He Digs, He Dug, He Has Dug

“My garden will never make me famous.
I’m a horticultural ignoramus,
I can’t tell a string bean from a soybean,
Or even a girl bean from a boy bean.”
...........,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,..            ..Ogden Nash

Many of us Medford Leas residents are all thumbs when it comes to growing things. But others of us have green thumbs – at least varying shades of green. Gardeners of all skill levels for many years have turned over the soil each spring on a patch of Medford Leas land called The Farm, available for residents to grow vegetables and flowers.

The one-and-a-half acres of The Farm are divided into plots ranging from 25 by 75 feet, to 25 by 25 feet, down to unfenced ground good for planting flowers. The site lies behind the Nature Center and tennis courts. Plots are still available for interested residents.

Sandy Heath, who doesn’t consider himself among the big-league gardeners, nevertheless was found enthusiastically planting peas, string beans, and zucchini one raw March day.

Arthritis sufferer Steve Denham is planning an “upside down garden,” in which tomatoes, onions and peppers are planted in bags that hang from shepherd's hooks. Tomatoes and onions are made to grow through a hole in the bottom of each bag, while peppers grow in the soil above. Dunbar, Steve’s wife, was once chair of The Farm and then co-chair with Rona.

Another highly experienced green thumb is Perry Krakora, who is experimenting this year with a Native American “Three Sisters” garden, combining corn, beans, and squash. The beans climb up the corn, and the squash holds moisture while also keeping out the weeds.

Harvest Time on the Farm   (see Perry Krakora's "still life" photos on the slideshow

The Farm, a community garden of an acre and a half, is available for the horticultural creativity of residents, the Master Gardeners of Burlington County, and Debbie Lux, horticulturist in Landscaping. Produce not needed by the resident gardeners is placed on a table at the entrance of the Community Building for all residents to enjoy. The Master Gardeners’ output goes to food pantries throughout the county. And Debbie Lux has used her plot to demonstrate to high school horticulture students from Burlington County Institute of Technology how to grow a cutting garden.

In March, residents had weathered the cold to plant their peas, lettuce and onions. Now, in summer’s record heat and dryness, portable sprinklers were working hard.

Along with withering heat were the appetites of woodchucks (aka groundhogs), voles and deer to challenge our farmers. I was introduced to a young teenage woodchuck in a trap, the third captured with great fanfare. He would be taken beyond the creek and released, I was told. I suspect he will be a recidivist.

By late July, the corn in the “Three Sisters” garden was taller than its adventurous grower Perry Krakora. As Indians once did, she planted beans to climb the corn stalks, and squash to keep moisture in and hold down the weeds between the rows of corn. Perry’s garden plots also overflow with onions, garlic, parsnips, tomatoes and asparagus.

Warren Sawyer’s squash is surviving a woodchuck hit; his cherry tomatoes are ripening; and his Concord grapes are turning a satisfying purple.

Charlie Shearer has had great success with strawberries, green beans and cucumbers and is looking forward to winter squash.

Tomatoes are actually growing out the bottom of hanging bags of soil in Steve Denham’s upside-down garden.