Temple Community Garden

How to Grow a Revolution in Your Own Backyard

2012-01-20T23:04:00.002-05:00

Check out this wonderful video. If you need inspiration to start gardening- look no further. These next few moments of your life will totally be worth it- trust me.

Roger Doiron- My Subversive (Garden) Plot

via TED: Ideas Worth Spreading:

http://www.ted.com/talks/roger_doiron_my_subversive_garden_plot.html

Britta Riley: A garden in my apartment

via TED: Ideas Worth Spreading:

http://www.ted.com/talks/britta_riley_a_garden_in_my_apartment.html

Seed Saving (feat. Giant Pumpkins!)

2012-01-18T23:52:00.000-05:00

So back in November, we had a guest speaker at one of our general body meetings. Brandon Huber, a Horticulture major who studies at Temple's Ambler campus, spoke to us about saving seeds and growing new plants with the seeds you save. Brandon pressed the importance of saving seeds of the heirloom variety for the following reasons: 1.) They have desirable characteristics 2.) They are usually rare and hard to find each season. If you can save your seeds, you can break away from becoming dependent upon purchasing seeds each season, AND it helps you save money!

Saving seeds

If you plan on saving seeds, Brandon said it’s best to leave the fruit or flower on the stem, even if it has withered or rotten. This way the seed is able to dry on the plant, so it is allowed to follow through the full cycle before being removed from its nutrient source. For cabbage, carrots, beats, and onions, leave at least one sprout in the ground because these plants flower in their second year, and that flower produces the seeds.

It may be a bit difficult to restrain yourself from harvesting your plant, but it will be worth it! Leaving one plant on the stem or in the ground will produce seeds for many more plants, so don’t stress about it.

Brandon suggested bringing some plants inside during the colder months in order to for them to stay alive until it’s time to harvest the seeds. He warms his indoor plants with T-5 fluorescent lighting. Also, Brandon mentioned vermiculture as a way to provide nutrients to indoor gardens.

Giant Pumpkins!

Not only does Brandon save seeds, but he also grows GIANT PUMPKINS! This is quite a sport. People spend an entire year preparing for their giant pumpkins. From searching for the perfect hybrid seed, to finding a great place to grow the pumpkin, protecting it, and transporting it to a festival, growing giant pumpkins is a time consuming hobby. Seed savers like Brandon will save the seeds of a large pumpkin, and sometimes they even plant two seeds together to grow one hybrid pumpkin. These seeds can cost as much as $20 per seed!

The plant takes much tending to because you only want it to house one pumpkin. This way, all of the plant’s energy can be channeled into the single pumpkin. If you watch this Time lapse video, you’ll see how quickly the pumpkins grow. Other factors of growing include protecting it from hungry animals like deer, protecting it from the sun (if it is not shaded, the sunlight will actually begin to bake the giant pumpkin..CRAZY!), and if you do not keep an eye on it, the pumpkin may begin to rot. Then the next problem is transporting it. These pumpkins can weigh up to 500-700lbs. Try figuring out an easy way to transport these delicate giants!

Given that your pumpkin grows up to be healthy and large without rotting, catching a disease, or becoming damaged during transportation, you can bring it to a festival where they have weighing contests, or you can hollow it out and race in it- boat style- or you can drop it and watch it explode. The possibilities are endless- you just can’t really eat it… apparently such large pumpkins don’t taste very good.

Wrapping Up the Semester

2011-12-01T22:57:00.006-05:00

We covered lots of ground at tonight's meeting! Here are the details:

1) MAIN GARDEN TIMES for the rest of the semester are as follows:

Friday 12/2 @ 1pm

Monday 12/5 @ 2pm

Wednesday 12/7 @ 2pm

Friday 12/9 @ 2pm

Monday 12/12@ 2pm

Wednesday 12/14 @ 2pm

2) We're having a gardening day at Main Garden on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10TH to close the beds before winter break. If you won't be on campus this winter, come and clean out your bed! Also, if you happen to have extra show curtain rings, bring them along! We'll be using them to hang tarps over the beds.

3) At the meeting we discussed the possibility of joining an organic farm co-op, where you can get fresh, organic produce delivered all year round. Check out www.eastorganics.com for more information on how the co-op works, and contact Gab (tuc51764@temple.edu) if you're interested.

4) TOMORROW join us at 3pm at Kiaro's House shelter (Broad and Jefferson - one block past Fresh Grocer) to meet with members, talk about their interests, and begin developing our lesson plans for January.

