Extension Office Gardens and Hoop House
Address: 63 Boggy Brook Road, Ellsworth, Maine
Volunteers plant, tend and harvest vegetable crops in eleven raised beds, three of which are in a hoop house. Harvests are used by Extension Eat Well Volunteers who teach nutrition and cooking lessons in food pantries. In late summer, you will sow cover crops and plant garlic in outdoor beds, and winter greens in the hoop house. We will be utilizing one bed to grow a Cut Flower Trial bed. The flowers will be sent with the donated vegetables to the food pantries. You will also care for plantings of raspberries, highbush blueberries and grapes. You will learn about soil testing and preparation, intensive spacing in vegetable production, pruning, fertilizing and maintaining small fruit plantings, cover cropping, drip irrigation and tool maintenance. Additionally, volunteers will care for native shrubs, small trees and flowering perennials in the Extension office landscape. In the past, members of this volunteer team were asked to participate in work sessions on Fridays (May – October) either 8:30 – 11:30 am or 1 – 3:30 pm. If volunteering on a different day of the week works best for anyone, we can accommodate that request. Please be in touch with Sue Baez.