The Organic Garden

Shared by Heather Gallagher

Naturalist

heather.gallagher@nashville.gov

August 2021

When is the organic garden at it's peak?

We hear this question throughout the growing season every year, and I guess it really depends on your point-of-view.

Do you enjoy sifting the composted soil and planting the seeds of the spring garden in January? Then that's YOUR peak!

Volunteer Ro sifting the compost to be used to start new seeds.

Planting spring veggies in 2010 (before we had raised beds).

Planting the spring garden in 2021

Or do you prefer to get your hands dirty planting tomatoes with the post-hole diggers in May, placing the roots and stems deep in the ground? 

Volunteers and staff planting tomatoes

I think we all agree that the peak of the garden is in late August to early September. That's when the squashes, including gourds, pumpkins, beans, tomatoes and peppers really start producing. 

Yellow squash

Beans, beans and more beans!

Kellogg's Breakfast Tomato from 2020 garden

Cherokee Purple Tomatoes have a unique purple meat!

We tout these as "ornamental peppers," but some folks have the taste for them!

Volunteers and staff have maintained the Nature Center's Organic Garden for over 40 years, implementing small changes for maximum efficiency and production. But one thing stays the same: only organic methods. This includes but is not limited to:

• Planting only organic, heirloom seeds in organic, composted soil.

Welcome to the world, little beet seedlings!

• Fertilizing only with Sea Spray and Mycorrhizal stimulants and, of course, leaves. 

Staff and volunteers mulch the garden after it is planted as well at the end of the season, usually around November. 

• Hand-picking predators such as aphids, squash bugs, tobacco hornworms and cabbage worms.

Yellow aphids will inject a toxin into your plants that cause the leaves to curl and die. This is an especially important predator to look out for when your plants are young. 

Squash bug eggs are easy to identify: copper beads placed on your squash plants in a group. Squash bug nymphs are white with 6 legs; they don't fly yet, so they are easy to remove. 

Tobacco hornworms can eat all of the leaves from your tobacco species in a matter of days. 

Yellow cabbage butterflies will lay eggs on your broccoli, cauliflower and kale. The eggs hatch into caterpillars that eat your favorite spring leaves!

Enjoy the Organic Garden on your own, or download our Organic Gardening and Housekeeping brochure to give you more insight into our methods. 

One way or another, get out and celebrate the harvest of early fall at the Nature Center. 

Interested in volunteering in our Organic Garden?

Check out our Organic Living brochure