And that about sums it up. A lot of you missed the meeting tonight due to end-of-semester papers and projects taking precedence over your lives. But don't wear yourselves out! Visit the garden and de-stress by getting your hands in the dirt!

So goodnight, gardeners.

Come play in the sun, and try not to work too hard!

Also keep an eye out for blog posts about a few of this semester's lectures. Lots of great speakers visited Temple and Philadelphia this semester, so keep checking back for more details if you missed them! In the coming weeks there will be plenty of new things to look at on the blog so be prepared to be WOWed!!

Until next time, pals!

Fall Banquet Video!

2011-11-11T09:42:00.002-05:00

2011-10-21T13:07:00.002-04:00

Upcoming Events August 2011

2011-08-22T16:07:00.000-04:00

Back-to-School Gardening Event

Wednesday, August 24th, 8am-11am (Meet at Broad and Norris)

Join us in harvesting from, planting, and taking care of our Main Campus garden located at Broad and Norris.

After gardening, we will be going to Qdoba for lunch at 11am. Feel free to bring your own packed lunch!

TEMPLEFEST

Wednesday and Thursday, August 24th and 25th, 12pm-5:30pm

Meet at The Village (Student Center South 3rd Floor)

Interact with new students by tabling at Templefest! Please reply to this email with your availability if you can help us table during these two days.

Freshserv --gardening with Freshmen

Friday, August 26th, 2-4:30pm

Meet at Main Garden (Broad and Norris)

Join us in our second day of gardening alongside with the new freshmen class of 2015.

Potluck dinner to follow from 4:30-5pm.

1st Potluck Party of the Year!!!

Friday, August 26th, 4:30-5:30pm

Join us in our gardening family tradition! Please RSVP and bring a dish! Currently, we really need drinks, bowls, and cups. If you can’t bring those, bring any food you want (and yes, that includes cookies as well as salsa and chips)! Omnivores and Herbivores all welcome.

You can RSVP and let us know what dish you will be making by emailing temple.vegetables@gmail.com

Join us in the summertime

2011-05-16T15:19:00.002-04:00

Tuesdays, 4-6pm @ Penrose Playground Garden

Corner of 12^th & Susquehanna Streets

Volunteer at Penrose to engage kids in gardening lessons and activities.

We have 6 raised garden beds and Vertical garden alley way that need tending.

Contact Emily Enko – Emily.Enko@temple.edu for more information, or just stop by!

Thursdays, 6-8pm @ Main Campus Garden

Corner of Broad and Norris Streets, behind the red wall

Come stop by to help with garden maintenance and watering

and to meet TCG members!

Saturdays, 9am-12pm Main Campus Garden Work Day

Corner of Broad and Norris Streets, behind the red wall

Saturday mornings we will have a garden work day, consisting of regular maintenance and watering,

plus a weekly project to help our space grow! This is a great way to get involved and all are welcome

Graduation

2011-05-15T10:29:00.000-04:00

We'd like to congratulate to all the TCG members who graduated this past week! We wish you all the best in your next adventures in life, will remember and retell your TCG legacy, and hope to see you back in the gardens soon!

With Garden Love,

Temple Community Garden

Visitation BVM and planting at Broad and Norris

2011-05-06T18:10:00.002-04:00

Last weekend, TCG members dragged themselves out of bed early on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. Helium balloons floated above the playground of Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center in Kensington, signaling the family day that featured hamburgers and empanadas, raffles, a presentation from a German Shepherd dog who works for SEPTA police, tables of supporting organizations and- free potted plants!

ABOVE: Jacob Bortman (left) helps a kid plant strawberries

TCG helped kids and parents fill planters with soil and seeds, including strawberries, tomatos, chives, onions, peppers, and flowers. Kids decorated their pots, and parents walked home with their own miniature contained garden. Thank you to Debbie Campbell from the Temple University's Fox School of Business, and Kevin Campbell from McGraw Hill for their support to help spread gardening love!

The following Sunday, TCG members gathered with Gamma Iota Sigma members to assemble beds and plant seedlings and seeds at Broad and Norris. Plants include carrots, beans, lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, flowers, and several others.

