First Harvest in 2 days !!

I was at the Garden today and it looks like our first harvest will be Thursday December 15th. We will run a special salad on Thursday night and by next week Garden fresh Items will be showing up on our salad bar.

Progress report

Great progress in the garden this week, Alberto and Marcos finished the new irrigation system that uses a separate well from the golf course . The flowers are really starting to bloom and all the vegetables have doubled in size. The tomato plants have bloomed and some even have fruit ! And I counted 12 butterflies today

Temple Beth Am 4th Graders Visit The Garden 2011

The day started out with a bus ride in pouring rain to an outdoor event and ended in bright sunshine and smiles.  On Monday, November 28th, Deering Bay welcomed Temple Beth Am Day School kids from Ms. Koller's 4th grade science class to the garden. We held a program consisting of 4 separate science labs and rotated every 15 minutes.  The labs were:
#1. Seed propagation with Daniella Tosta
#2. Butterfly Gardening with Ethan Shapiro
#3. Vegetable planting with Tim Rowan
#4. Ms. Koller's science class .

The students really enjoyed every thing about their field trip and so did we! We plan to host the students again at the Club in March so they can check on the garden's progress, harvest and eat vegetables and collect caterpillars.

As for planting the garden, we made great progress.  The students completely planted the butterfly garden with Ethan while learning about host and nectar plants and the different types of butterflies they attract.  Daniella did an excellent job demonstrating seed propagation and all the kids left with a potted plant to grow at home. Ms. Koller took the opportunity to teach about the importance of beneficial insects, pollination, ecology and conservation.  I was happy because I had 20 kids who were eager to help me plant.  And boy were they productive planting nearly 1/4 of the garden.  All in all, we planted three types of cabbage, garlic chives, sorrel, cosmos, radicchio, golden beets, lettuce, basil, bok choy and tatsio.

On behalf of the Staff and Members of Deering Bay Yacht & Country Club thanks to the Beth Am 4th Graders for visiting our garden!

Progress Report

This week I see Lot's of progress in the Garden, everything is sprouting and growing at a normal rate. We planted a Gold Finger Banana Plant today . We moved our compost pile about 6 ft. cultivated the soil and planted in the rich compost we created from kitchen scraps and leaves and plant clipings from the golf course . The Gold Finger Banana is a very fast growing plant and we could see fruit in 8 months, the fruit is small finger banana variety with a brown sugar taste .. Also a plant that I really like is the Southern Milkweed . The Southern Milkweed attracts and feeds the Beautiful Monarch Butterfly. Every time I pass by I see Monarch Butterflies, I noticed last week about 20 caterpillars on the plants , I hope they are there Monday when the kids come to plant !

Purple Haze, Atomic Red and Green Grape

Easter Egg Radish and Watermelon Radish are just some of what's new this year in the Garden ! We also have sweet Sun Gold cherry tomatoes , 5 types of Marigold flowers , 2 types of mustard greens. Napa Cabbage, Savoy Cabbage, Copenhagen Cabbage and Radicchio. And our Butterfly Garden this year is full of Nectar plants to attract and feed Butterflies . Also new this year all plants will have name plates for easy identification . So after putting on 17 , slow down and enjoy our unique garden experience . Purple Haze and Atomic Red are varieties of carrots :)

Members and "Residents" approve

The Garden is finished and ready for planting ! I had Quite a few Members drive by today and give me their approval . And late afternoon our "Resident" Peacocks showed up , they were happy to see the Garden and gave me their approval as well .

Work in progress

All these pictures were taken today Saturday 10-29-11. This years Garden is under construction and promises to be bigger and better ! Over the next couple of weeks look for daily progress , and weekly progress reports on this site. The Garden will be completely planted by the end of November and producing in late December. New this year is our Butterfly Garden, back in July we planted some flowering plants ( Native Perennials) and this November we will plant a nice selection of herbs and flowers to attract and feed Butterflies . I'm really excited about this seasons garden and all the events we have planned for it .

Deering Bay Welcomes Chef David

Please join me in welcoming Chef David Boehm as the the New Executive Chef of DBYCC, Originally from Ohio, David Graduated at the top of his class From Johnson & Wales University( Providence, RI) with a Bachelors degree in Culinary Arts in 2003 . For the last 4 years David worked as an Executive Chef in Denver Colorado for the Kevin Taylor Restaurant Group managing 2 properties with over $ 4.5 million in annual sales . Davids work Experience includes 14 months at "Les Trois Marches" in Versailles France, Departmental trainer for The Ritz- Carlton, Key Biscayne and over seeing 2 Successful restaurants in Tucson, AZ. David has strong leadership skills and a responsible bottom line

Thank you Chef Greg

Chef Greg McDaniel left Deering Bay Yacht and Country Club last week. Thank you Chef Greg for your 6 years of loyal service and good luck in the future