What’s Growing At The Community Idea Stations
Bert and Ernie stand guard near the entrance to a garden here at 23 Sesame Street. Staff at the Community Idea Stations (WCVE PBS/WHTJ PBS and WCVE Public Radio) began work on the garden only recently. The 100 x 25 foot garden will feature a few tomato varieties (both regular and “cherry” types), yellow squash, summer squash (or zucchini), cucumbers, cantaloupe, peppers (sweet and hot), radish, eggplant, sweet corn, beans and sunflowers. A corner of the garden will also have herbs such a basil, oregano, rosemary and lavender.
The deer barrier or “fence” line was installed just in time, as thirteen rows of sweet corn have begun sprouting, along with a row of sunflowers peeking up through the ground. Tomatoes, squash, cukes, a few eggplants, and cantaloupe are in the ground as well - with the rest of the garden to be planted in the next few days.
The fence was our attempt at keeping the local deer population (still quite significant even with all the development taking place in the area) from having unfettered access to tempting new plant growth and sprouts pushing up through the earth. Inexpensive yet durable, 10 foot-long sections of 1/2 inch electrical conduit pipe serve as fence posts and were driven into the ground almost two feet deep. We then attached 7 foot-high deer netting around the full perimeter of the garden, connecting the netting to each pipe with sturdy zip-ties. A gate made of 3/4 inch PVC completed the barrier and provides easy staff access to the garden (and probably for some rabbits as well).
With rain in the forecast, we hope the garden will continue to grow from the great start it already has. In spite of the local wildlife and unpredictable summer weather - we just might have a nice harvest this year. We’ll share photos and progress reports as we go and we hope you will share your gardening wisdom as well. You can comment right here or share your garden photos on our new Virginia Home Grown Facebook page.
Take a look at some early stage photos of our garden. Just click on the “more photos” link under the image to the right. Until next time, happy gardening to you from the Community Idea Stations gardeners here on Sesame Street.
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