ABOVE: Gamma Iota Sigma members assemble wooden beds

BELOW: Jason Puglionesi plants parsley and chive seedlings

Abi Reimold TCG

This week @ TCG

2011-04-23T17:49:00.000-04:00

On April 15th-17th, Temple Alumni Association welcomed Temple grads back to campus for a weekend of activities and community service. Temple Community Garden was including in the service projects on Sunday, when the alumni office sent three alumnae along with a host of student volunteers and the finances to build new raised beds at Penrose Community Center.

Two of the alumnae attendees were Dave Yanovitz of the Washington Post (right) and Phil Meyers, who graduated with a degree in finance and marketing. The two were room mates in Temple's Johnson dorm and graduated in 1991.

Students worked together to build raised beds to place in the alleyway. The beds have flowers in them currently and TCG plans to also add trellises for vertical plants. Above, Moniah and Yuan work on assembling a garden bed.

The week began and ended with service. In celebration of Earth Day, students gathered to pick up trash, fill the new beds donated by the Alumni Association with soil and flowers, plant collard greens in the old beds. Old tennis ball jars donated by the Arthur Ashe tennis program were converted into planters. A large number of college students attended, along with the Penrose regulars and some community members. The service day ended with a meal of hamburgers and hot dogs accompanied by potato salad and orange slices.

Above:

1. Emily Enko and some Penrose regulars safely pick up trash using plastic bags

2. Soil is relocated to fill the new beds

3. a girl stands with the tennis ball planters

Abigail Reimold TCG

Main campus garden moved

2011-04-16T02:39:00.000-04:00

Raised beds are vertically challenged compared to the pick up trucks and six-wheelers that TCG formally shared its garden space with. The first main campus garden began humbly built on a a gravel parking lot occupied by university vehicles, equipment, waste, and outdoor storage facilities.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
(BEFORE -- 10:45 AM 04/15/11)

Yesterday, TCG began the process of moving the garden from its rocky starting place to its permanent home: Broad and Norris. Bobcats prowled up and down Norris today from 1-3 PM with loads of soil in their jaws.

The soil in the new garden is red with clay and far from ideal for cultivation. Although now off the rocks, TCG is stuck in a hard place and will continue using raised-bed systems. Poor soil is just one of the many challenges urban gardeners face.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
(AFTER -- 2:10 PM 04/15/11)

Today at 9 AM, TCG members will have their first work day in the garden. Gardeners will fill beds with soil, plant vegetables, and set up a compost bin for the new space.

Abigail Reimold TCG

Spring Banquet yields funds for TCG and turns stomaches from hungry to happy

2011-04-15T01:46:00.000-04:00

above: banquet guests load up their plates with supper

Eggplant parmesan. Bean salad. Vegetarian pizza topped with mushrooms and feta accompanied by fresh fruit salad and veggies with humas, all washed down with apple cider and a blueberry tart.... These are only a few of the eccentric, creative homemade dishes served at yesterday's second anual spring banquet fundraiser. Great food was accompanied by spring air for both indoor and outdoor diners, candlelight, and live jazz from Boyer school of music students.

Above: freshman music major Bill Ricci enjoys a supper out of the dining hall

At the cost of just 5 dollars, the banquet was a delicious and affordable alternative for most freshman who are required to have a meal plan as part of living in residents halls. Having healthy home-cooked food is a real treat.

above: students wait in a (long) line to receive their dinners

With a line practically going out the door, the event had a great turnout, attracting 150 guests. TCG was able to raise about $750, which will be allocated to TCG's after school programs, community outreach events, and garden maintenance. The fundraiser happens at a crucial time in TCG's life: later today, Temple's main garden will move from its current corner of a parking lot raised bed spot at 11th and Berks to its (hopefully) permanent home at Norris and Broad. The Penrose and Urban Roots after school programs will continue through June and continue working with the same students during the summer. Summer will also show the cultivation of the Norris and Broad site and a chance for club members to learn gardening skills by practicing them.

TCG would like to thank all attendees, cooks, and helpers for a successful banquet.

