Happy Earth Day Grow Appalachia friends!

It is a beautiful day here in Cincinnati, Ohio, despite having cold temps and snow last weekend.  Hoping we are finally saying goodbye to the winter temperatures and our warm up is here to stay.  The tulips that are grown as a part of our market section of our community garden are having no trouble at all with the up and down weather, and are attracting so many early pollinators to the garden. The vibrant colors  the tulips provide our urban space has been so lovely.

Last month, our phenomonal gardener Jill,  planned a cool weather vegetables plant distribution, and I am excited to share it was a HUGE SUCCESS! All of the plants she grew for this project went to good homes and she already has plans for doing this again next year. Jill gave me a few of her gorgeous plants and will plant them with our youth garden club next week.

Coming up, I will be hosting a garden tour with a local school this coming Monday. It is so exciting to have visitors come see our urban oasis. A wonderful plant nursery, Frankenstein’s Nursery at Adopt A Plant Greenhouse, donated several trays of tomatoes to us. At the end of the tour we are now able to provide tomato plants (along with planting tips) to all of the youth and chaperones.

April Garden Tip:

If you are new to seed starting and now have plants looking like they are almost ready to go outside please do not forget the “Hardening Off” phase. Hardening off plants is allowing a seedling to transition from its indoor home to its new outdoor environment. The week before you want to get your plants in the ground be sure to put them outside increasing the time you leave them outdoors each day. After about a week they will be ready to live in your garden happily. If you do not do this you will risk shocking them and possibly killing all of your hard work.

Hope you are able to be outside this weekend celebrating Earth Day!

Peace, Love, Happiness & Flowers,

Christina

Over-the-Rhine People’s Garden Coordinator