KeyBank volunteers help RTCO Make a Difference

It finally quit raining! We are so glad that we are not even complaining about the extreme heat, or that fact that this is the second year in a row Ohio has decided to skip having any pleasant spring days and gone right from yucky, cold, wet days to yucky, hot, humid days. At least, we are not complaining much.

Rob Zelina, Pete Schmitt, Eleanor Scott and John Welcome from

 KeyBank

The best thing about the dryer weather so far, is that KeyBank employees, Rob Zelina, Pete Schmitt, Eleanor Scott and John Welcome, came to share their time and talents to build our first raised bed and install the pole for our hanging garden.

What is a raised bed? So glad you asked! Because we are building our garden in an industrial park, we need to amend the soil to avoid pollutants and make it is well balanced. We know the here is heavy clay and not very welcoming to our plants.  The Ohio Farm Bureau explains the need for testing soil in home gardens on an annual basis in this article http://ourohio.org/home-gardens/gardening-basics/year-round/all-the-dirt-on-soil/

We built this bed with cement block our property manager donated- many thanks to Don and his terrific staff!!  When the City Challenge team was here, they lugged about 80 blocks from the back to our complex to our warehouse and started digging the footer and leveling the bed.

Rob, Pete and John hit the ground and really made our first bed a reality. They put in the rest of the block and then dug the holes for the hanging tomato plants (more on this later) and for a small tabled bed that will demonstrate gardening for those unable to get down on their knees to work.

Eleanor prepared the hanging tomato plants in commercial “Topsy Turvy” planters our staff member, Alec brought in from home. This is a great alternative for those who don’t have much room for gardening, and it makes a fun family project. If Alec hadn’t donated the hangers, we would have created our own- here are some simple instructions for using 2 liter bottles http://www.cheapvegetablegardener.com/2009/04/make-your-own-upside-down-tomato.html

P.s. Have to let you all know, I am feeling pretty proud of myself with this post- I got the photos where I actually wanted them, figured out how to add a caption and how to get the links to work! If you have any ideas, or suggestions, please send them my way. We are also looking for guest bloggers, so if you garden and have want to contribute, send me a note. Thanks!