The Hammonton Gazette 042920 Hammonton Gazette Digital Edition | Page 4

Home gardening increases in popularity
GARDENS, from Page 1
time at home. Some people are
looking for things to do, but many
others are looking to gardening for
security; they are our friends and
neighbors and they are concerned
about feeding themselves and their
families,” Menzel said.
The Hammonton Community
Garden is also gearing up to start
its operations for the year. accord-
ing to Hammonton Green Com-
mittee member Linda esposito,
the official opening date for the
garden is april 25.
“as of this date, we are prepar-
ing to take a headcount on return-
ing and/or new gardeners. We
welcome anyone who has an inter-
est no matter age or ability level.
Our plans are to continue to sup-
port organic gardening, offer edu-
cational talks throughout the
summer months and provide free
children’s workshops. However,
all of this hinges on rules and reg-
ulations set in place by health of-
ficials and local governance. Our
garden plots are acceptably distant
from neighboring plots, so we do
not foresee a problem with ade-
quate social distancing. in any
event, we will exercise due cau-
tion,” esposito said.
for some home gardeners,
planting season actually started
several months ago with seeds in
indoor containers. for elisabeth
Davis, that took on a more un-
orthodox approach.
“We started it early. We have a
porch, a sunroom, in the back of
the house. We got blue kiddie
pools from Walmart and we filled
them with garden soil and potting
soil, maybe a month ago,” Davis
said.
Besides the size and conven-
ience, Davis noted the environ-
mental benefits of utilizing the
pools.
“Part of the reason we use the
kiddie pools is because it’s easier,
and it’s more environmentally
friendly than buying all of the in-
dividual plastic things. it serves a
whole purpose on its own ... espe-
cially since people get rid of them
every year, so people we knew
who had them; we asked if we
could use their pool and no one
cared, because everyone wanted to
get rid of them,” Davis said.
Now carrying
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One Sindoni Lane, Suite C, Hammonton
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121 S. White Horse Pike
Across from McDonald’s
Hammonton • [phone]
Wednesday, April 29, 2020 • The Hammonton Gazette • Page 3
Courtesy Photo
Left: Kaelie Swenson enjoys being in mom Jen Rajkowski’s garden. Right:
Tracy Dwinell tends to the pots in her garden.
“i do not use any type of chem-
Davis said that her family tries
to be as eco-friendly as possible icals, but rather boost growth with
worm tea and worm compost. i
when it comes to planting.
“We bought pansies, and they have a worm farm in my basement
come in the little plastic cups. We that is used for composting kitchen
reloaded them with potting mix scraps such as vegetable peelings,
and put more seeds in there, too. coffee grinds and egg shells. i also
We’re trying to reuse stuff instead utilize recyclable containers for
of adding to all the plastic, which additional plants like herbs and
flowers,” esposito said.
has been cool,” Davis said.
The entire garden, in fact, is
esposito said that her home gar-
den is also as eco-friendly as pos- biodegradable.
sible.
See VEGGIES, Page 4
DiMeglio Septic ,
Est. 1975 ~ DEP 03261 ~ Paul DiMeglio
Inc.
1 [phone] ~ 561-1007 ~ 561-3597
491 White Horse Pike • Ancora, NJ
• Grease Trap Cleaning • Portable Toilets
• Septic Certifications • Jetting Service