About the Gardens
Gardens on this tour were chosen to demonstate creativity, practically, community, integration and of course - edibles! Each garden is unique, a result of the individual or collective efforts by gardeners of every style. The Piscataqua Garden Club members were invaluable in helping us find and select these gardens (several gardens belong to PGC members!). The beautiful pictures below, photographed by Beth Hume of New Castle, are designed to give you just a taste of each garden's offerings. Read on to find out a bit more about what you will see on August 10th!
Gardens 1 and 2. Strawbery Banke Museum.
Two of Strawbery Banke's wonderful gardens will be available for viewing as part of the Edible Garden Tour: The Victory Garden and the Community Garden.
Garden 1. Strawbery Banke Community Garden, Portsmouth
At this Garden you will see:
- 19 unique garden beds of veggies, herbs, flowers
- Our community flower and herb borders
- A working compost pile
- A previously unused area in bumptious beauty!
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Image courtsey of
Strawbery Banke Museum |
Garden 2. Strawbery Banke Victory Garden, Portsmouth
At this Garden you will see:
- A recreation of Emma’s Victory Garden circa 1943 based on oral history from family & neighbors and historical data – this garden was here then, too!
- Vegetables that were popular in the day; today we call them heirlooms! We will share heirloom seeds
- Vintage dahlias, roses, hollyhocks
- Old tools still in use
- A tire swing hanging from the old apple tree
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Garden 3. Portsmouth
At this Garden you will see:
- Garden Sculpture
- Edible landscaping included with ornamentals
- Edible Flowers
- Trellis and garden art
- Attractive clothes line design
Samplings of raw foods will be offered along with recipes to try at home.
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Garden 4. New Castle
At this Garden you will see:
- Small space gardening in raised beds
- Garden tool organizer
- Easy-to-build portable potting bench
- Irrigation system for raised beds
Learn how to prepare horseradish and sample some horseradish dip.
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Garden 5. Rye
At this Garden you will see:
- Children's gardening ideas
- Frog pond with native vegetation
- Freestanding greenhouse
- Herbs and vegetables
- Wooded children's fairy house area
See how to make a sunflower house from living plants. Children can build fairy houses. Lemon balm and mint tea will be served.
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Garden 6. Rye
At this Garden you will see:
- Heirloom chickens
- Vegetable and ornamental inter-plantings
- Potato hedge
- Raspberries and fruit trees
Visitors will see compost tea in the making. Fresh veggies form the garden will be sampled.
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Garden 7. Newington
At this Garden you will see:
- Mixed annual and vegetable garden
- Extensive sun and shade perennial borders
- Pond with frogs and turtles
- Grapevine pergola
- Red plastic mulch for improved tomato growth
- Large greenhouse attached to main house
Children will enjoy trying to catch a frog in the pond. Learn an easy way to preparing a new garden bed from existing lawn. Enjoy fresh mozzarella and garden vegetables. This garden is well worth the extra drive!
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Garden 8. Portsmouth
At this Garden you will see:
- Vegetable garden as part of the landscaped yard
- Use of natural materials for staking and trellising
- Tree slab pathways
- Berries and multiple vegetables
This is a cooperative garden where the landowner has invited others to garden together. Sample some delicious mint tea and fresh garden vegetables.
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Garden 9. Portsmouth
At this Garden you will see:
- Multiple gardening styles
- Edible flowers
- Found objects incorporated into the garden
- Simple compost bins
This is a community garden with many small plots tended by different gardeners. See how this comes together to result in a beautiful natural space.
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Garden 10. Portsmouth
At this Garden you will see:
- Heritage breed chickens
- Solar Greenhouse with cistern for year round use
- Succession planting
- Formal English style garden
- Unusal heirloom varities
See how vegetables can be attractive in their own right by you mixing colors, textures and heights creatively. A beautifully designed garden.
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Page Updated July 20, 2008.