The tools and knowledge needed to produce fresh vegetables are something that is readily available to all Golf Course Superintendents . Having an understanding of soil chemistry, fertilizers, and botany combined with the tools, land, and irrigation that all golf courses possess make it a very simple step to move toward the cultivation of a garden for use by the Country Club.
The Idea
The planning for the Garden began back in early February after watching a very good webcast on the topic of creating a vegetable garden for your golf course. This webcast was given by Kathy Antaya, a Golf Course Superintendent from Michigan. It is very informative and well presented.
I just so happen to have a wonderful person in my life who is a very avid gardener, so after talking with her and re-watching the webcast, we began to make plans for the Kenmure Garden. It was not long after this that Holly Haynes developed the master plan and map for the what would become the garden that we have today.
The Plan
Holly has always sprouted seeds and planted gardens every year for well over a decade, this would be the largest garden that she ever planned. I suggested using a computer program to help with the planning and mapping and it turned out to be a wonderful tool.
Sprouting The Seeds
Seeds were purchased and planted in mid march.
One of the mini greenhouses used for seed germination.
Seedlings Progress
Getting Closer
Garden Site Preperation
A good site was selected near the Tennis Courts, this site had been used as a garden previously 9-10 years ago. The site was tilled and prepared for use. This garden will be 4508 square feet. 3 raised beds have also been constructed for growing herbs.
Planting the Garden
The garden was planted on the Monday after Mother's Day. It is good to wait till this date to plant to avoid any killing frosts. This is especially important to us as we will be using delicate seedling when we plant. Not all the things we planted were pre-germinated. Many things like the corn, beans, carrots, radish, and other root vegetables were directly sown. The garden plan map was to exact scale, so we painted in the lines to match the plan.
Finishing Up
After everything was planted we erected a fence to keep out all the varmints! The garden was then watered and the work will be ongoing. We mulched all the pathways to create a visually pleasing garden. The mulch also provides a barrier for weeds and will provide extra organic material to the soil when it is tilled in next year. The plants will get bigger and start growing in and it will become be a very attractive site. I will continue to update the blog with more posts as the garden progresses.
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