After some good, soaking rains, the Kitchen Garden is showing some early results.

Our first potato blossoms, in the Hay Bale Garden:

Our first peppers: Jimmy Nardellos.

And some volunteers, dug up and replanted during the garden set-up: a couple little garlics, complete with scapes. Should make a nice pesto!

Tomatoes need calcium; too little calcium in the soil can lead to blossom-end rot on fruit. To help prevent blossom-end rot you can side dress your tomatoes early in their growing process, after they have been planted in the ground and have established themselves. We used bone meal, an organic solution, to provide calcium for our tomatoes.

We placed a few tablespoons around the base of the plants (peppers shown here).

Then we turned the bone meal gently into the soil with a trowel.

We then watered as usual.

Here is a video from garden volunteer Robin Miller, from her YouTube channel: Robin Gardens.

Things finally warmed up enough in Sturgeon Bay to start putting plants in the ground. Patrick, Virge, and Robin brought in all their starts and seeds and filled up their gardens with them. Tomatoes, peppers, cabbages, broccoli, corn, herbs, and all varieties of flowers went into the ground or into containers.

Robin brought up a carload of plants.

It took several days of work, but we got it all in.

The 2025 Kitchen Garden, a community education project sponsored by The Door County Master Gardeners and The Door County Seed Library, is located on Oregon Street in Sturgeon Bay, across the street from Martin Park. The Kitchen Garden showcases various sustainable gardening techniques that can be implemented in a small garden area.

The gardens within the garden:

• Salsa Garden: A collection of several different varieties of nightshade plants, spanning the spectrum from colorful to tasty. Also included: garlic, basil, and cilantro.
• Respite Garden: A blend of vegetables, herbs, and flowers planted in-ground, vertically, and in containers, arranged to support a place of relaxation and reflection.
• Three Sisters Garden: A Native American traditional grouping of corn, beans, and squash.
• Companion Garden: Companion Planting (or Buddy System) is the process of pairing vegetables and herbs in such a way that they enhance, benefit and protect one another, and avoid pairing plants that have adverse effects on each other.
• Straw Bale Garden: A display of the technique of using straw bales as a media for growing vegetables.

As the season progresses, we will provide regular updates and details for all of our mini-projects, with an eye towards sharing tips and techniques for home gardeners. We will also highlight our results to promote food self-reliance and sustainability.

Any questions? Please contact us at: info@DoorCountySeedLibrary.org