Sue Howell Reaps Bountiful Early Harvest

• 

• 

• 

Sue Howell’s expansive growing operation gives impressive meaning to the term “urban agriculture.” Multiple vegetable plots surround her Arlington home. She also gardens at her sister’s house and in a neighbor’s yard. This year as usual Sue started her own seedlings, mostly using seeds culled from prior harvests, plus some purchased seeds and radish seeds supplied by AFAC.

Good spring weather and active beehives, plus help from her sister, have insured that her beds are producing well. Her early harvests included various cool weather crops such as turnips, beets, radishes, carrots, lettuce, kale, and arugula (some of which survived the relatively mild winter). Cooler weather in May delayed the start of some summer crops, and the squash required some manual pollination, but now everything is thriving.

Sue is currently harvesting beans, squash, cucumbers, and shishito peppers. Next up will be tomatoes, eggplant, and other pepper varieties. With the exception of flea beetles on the eggplant and a hungry neighborhood fox, pest problems have been minimal. As of July 13, Sue has already donated an
impressive 339 pounds of produce to SOME (So Others Might Eat) and to the Victory Garden Project at Rock Spring Church!