Abigail Reimold TCG

General Update

2011-03-22T23:34:00.000-04:00

This is just a reminder of what the times are for TCG Weekly Activities:

Tuesday:
Urban Roots, meet 3:30 at our Main Garden at 11th and Berks, walk over the space at 3rd and Cumberland
Weekly meeting, 8:00 in 217A of the Student Center

Wednesdays and Fridays:
Penrose Community Center, 4-5:30 on 12th and Susquehanna

T-teach Me How You Dug It

2011-03-22T23:31:00.000-04:00

TCG is into its second week of the most recent community project, Urban Roots, a partnership with the Entrepreneurial Student Association and Project E.D.U.. Around 13 kids showed up today with Harry, the school's coordinator, and we began the day with an ice breaker, People to People. For those of you who don't know, People to People is a very intimate ice breaker of making connections. One person is the caller, and they suggest two body parts for the participants to touch, such as "hand to hand" or "butt to butt" or "hands to ears" etc... The kids seemed to enjoy it, and it was a good way to start introductions. After that raucous activity, we did a thorough introduction, where everyone said their name, grade, and what they want to be when they grow up. We seem to have quite a few future famous athletes in our midst. The lesson for the day was supposed to be utilizing principles of recycling as an introduction, but these kids seriously didn't need us for that. They were adding information to everything we said, and more or less kicked serious butt. So, using our found materials as planters, we set about to actually begin planting. Everyone gathered around the tables; Chloe messed up every step of planting; There was much laughter and conversation to be heard. Unfortunately, as instructors, we're still getting used to the group and their rambunctious energy levels. Luckily, plants got planted, a few extra kids expressed interest in joining, and all of the instructors learned how to Dougie.

2011-03-02T23:16:00.003-05:00

Personal Potted Plants at Penrose

2011-02-22T01:15:00.000-05:00

February 16, 2011

"Raise your right hand in the air," Emily Enko, the brains and love behind Temple Community Garden's programs at Penrose Community Center, lead the children in a pledge of commitment. "Repeat after me: I solemnly swear... to love my baby, to feed them water and sunlight, to take care of it in all weather..." Over half a dozen elementary school aged voices echoed hers in a scrambled form.

"Baby" on this day referred to the promise of a plant. Caring for a plant is a microcosm for carrying for a pet, perhaps a child, and is a way to teach responsibility. Being entrusted with a responsibility makes one feel important, competent, grown up. For North Philadelphia school children whose schools are severely underfunded and whose futures without an adequate education are bleak, TCG hoped to provide a fun activity which would teach not only what goes into making plants grow, but what it means to take ownership over something.

"Mine is named Princess!" one little lady exclaimed, painting her flower pot with the name of her future plant. The kids started with painting their pot with an individual design. Then they filled the pots with soil, and placed radish seeds inside of them.

While the silly pledge with one raised right hand may be quickly forgotten within the life of a 5-11 year old on a community playground, TCG hopes to bring both the love of vegetables and healthy eating and the joy of visible growth to this small community. TCG's Penrose program is at 4 PM on Wednesday afternoons and involves a garden or food lesson, fun games, and homework help. If you are interested in helping out, send an email to temple.vegetables@gmail.com

Abigail Reimold TCG

First Meeting of the 2011 Spring Semester Tonight!

2011-01-25T13:11:00.002-05:00

The upcoming spring semester is going to be one of our biggest yet, what with our inevitable arrival to a permanent space with convenient water access.

Emily is going to start the night off right with an ice-breaker to reintroduce everyone after the long and chilly break. We'll move into a presentation on what the garden's been up to, and likely end on plans for the future. There's a lot to do, so come out for fun and friends.

16th Annual Greater Philadelphia MLK Day of Service

2011-01-18T23:35:00.009-05:00

(before)

In celebration of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., students from Temple Community Garden teamed up with members of the Penn Rose Community Center to organize books and games, clean up the kitchen and library, repaint the walls, and have a great time together for our first informal gathering of the spring semester. Volunteers arrived at 9 to start sorting and categorizing the mountains of books, not realizing how difficult it would be to place children's books into clear-cut genres. Once the books were relatively separated by subject, we placed them on the shelf with new labels to promote better organization in the future. In addition to the books, some garden volunteers got into the art of wall painting, and other busied themselves with sanitizing every visible surface in the area. Even more impressive were the construction projects being led in the main room by YouthBuild, a charter school providing out-of-school youth with a program to earn their diploma and a practical education. Around noon, every group gathered for lunch and hot cocoa. It was a luxury to be out of the cold with a hot beverage, especially as we expected to be building fences all day in the snow. Better than being in the snow for fence building: being in the snow for kickball. After all of the volunteer projects had been wrapped up, it was brought to our attention that "the little kids" had challenged us, "the big kids," to a heated game of snow kickball. There was a lot of trash talk exchanged between the groups; but in the end, big kids only talk a lot a game. We lost 14-11 in a serious show of ineptitude.

