OCR Text |
Show IQMES April 8, 2010 ONE, TWO, THREE, GOI Participants with children age 2 and younger line the edges of the softball field at Hill Air Force Base for the Easter Egg Hunt on April 3. Despite a brisk breeze and cold temperatures the event held there and at the Hill Aerospace Museum drew large crowds to the seasonal activities. At left, Jalyn Coombs pauses in her search for eggs as she participates with her mom, Pattie, in the Easter Egg Hunt Above, Mosi Hickman puts an egg in his basket. At top, Niko Montellano bends over to find an egg as his mom, Angela, patiently waits for him. Some of the eggs at the event had slips of paper in them which meant the participants had won Easter baskets full of items provided by the 75th Force Support Squadron. Another event held at the Hill Aerospace Museum was over within a matter of minutes as children there quickly gathered eggs. MARY LOU GORNY/HillTop Times Plan ahead for bounty of summer produce in base garden plots BY CATHEHINE MCNALLY Hilltop Times staff D espite the recent relapse of snow and cold weather in Utah, it's about time to sharpen your garden tools, grab some fertilizer and seeds, and get dirty. "I feel that the more you l^now about gardening the more you know about life," said Brock Lenox, base garden plot manager and an Operational Point of Responsibility assistant for the Facilities and Equipment Management Services of the 75th Air Base Wing. If you're craving the juicy taste of homegrown vegetables but lack a place to till and plant seeds at home, there are 154 base garden plots available to anyone with access to the base. ; "The whole concept is designed ; around providing a place for the Air^men and Airwomen ... to have a place * that they can garden," Lenox said. Each garden plot measures 60 feet ; by 40 feet, and if that seems like too much, gardeners can share plots. If it seems too small of an area, gardeners are also able to have as many plots as they want on a space available basis, Lenox added. So far only around 40 percent of the plots have been claimed, with those who had a garden plot last year getting first pick. The plots, which will be tilled on April 15 of this year, also have access to water lines from April 15 through Oct. 15, so gardeners don't have to worry about trucking in their own. The water costs $10 per plot each year, and gardeners can use it for sprinklers, filling up watering cans or whatever is necessary to keep their gardens green and fresh. For the most part, gardeners are allowed to grow any type of vegetable or plant. However, invasive plant species are not allowed, and gardeners should check with the Utah Department of Agriculture for more information, Lenox said. % Gardeners should also try to stay away from planting trees, Lenox warned, as the shading they provide can destroy a garden plot being used to grow veggies or other plants. "Because it's a transient community you don't always have your garden for the rest of your life," Lenox added, describing how planting an orchard in one plot would cause more work for the next family who just wants a vegetable garden. "There's too many problems with elms and things out there," Lenox added. "We are going to try to clean some of those up this year and get some of the trees out of there." Lenox also cautions against growing corn on the plots, mainly because of deer that live on the base. Lenox himself has seven garden plots on base and tends a seed bank of "over 200 different varieties of edible food throughout the year." "My primary goal is to establish a rotating seed bank — collect the seeds and try to use it the next year," Lenox See GARDEN I page 10 Radishes are just one type of vegetable that can be grown in Hill garden plots. |