This is Nicole from Springfield/Wittenberg.

This week we worked very hard to prepare for the America in Bloom judging which went very well this morning! The judges were very impressed to see the transformation from an empty plot in May to the very productive garden we have set up now. We have been able to donate more than 20 lbs of produce to the local food bank and food pantry. We can't wait for the tomatoes and peppers to be ready for harvest.

Our biggest challenge like many other gardens is sustainability when we're gone. Next week, we have a community meeting set up where we would like to start a garden committee and recruit more involvement. We are also working to build our compost system as soon as we hear back from Home Depot and are planning to raise funds to construct a more reasonable size shed (We don't have enough room to store our water hose).