(after)

2010-10-25T20:26:00.002-04:00

Sunday at SHARE Food! Meet at Penrose Playground at 12:30pm. Contact us for questions. TCG

2010-10-20T18:27:00.001-04:00

Made sweet potato chips with kids from Penrose playground today, soo good!

Volunteer Kick-Off Event!

2010-10-01T13:28:00.003-04:00

Last weeks Volunteer Kick-Off event with Student Peace Alliance, Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education, the Department of Recreation and the Improv Club went tremendously well! Thanks to everyone who came out and enjoyed the afternoon with us. If you are interested in volunteering, please send in your information at our website. Check out the pictures here!

Check us out on Facebook

2010-09-11T17:37:00.001-04:00

Temple Community Garden

Harvesting!

2010-06-10T14:28:00.006-04:00

After a semester of hard work at Dunbar Elementary's rooftop garden with lots of weeding, tons of transplanting and watering because of the heat, our efforts have yielded fruit...well...in this case...root.

The students love to pull out radishes from the ground and constantly exclaim that they have such big leaves!

11th and Berks Garden Planting!!

2010-05-02T18:26:00.005-04:00

Another successful Garden day!

One new bed installed

More seeds in germination

and of course...

More Vegetables to come....

Main Campus Garden Construction

2010-04-19T00:06:00.014-04:00

It is always a beautiful day in the garden! Some of the garden team readied the planter roof for some wildflowers!

Others added some of our compost to the up and coming vegetable rows!

And of Course, the 11th and Berks garden now has another raised bed ready to be filled with soil!

PENROSE PLANTING!

2010-04-09T10:10:00.005-04:00

The kids at the Penrose Rec. Center finally were able to plant some vegetables outside!

Upcoming plants include:
Radish
lettuce
strawberries
spinach
Broccoli
swiss chard
chives
Basil
Oregano

Gettin Down and Dirty at Penrose! SOIL DAY!!

2010-03-27T15:38:00.006-04:00

A team of Penrose Kids, Temple Community Gardeners, and visiting students from King's College joined forces to get the Penrose garden beds ready for planting later this Spring!

2010-03-23T14:45:00.002-04:00

Check out our amazing new logo

designed by Alex Lash!

For more TCG pictures, check out our Facebook Page.

2010-03-16T11:50:00.005-04:00

TCG SEMI-ANNUAL BANQUET!

Come Join Us for a Night of Great Music, Fun People, and DELICIOUS HOMEMADE FOOD

When: Thursday, March 25th; 7-9 pm

Where: PRESSER HALL (Temple), in the Artist's Palette

For a $5 Donation, You Get:

A selection of foods of the Vegetarian, Vegan, and Omnivorous Variety
Mouthwatering Desserts
Live Music Performed by Temple Musicians
The Opportunity to Support a Great Organization!

Penrose Garden Germination

2010-03-05T14:37:00.010-05:00

This week the Penrose Garden team helped the kids plant their first seeds indoors!

We are all very excited for the first seed to sprout!

Dunbar Germination

2010-03-05T00:12:00.004-05:00

Let the germination begin! TCG members and Philly Eco kids have teamed up to establish a curriculum packed full of nutrition. The focus is on vegetables and local food. A germination room has been set up on top of Dunbar Elementary School and vegetables will soon be planted with the elementary school students.

This Spring, Dunbar Elementary school will be a jungle of vegetables!

Check back for updates....

TCG LATEST

2010-02-19T12:21:00.000-05:00

UPDATES AND PROGRESS COMING SOON!

First Meeting of Spring 2010

2010-01-26T10:05:00.002-05:00

Come join us for the first meeting of the spring semester!

Date/Time: Wednesday January 27th 6:30-7:30

Location: Tech Center Breakout Room

Help us cultivate a garden in the community!

Questions contact: temple.vegetables@gmail.com

MLK Day-Helping Penrose put their beds in place before Spring!

2010-01-18T13:23:00.014-05:00

Students from

Temple Community Garden,

Student Peace Alliance, and Students for Environmental Action participated in the Penrose Recreation Centers cleanup by putting

three garden beds in place.

In the next week, we hope to get the soil into the beds. Coming February, we will be helping Penrose start seedlings indoors. Student Peace alliance will be working with kids by journal writing and Temple Community Garden will be

helping the kids with garden maintenance.

More Exciting projects to come!

