Incredible Edible Milbridge Report – November 2021
With chilly nights and many cool days, the 2021 garden season is coming to a close!
Milbridge Commons was the site of the last big volunteer push of the season. Gardeners Janis Lesbines and Gail Moorhouse led twenty volunteers gathered on October 2nd to clear out the gardens. They harvested about a dozen large bags of kale, chard, and spinach to bring to the food pantry in Cherryfield. They pulled the last of the weeds and tidied the beds. Three days later, another volunteer crew of about eight people gathered under Janis’s direction to finish weeding and cleaning out flower beds. The bare bones artistic swirls and spirals of the empty garden beds are almost as pleasing to the eye as the lush vegetation in the height of the summer— thank you, Janis!
Our wonderful volunteers who helped plant an orchard at the Milbridge Commons!
To top off all that work, Richard Hodges from ReTreeUS arrived at the Commons on October 9th to lead fifteen volunteers in the planting of an orchard. Thanks to individual donations that provided the trees and a grant from the Maine Community Foundation, the crew planted twelve apple trees and two peach trees. Milbridge’s own Viking Lumber generously donated fencing and stakes to safeguard the trees from deer.
This month, pumpkins planted at the garden at the Red Barn Motel by the pre-K class last spring were delivered to these now-kindergartners at Milbridge Elementary School. IEM farmers Matt Walsh and Zabet NeuCollins look forward to continuing garden-related programming with the elementary school this fall and winter.
The last IEM workshop of 2021 has been postponed due to weather. “How to Repel Vampires: Garlic Planting for the Whole Family” will happen on November 6th, 2021. This is a family-friendly workshop and originally was happening on Halloween weekend, so before you put away your costume for the year, feel free to come dressed up! Participants will learn all the basics about how to grow healthy garlic (and how to repel vampires). This workshop will be at the Red Barn Motel and is led by Matt Walsh and Zabet NeuCollins.
This will be the final Incredible Edible Milbridge report for the season. Thank you to all who have supported WHRL and our IEM gardens. We hope that it was a fruitful year for you all, and that you harvested many delicious vegetables!