Kavanah Garden Update: Closing up for Winter!

Hello everyone!
Well, it's officially November.  Here's a look back on what happened at the Kavanah Garden this fall...

Checking in on the leafcutting bees that have taken up residence in our Pollinator Palace!



 Harvesting tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers and potatoes!  In total this season we harvested over 400 pounds of produce that was donated to Ve'Ahavta.  Ve'Ahavta's volunteer chefs will prepare our veggies into delicious soups and stews and distribute it to community members in need. 

Bug hunting during our weekly CSA vegetable share pick up in partnership with the Cutting Veg Organic Farm.

Saving seeds from our 10 delicious tomato varieties!  Looking forward to enjoying Green Zebra, Yello Pear, and Red Currant tomatoes again next season!

 One of our Mammoth Russian Sunflowers - this one grew to be over 8 feet tall!

 Grade 4 students from Leo Baeck made an amazing discovery during their fieldtrip to the Kavanah Garden - a praying mantis!

  Pickling 101 Workshop in partnership with Makom.  Participants each made their own jar of pickled cucumbers and helped make batches of pickled dilly beans and kimchi!

  Putting up the walls on our Succah! 

 







       
Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate the harvest festival of Sukkot!  Together we took care of our worms, made a delicious batch of compost tea (delicious for plants, not for people!), decorated our Sukkah, and performed the mitzvah of shaking the lulav and etrog!



  Our final harvest!  Two of our six beautiful pumpkins!

In the last few weeks we have put a lot of energy into preparing the Kavanah Garden for winter.  We added manure and finished compost from our composter to all of the beds (to add nutrients back to the soil which will feed next year's veggies), we mulched all of the beds (to keep the creatures and critters that live in the soil warm over the winter), we cleaned and packed away all of our tools and trellises, we took a deep breath and gave ourselves a pat of the back...what a season!  Thank you to the countless community members who made our second season so incredible!  There may be frost on the ground now, but before you know it spring will be here and the Kavanah Garden will be open for another season of growth!

Wishing you all a restful and restorative winter!