Temple Community Garden-MLK Day Upcoming Project

2010-01-16T12:56:00.003-05:00

Temple Community Garden is helping the Penrose Recreation Center on 12th and Susquehanna construct a pre-fabricated garden bed! Our organization and Students for Environmental Action will be working with the volunteers and children in the maintenance and future care of the garden. All are welcome!

Time of Construction: Monday, January 18th 10am-2pm

Location: 12th and Susquehanna Philadelphia PA (3 Blocks from Temple)

Installing the Hoop House

2009-12-13T12:45:00.016-05:00

The hoop house skeleton is made from PVC and is

braced to the wood. We made a makeshift cover from plastic drop cloth and put a garden cover on the ends of the structure so the garden gets

ventilation. The plastic cover is stapled and braced down with wood on one side and weighted down with a metal bar on the other so it can slide over for garden maintenance. The plastic sheet is hooked to the pvc frame with 24 shower curtain rings.

Temple Community Garden Thanksgiving Banquet

2009-11-21T00:29:00.016-05:00

Our team was ready to serve the masses but there was a lot of competition that night at Tyler with free food from all the great gallery openings. Despite the minimal turn out we broke even in cost and we now know the potential we have for throwing another amazing banquet. Next time we plan on spending more time on coverage for the event.

An amazing Jazz Band Graced us with their presence for the event.

Thanksgiving Banquet

2009-11-13T12:41:00.003-05:00

You are invited to the Temple Community Garden Thanksgiving Banquet!

Friday November 20th from 7-9pm

Tyler School of Art Cafe

Admission $5 Temple Students with ID

$7 Without student ID

Please RSVP

temple.vegetables@gmail.com

Temple Community Garden Bake Sale and Veggie Sale Overview

2009-11-13T12:32:00.003-05:00

We had our fourth veggie and Bake Sale

and have raised over $250 from our vegetables

so far for SHARE Foods!

Temple Community Garden Veggie Sale

2009-11-03T00:33:00.002-05:00

Temple Community Garden will be selling its produce for the SHARE Foods Program the next two Thursdays!

Veggie Sale

Thursday November 5th 11am-2pm

Tyler School of Art Lobby

Veggie and Bake Sale

Thursday November 12th 12pm-3pm

Student Activity Center

Successful Garden Opening!

2009-10-07T17:22:00.018-04:00

The Temple Community Garden

welcomes another beautiful day into its story! An array of students, Temple Administration, and faculty attended the celebration of the Temple Community Garden.

Eloise McBride represented the Share Foods Program

and cut our ribbon for the opening! Share is the non-profit

we are giving our proceeds to. We were very excited to have her there.

We Even had our very own band, courtesy of Tyler School of Art!

Only the Beginning...

Temple Community Garden Ribbon Cutting

2009-10-03T20:37:00.002-04:00

Wednesday, October 7th 2009 at 2:30 pm, the Temple Community Garden is celebrating its creation. Everyone is invited to the event. The event will be at the garden on the corner of 11th and Berks.

We hope to have you in attendance!

Storage for Tools!

2009-09-14T15:41:00.006-04:00

We are constructing a shed for our tools. The base is made from re-used pallets and the roof is constructed from gently used plywood with 2 by 4's.

We will be constructing a green roof on

top of our angled roof!

The Plants have ARRIVED!

2009-09-11T20:45:00.007-04:00

The rain was a beautiful prologue before the first chapters of the Temple Community vegetable garden. Today vegetables were planted from Primex Garden Center.

Our next step is constructing a shed for our tools and a platform for the water barrels. We plan to build a miniature green roof for the shed.

Laying Down the Soil

2009-09-05T20:50:00.010-04:00

Today was an exciting day for

the Temple Community Garden.

About twelve students from

different majors, ranging from

sculpture, business, to Environment helped to load the soil into the raised gardens.

The large bed received the organic mix from Organic Mechanics and the smaller bed received a mix of mushroom compost from Primex Garden Center and Fairmount Organic recycling center.

Fairmount Compost Drop-off

2009-08-29T11:33:00.004-04:00

Today, one of our advisors helped

us with the transportation of the compost from the Fairmount

Organic Recycling center. We

will be mixing mushroom compost into the Fairmount Compost as a 1 to 1 ratio for more substance. The first batch of soil will be for the 6' by 6' bed.

First Day of Temple Fest

2009-08-27T18:03:00.006-04:00

Today was the first day of Temple

Fest and students from the Temple

Community Garden shared a table

with the Mudslingers. There seemed to be great interest in the first vegetable Garden at Temple.

