Community Garden Update

by Peter Salva

Members of FLXJP have been hard at work preparing four raised beds in the Penn Yan community garden for the growing season. This is the second year we’ve worked on gardening as a group, so we are taking what we learned from last year and have made a variety of plans in the hopes that we can have an abundant harvest throughout the summer and into the fall.

One bed has been dedicated to growing a variety of greens, with summer squash growing vertically, along with eggplant and peppers. In another bed we are planting potatoes in towers, a method some of our members have had success with, along with a section dedicated to the Three Sisters. This strategy for companion planting is a traditional method of indigenous groups wherein corn, beans, and squash are planted in one bed to provide complementary benefits to one another. A third bed will be dedicated to herbs, peas, and carrots. Finally, a fourth bed is going to planted with tomatoes, cucumbers, and whatever else we can squeeze in for extra abundance.

Produce from the garden will be used to provide for our monthly community meals and distributed to free food stands throughout the area. If you’d like to help us out by taking on watering or other care tasks, please email us at flxjustice21@gmail.com or touch base with Peter Salva in person.