From the New Vrindaban Garden June 2, 2014
A view of the Garden of Seven Gates from on top of the hill.
Greetings from the Garden…
Over the last two weeks the gardens here at New Vrindaban have begun there early summer transformation. The Meditation Garden located at the back of the temple beside the kitchen has flourishing oregano, new azalea bushes, calendula, and more. Its a great place to spend some time and soon we will have the new lattice fence completed. The Apothecary Teaching garden has now been completely planted soon there will be more than 50 beds of flowers and greens. Dr. Nick and his crew have done an amazing job on the new fence.
This past week we had 10 guest volunteers from an Intentional community East Winds in Missouri. They were and amazing help in all three gardens. Their extra hands and gardening experience could not have come at a better time. In the Garden of Seven Gates we now have a field of buckwheat growing for a cover crop. We have planted some new perennials such as strawberries, elderberries, blueberries, and additional asparagus. We have three community members that are contract growing for us this year within the Garden of Seven Gates. Their gardens include paste tomatoes, cucumbers, and broccoli. Other annual crops in the garden include: peas, green beans, soy beans, watermelon, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, squash, sweet potatoes, quinoa, sunflowers, lettuce, spinach, kale, radishes, and countless beautiful flowers.
Each week I try to include a helpful gardening tip….. This week my advice is to watch out for flea beetles. Growing organically can be difficult and it is very important to regularly check your plants for bugs or the signs of damage. Flea beetles are particularly attracted to members of the brassica family (kale, cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts) and eggplant. They are tiny fast moving black beetles, almost to small to see. What you will see is the damage to the leaves of the plant. They leave tiny holes all through the leaves and with enough damage it will kill the plant. The best defense is keeping the plants under floating row cover to protect them from the bugs. We are also using ECOTEC which is an organic spray that is made of concentrated mint oils. Its safe enough to spray and harvest the same day. Have a great week in the garden.
