Bridge Gardens Community Gardeners | Meet the Himlers

Barbara and Peter Himler of Water Mill joined Bridge Gardens this year as new community gardeners, and loved their experience! Here are their thoughts:

“Our First Season at Bridge Gardens was bountiful. We kicked off our year with an early spring lecture by Rick Bogusch. Rick expertly advised the gathering on where to purchase seeds, which veggies to grow and when, and which organic fertilizer works best. We ordered most of our vegetable seeds online, which ambitiously included sugar snap peas, Shiseido peppers, haricots verts, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, Brussels sprouts, carrots, kale, basil, spinach, arugula, and romaine lettuce. The lettuces, peas and beans were first in the ground in April. Others followed shortly.

Twenty years ago, while on a family trip to northern Italy, we purchased some local arugula seeds. We recently rediscovered them and they too made it into the rich Bridgehampton loam, producing surprisingly delicate peppery leaves all summer long. We also caught a NY Times story about Wild Boar Farms, a Napa Valley farm that bred unusual tomato varieties. This prompted another online seed order with names like “Cosmos,” “Blue Beauty,” Yellow Furry Boar,“ and “Barry’s Crazy Cherry” some of which still linger on our vines in October.

We could not have been more pleased by our 10’ x 20’ plot’s prodigious output, thanks in part to Rick and his team’s watchful eye. We still savor those sweet and crispy snap peas, the fried, ricotta-stuffed zucchini flowers, the soy sauce-coated and grilled Shiseido peppers, and the Italian arugula and kale salad!

Then there were the wonderful fellow gardeners we met this first season. Finally, we learned quite a bit including the need to thin out the carrots, stronger stakes for the tomatoes, staking the Brussels sprouts, rabbit scram, and how resilient kale is. We have every intention of taking it to the next level in 2020.

We’re so pleased to know that you’ve enjoyed your experience at Bridge Gardens this year, Barbara and Peter! And thanks for being a part of our community.

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