Category: GCMGA Volunteer Projects

Our GCMG/Gwinnett Extension Project at Gwinnett County’s McDaniel Farm Park is wrapping up for 2011 as our volunteers dig into fall. Spring bulbs were added today at the main parking lot entrance.  Our big fall rennovation of the Farm House foundation shrubs included the use of the park’s tractor and a lot of help from the park’s maintenance heroes, Joe and Juan.  This was our first year planting sweet potatoes in the main demonstration garden plot.  The potatoes were huge.  Lesson learned – harvest a little sooner next year. Master Gardeners took advantage of fall being a great time to plant and move  shrubs.  The bushy Nandinas that had been in front of the farmhouse for years were removed with the tractor and replaced with small hollies  (Ilex crenata ‘Soft Touch’).  The hollies will grow 2’-3’ wide and tall.  We plan to add dwarf boxwoods, one on each side of the steps to balance out the…

Gwinnett County’s McDaniel Farm Project Master Gardener volunteers will be cleaning up the demonstration garden and harvesting the last of this year’s produce during September.  For the 2011 growing season, volunteers have harvested over 600 pounds of produce making this a record setting year for the garden.  All harvested produce is donated to help feed the hungry in the area. A new crop this year is sweet potatoes which will be ready to harvest in mid-September.  We did a test dig today and found dozens of little potatoes.   Okra is another record setting crop with some plants so tall we can’t reach the tops.  New plantings of cole crops for fall will be in the raised beds close to the road where the plants can continue to grow while the main garden is plowed and planted in a cover crop for the winter. As the garden winds down, volunteers will be shifting their focus…

Here are some pictures taken out at McDaniel Farm Park in the garden today. We harvested about 60#’s of produce to send over to Annandale Village, our Plant-a-row for the Hungry location here in Gwinnett. We now have a total of 395#’s of produce harvested and donated to-date! The garden is looking great and we have hardly any weeds. It frees up our time to work on other tasks. We’re actually having fun working there on each workday. Related Images: