Kale, weeds, and peas, oh my!

With the arrival of real summer weather, the Outdoor Center's vegetable gardens have burst to life.  Over the past two years, Amy and Pam have turned the Center's small herb plot into a series of larger gardens aimed at producing serious quantities of food for the dining hall.  Rowers, skiers, and other employees have all contributed to the countless projects associated with growing food and it's finally paying off!  This past week we harvested peas, basil, mint, cilantro, dill, kale, chard, squash, zucchini, and cucumbers.  Our cherry tomatoes are ripening now, too, though they seem to disappear as soon as they turn red.  Here's a brief photo summary of what's been happening in the gardens recently:

Earlier this spring, we prepped the beds and put down a biodegradable plastic-like material, which both keeps the weeds at bay and helps warm the soil.

This year, we put put up two greenhouses. Here’s one in the process of being built.

Here’s Pam with lots of tomato and pepper starts!

We use lots of row cover earlier in the summer to keep our young plants protected from the elements and a host of hungry critters, including slugs, snails, cucumber beetles, flea beetles, and more.

Russ, proving that gardening really is fun.

Who needs a gym for strength workouts, anyway?!

The field at Ruthie’s (on Creek Road) definitely has the best soil. We expect a bumper crop of winter squash over there.

Like mother, like daughter - Schulz ladies in the greenhouse.

The tomatoes are looking good, thanks in large part to rowers Lawrence and Mike, who have spent hours upon hours stringing, clipping, and pruning.

They’ll be ripe soon!

Peppers are on the way – we staked up about 300 plants yesterday.

Zucchini and summer squash

Cukes

Chard – you’ll see lots of this in the dining hall over the summer!