M. St. Germain

Step by Step, Big Ugly

Harvest reports are getting finalized this month and we are very pleased with our growing effort this year.  We think that 2018 will probably be one of our top two years in terms of the total harvest.

Our last workshop was held at Big Ugly Community Center on October 6th  in conjunction with our fall festival.  Workshop participants were able to enjoy music and food once we were done with sharing some of our summer gardening experiences.

We had the pleasure of having Jenny Totten with us who talked with gardeners about putting their gardens to bed for the winter – primarily taking care of the soil to get a jump on gardening in 2019.

In addition to the talking with gardeners about the end of season concerns, Jenny also instructed gardeners on how to grow microgreens during the winter.  With help from WVU extension agent, Heather Cook, we were able to get trays, soil and seeds to get us started.  We purchased grow lights from Amazon to complete the package.  We have a half dozen gardeners who were willing to give this a try for the next several months.  With the daylight hours shrinking considerably, the idea that we could grow healthy food in our houses has a big appeal.  Jenny suggested there was no need for heat mats to get our plants started – just put them on top of the refrigerator for some added warmth for germination.  Then let the grow lights do the work.  While one tray is quite a bit less than a garden patch, nevertheless the same greens pack of a good punch of nutrition.  We are willing to give it a try!