Additions to the Fleet

The rain has settled in nicely this week although today was surprisingly dry and thereby productive out in the gardens! Evergreen Irrigation (Rockford, IL) was here for a second day getting our system up and running and repairing broken lines and sprinkler heads. Our aging system out there needs lots of TLC and the guys do a nice job. We were able to get quite a bit of work done today with both staff (John, Terry, Bobby K. and Brian) and volunteer (Urban, Chris, Dr. Gredler, Maury, Kathy P., etc.) help. We also went on two trips to retrieve plants (some for the looming Spring Plant Sale and some for us…) and had some deliveries as well. We are certainly maximizing the capacity of our three little hoop houses with some cold nights coming up. It was a productive day although I believe the rain returns in earnest tomorrow.

We’ve had some generous donations and allocated funds to build and update our vehicular fleet at the gardens with some recent additions seen further below in the blog. Some of the photos also show plants that will be offered at the upcoming sale (see our website for details). Crazy busy time of year!

sweet new endloader donated by Dr. Gredler and family
we have two of these “lightly used” carts recently added to the fleet
“New” used dump truck (sorely needed!)
challenging willow removal problem along Woodland Walk
elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta) bulbs ready for planting
‘Sweet Petra Dark’ sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) for the Spring Plant Sale – above
lots of tomatoes (see our website for a listing) ready for the Spring Plant Sale – above
‘Purple Lady’ Bok Choy (Brassica rapa var. chinensis) for Spring Plant Sale (above)
voracious deer (maybe rabbits too) nibbling on hostas throughout the garden! ugh
Barb C. and her team (Sandi, Grace, Marleen and others) have done a great job getting ready for our StoryWalk partnership with the Hedberg Library…hint…there is something fishy going on!