It has been very warm and dry in Oak Ridge lately, but we are seeing an explosion of fruit set on tomato and pepper plants! We have still been celebrating bountiful & beautiful harvests. It has been a delight to see many of the spring planted crops being harvested, such as onions and broccoli and an almost continual harvest of kale and collards (they do not give up!). Squash and cucumbers have also been rolling in. One of the most anticipated crops harvested during June was garlic! Our gardeners were super excited to get that out of the ground, along with learning about garlic scapes, which are also edible. 

During May, we had Heidi Greenhalgh, registered dietitian and owner of Nutritious Foundations join us for our Harvest & Heart Healthy Cooking workshop. She talked through meal planning and prepping, and demonstrated making a shaved zucchini basil salad and a chicken salad with greek yogurt that also featured an assortment of the vegetables that our gardeners are growing this year! 

During June and early July, Patricia Paden, our Anderson County Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent, joined us during our Food Preservation workshop to lead talks about food safety. After that talk, participants got to watch a canning demonstration. Patricia joined us again for the Hands On Canning Class, where we made and canned mixed berry jelly as a group! During this workshop, we got to use both a steam and water bath canner. 

Garden visits during June and July have been productive! We have been talking about identifying and managing pests and diseases and when to harvest certain crops. Most commonly, we have been running into Squash Vine Borer and Early Blight on tomatoes. We have also begun to talk about and make plans for fall planting (it approaches quickly!). 

So far this year, we have had a really great community and group at workshops. It has been fantastic to see gardeners in the community garden make connections and meet one another and share squash and strategies in the garden.