We look forward in finding new recruits.

Lining the raised beds

2009-08-26T18:10:00.009-04:00

A plastic liner was put in place so the soil is not in direct contact with the wood, which will hopefully slow down wood rot. We are ready to get some soil put into these beds so we can grow some vegetables!

Getting closer.......

Getting the Beds Ready for the Soil!

2009-08-25T22:01:00.008-04:00

Now that the cross-beams are in

place, we are preparing the beds for soil. We are lining the bottom of the beds with cardboard, not as a root barrier because vegetation does not seem to be growing on the lot, but as a protective measure from possible contaminants in the particles beneath our beds.

For final preparation, we will be lining the interior sides of the wood with recycled plastic, so the soil is not in direct contact with the wood.

The wood will not be treated with any preservatives. Options for wood preservation were researched but many had ingredients that were not suitable for a vegetable garden. As for the natural methods, such as mineral oil or linseed oil, it proved to be too expensive for our budget.

Day Eight of Temple Community Garden Construction!

2009-08-22T19:16:00.016-04:00

With great luck, the Temple Community Garden construction dodged the rain and we went to digging/pick axing our posts into the rock infested silt.

Our team still has to brace the beds in the center with bracketts and cross beams, but great progress has been made in the past week.

Vegetables will be coming soon!

Day Seven of Temple Community Garden Construction!

2009-08-21T21:22:00.007-04:00

After hauling our lumber with rolling carts over to our site the night before, we began to assemble the pieces of our raised beds in the rain!

We finished the assembly of one raised bed today and tomorrow we plan on finishing the assembly of the large raised bed, even with 70% chance of rain!

Day Five "Raised Garden Construction"

2009-08-20T12:30:00.007-04:00

Today was a day of organization before we move
everything to the garden's location. We mocked up and labeled the lumber to see what pieces fit where. We hope to have everything installed and planted by the end of next week!

Keep Checking back to see what we are doing next!

Day Three of Lumber Reclamation

2009-08-14T23:33:00.022-04:00

Today, we cut our giant posts to length and we now became officially done with rough cutting all the pieces for the first raised bed!

Then we went to sanding for a couple hours!

Day Two of Lumber Reclamation!

2009-08-14T12:22:00.015-04:00

While sorting through the wood, we began accessing what the dimensions of the garden will be. With the circular saw we rough cut them to length and then we wire brushed them down to remove debris. The wood is beginning to reveal itself and we are almost ready to install!

Keep checking back with more progress!

Day One of Lumber Reclamation

2009-08-12T19:21:00.015-04:00

After lifting about one thousand pounds of lumber up a flight of stairs, students from Temple Community Garden, Students for Responsible Business, and Students for Environmental Action, began reclaiming the wood that was salvaged from Revolution Recovery. Today, removing nails and marking possible trouble spots took up most of our time.

Tomorrow, we will be cutting the lumber to the allowed dimensions by the wood that has been salvaged. Keep checking back to see our progress!

One Big Step Forward!

2009-08-10T19:24:00.005-04:00

After rolling down the highway and crossing our fingers that our professors noble truck would make the arduous journey to Temple University, a couple thousand pounds of Salvaged Lumber was retrieved for The Temple Community Garden. This week construction preparation begins! We are ready to get our hands dirty and plant some much needed vegetables. Thanks for everyone's patience!

First Stage of Ground Leveling Completed

2009-07-15T19:35:00.002-04:00

Today, four group members helped level the ground for our first stage of construction. In two weeks we plan on having our lumber materials ready to be constructed into raised beds. The group members are ready to go full throttle and have the garden complete by the beginning of September. Keep checking our blog for more progress updates!

Smiling Faces at 11th & Berks

2009-07-08T23:03:00.002-04:00

Some of our members stopped for a photo op at our new garden location before construction begins. So much work to do and we're so excited - breaking ground soon!

Temple Community Garden helps out at SHARE!

2009-06-07T21:52:00.003-04:00

Torrential downpour didn't keep a team of our dedicated gardeners from helping out SHARE with their planting on Friday morning!

Some of our members assisted in installing four raised garden beds and planting sweet potatoes, white potatoes, tomatoes, and green peppers, as well as with weeding and planting in a few flower gardens.

Despite the elements, this was very informative and just an overall positive experience for us to be working with such a good local organization.

Please check out all of the generous work SHARE does at their website: http://sharefoodprogram.org/.