nicholas Episcopal Church also renewed their support for the garden, pledging to cover the water bill again. Thank you!

We also appreciate the gifts in kind and discounts that allowed us to get supplies, seedlings, and compost for the garden. Thank you:  Jordan's Farm, Green Spark Farm, Highland Avenue Greenhouses, Broadway Gardens, Flaherty Farm, O'Donal's, and Scarborough's ACE Hardware.

We had a great time at the Scarborough Rotary's annual "Touch a Truck" at the Scarborough Downs. Lots of kids stopped by our booth to plant seeds (put earth in the cup, poke the seeds into the planting mix, pinch some compost on top, and pour a spoonful of water to moisten). Garden enthusiasts - of all ages! - planted beans and nasturtium to take home.

Thank you, Jane, Linda, Sabra, Becky, Pam, Elizabeth and Steffi -- volunteers planted tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, beets, beans, lettuces, bok choy and Asian greens, herbs and flowers, too!

Thank you, Mark, Chris, Cathy, Jane, Becky, and Chris! We raked all the compost and set the paths, even planted spinach and lettuce! Aren't those rows neat!? Also we love our new coconut mat paths. We also had a visit from Kate Irish Collins of the Current-- you can read the article here (PDF).

We had a great time with all our friends who stopped by ACE Hardware (at Oak Hill) this weekend -- thank you Anne and Dan for inviting us to be at your annual garden party! And it was great to share a table with the Scarborough Garden Club and the Cumberland County Master Gardeners. We gave a way a lot of seeds, soil test kits, and some planting advice, too!

Spring snow on our newly planted spinach!  No worries...it's a hardy early crop!

It's time to ready the garden for the coming season of planting and harvesting!

Jane and Becky are all smiles as Dennis from Jordan's Farm drops a dump truck's worth of rich organic compost in front of the garden. Now we have to shift and spread it. Can you help?

Helping hands are needed at the Community Garden on Saturday, April 23rd to shovel and spread compost, set cold crop seedlings into the ground (lettuce, chard, etc.), and make plant markers (fun for kids!). Meet at the garden at St. Nick's at 9:30. Bring gloves, shovels and sturdy rakes. This will be the second growing season for the Community Garden which grows organic veggies and herbs for the food pantry. 

Today Dennis from Jordan's Farm delivered 6 yards of organic compost "surf & turf" which is locally produced. This, along with the soil amendments put in last fall, will set us up for a great growing season. A few days earlier Chris roto-tilled the seaweed and shredded leaves which were put on as we put the garden to bed last fall. Look what he found: a beet and a carrot! And Jane spied the first garlic scapes coming through.

There is another community garden sprouting in Scarborough! At the "Garden of Eaten" (located at St. Max on the Black Point Road), there are eight large raised beds (10' X 12') and 50 kiddie plots (2' X 4') available for parishioners at St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. John & Holy Cross, and St. Bartholomew. One plot will also be set aside for growing produce for the South Portland Food Cupboard and/or Scarborough Food Pantry. >>Learn more here... 

We are looking for a few helping hands for two workdays at two community garden locations, one at St. Max and one at St. Nick's: 

  WHEN:     8:30 a.m. Saturday, April 2nd 
  WHERE:  St. Max, 150 Black Point Road (Directions)
  BRING:     shovel, gloves, water  (if you can, a wheelbarrow is also helpful!) 


  WHEN:      9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 23rd  
  WHERE:   St. Nick's, 350 US Route One (Directions) 
  BRING:      shovel, gloves, water

Both events are rain or shine. Both will be moving lots of compost/earth into the gardens to help ready them for the growing season ahead. Pictured here: the new garden at St. Max!

A sampling of the garden's bounty during the 2015 growing season. We harvested a lot of beans, kale, chard, and lettuce!

WEEK THIRTEEN: September 29, 2015

WEEK TWELVE: September 22, 2015

WEEK ELEVEN: September 15, 2015