Willing Hands, an Upper Valley nonprofit that helps provide fresh produce to people in need, is inviting gardeners to feed their neighbors on a largers cale by planting an extra row in their gardens and donating produce.
Read more in the Valley News article on Saturday June 29, 2019.
We have nesting killdeer in the upper garden (the second plot in on the right). There is a clutch of four beige eggs with black speckles in a nest on the ground made of wood chips and grass. Apparently both parents incubate the eggs for 22 -28 days. Gardeners have put up a little fence and stakes around the nest.
The good news is that killdeer eat snails, millipedes, spiders, and worms. The not so good news is that they eat some seeds and their predators include gulls, common crows, raccoons & skunks.
To distract predators from the nest, the killdeer will feign a broken wing or charge an intruder making loud alarming calls.
The gardeners of the plot are delaying any planting until after the eggs hatch.
This Saturday, there will be a symposium about organic farming at Dartmouth College.
Learn how to be an organic gardener.
More information here: https://www.realorganicproject.org/
The Hanover Community Gardens now has a secure new fence that should give much improved protection against animal predators, including deer, woodchucks and raccoons. On Saturday September 1, John Korfel and his 3-man crew of Critterfence installers drove up from their home base in Connecticut and spent a very intensive six hours installing our new fence around the entire perimeter of our gardens.
Two days before the fence installers arrived, a local landscaper had come to mow the weeds around the fence perimeter and within the central area between upper and lower gardens. On the morning of the installation, ten members of the garden arose early and came to the garden to take down the temporary fence that had provided some protection to the gardens since spring. Thanks to their efforts, the fence had been completely removed by 8:00 am, by which time the installers had begun their work.
The fence, produced by Critterfence, Inc. (www.critterfence.com), includes a 7-foot high high-strength polymer mesh for protection against deer, with three 5-foot wide latched doors. The lower two to three feet of the fence have an additional plastic-coated steel mesh that is overlapped with the ground for 6-12 inches and staked down to the ground every 4 – 5 feet, to keep smaller animals such as woodchucks from entering the gardens. The fence has steel posts every 10 feet, with steel reinforced cables between all posts. The fence will remain up year- round and should provide protection against animal intruders for many years to come. Below find some photos taken by the installation crew on during and after the fence erection.
Hanover Community Gardens wishes to express its sincere thanks to the individuals and organizations that contributed funds to make the fence installation possible. The external donors include: Anonymous donor, Hanover Improvement Society, Mascoma Bank; member gardener donors include: Ardis Olson and Alan Dietrich, Megan Holthoff, Jan Chapman, Francis Kennedy, Doug Deaett, Viva Hardigg, Robert Oden, Tammie Patten. Additional assistance was provided by Joanna Whitcomb and the Town of Hanover, particularly Julia Griffin and Betsy McClain. The effort was led by the Fence Committee chaired by Doug Deaett, and the Garden Committee (Megan Holthoff, Francis Kennedy, Shelley Sanyal).
The garden has two spots available for this season. We have one half plot in the upper garden and one full-sized plot in the lower garden. Please email Shelley at ssanyal1969@gmail.com or Francis at Francis.E.Kennedy@dartmouth.edu for more information.
The Hanover Garden Club is holding its annual plant sale on Saturday, May 19 from 9 am to noon. The sale takes place at the Garden Club shed at Pine Knoll Cemetery, 121 South Main St., Hanover. Proceeds of the sale are used to support the planting of Hanover Town Gardens.
They will have hardy field grown perennials, potted and hanging geraniums and other annuals, heirloom tomatoes, peppers and more vegetables, herbs, small shrubs, raspberry bushes and a large selection of pollinator friendly plants. Cash or Check only.
There are currently 3 full plots (20’ x 20’) available in the lower garden and 1 half-plot (20’ x 10’) available in the upper garden. If you would like to expand your garden, or if you know someone who would like to take over a plot and garden with us this summer, please contact Francis Kennedy (francis.kennedy@dartmouth.edu) for one of the lower garden plots or Shelley Sanyal (ssanyal1969@gmail.com) for the upper garden half-plot.
Garden Plot Payment
Please make your payment for this year’s garden plot ($40 for full plot, $20 for half-plot) by early June. Make check payable to Hanover Community Gardens and send to Megan Holthoff at 10 Reservoir Rd., Hanover.
We’ve made lots of progress toward getting a year-round fence around the Hanover Community Gardens, but we aren’t there yet.
