BUG Gardeners: Grete & Rob
Grete and Rob (with their dog, Bear), renters in east Bend, embarked on their first season of gardening in the high desert with help from Bend Urban Gardens.
We first met in May 2021 when the couple scheduled an on-site consultation with Bend Urban Gardens. We had a blast dreaming about an orchard, berries, and raised garden beds in their fenced backyard. Ultimately, their landlord wasn't quite ready for such an investment. Grete and Rob weren’t discouraged, though. Instead, they decided to start small. They narrowed down their priority crops and chose to focus on growing peppers and tomatoes in containers. Fortunately, they had a sunny location near their hang out space and back door to ensure the plants would be regularly cared for (and got very lucky with a super hot summer). The existing rock mulch also helped to retain some heat. A container of herbs lived in a shadier spot for easy harvesting right next to their back door just outside their kitchen.
We supplied Grete and Rob with tomato plants and some peppers, and they enjoyed shopping for many varieties of peppers at the Bend Farmers’ Market and local garden centers as well.
They noticed great growth through June, but by the end of July, the pepper plants didn’t seem like they were doing much of anything (they are notorious for being slow growers) and some of the tomato varieties had fruit with blossom end rot and unhealthy looking leaves. I popped over for a short garden lesson and we made a plan for consistent watering and fertilizing. One week later, they reported that the plants looked much healthier!
By the end of August, with travel plans on the horizon, they recognized that their watering system needed improvement. They knew they could use their time and water more efficiently by calling an end to hand watering multiple times per day to maintain good soil moisture in their containers during the super hot summer we were having. So, Bend Urban Gardens supplied them with drip irrigation materials to efficiently get water to their container garden from a nearby hose bib. Together, we installed the irrigation, discussed a reasonable program for their hose bib timer, and through the process, they learned the names of the fittings and the purpose of each so they could manage any needed repairs or changes to their lines in the future.
I checked in with Grete and Rob at the end of September and they reported, “The system has worked great! We have a TON of tomatoes right now and the peppers are also producing bountifully. It’s so amazing to see them come into full bloom. Thank you so much for all of your help. Our “mini garden” was a great success, and we look forward to learning more. We soooooo appreciate you!!”
October Harvest!
