Our garden is gradually moving into a new set of chores. We have a few more circle plots to prep for corn. We need to replant corn in the large circle plot. We realized that the cold May kept the corn from sprouting. There are a few blades showing and we weeded carefully around them Sat. “This time let’s put 3 kernels in each hole,” Debbie says. Suzanne will replant the small carrot plot. Linda has a chart that tells which plants like to be planted together and those that don’t like each other. We planted the carrots in a plot that is surrounded by dill and they are incompatible. We can top off the scapes on the shallots and dry them for planting next year. Someone can thin the cosmos. Do we have marigolds? They make the overall look of the garden so charming. We need lots of help planting chiles in the next few work days, as well as eggplant and bell peppers. Deb and Geri will direct that operation.

Now here’s the thing about how our garden grows…..now that the days are hot we need to water every workday. It takes a minimum of 4 people to water and five are even better. Here’s why. We have a shallow irrigation well with no way to control the pressure. It is either on or off. At least one blue 2″ hose should be set to water a plot and at least 4 circle hoses should have the valves turned on and set in plots. Then the pump can be turned on. We’ll ruin the pump if we turn it on and the valves to the hoses are turned off. On the other hand, if we turn on the pump without checking the hose valves and they are all on but the hoses aren’t set we’ll have water everywhere, except in the plots. Sooooo, we have several people who are good water masters and they recruit hapless workers who stroll into the garden. Unfortunately, Ingrid, chief water master, is out of the state for a while. If you are recruited to watch and move a hose, thank you, the thirsty little plants will thank you too. The next few workdays will be very hectic, trying to get the last few plots planted and everything watered.

The hotter weather forces us to start working at least by 9:00 AM ( Suzanne will be there earlier on Wed.) so we can leave before noon. This Sunday as I was drying the dill Michael carefully saved from his weeding, I was pleasantly surprised to find the man from KD Farms bringing us some small tomato and chile starts for our members to take home. They were extra and he hoped we could use them. Come to the garden! We need all the help we can get!!! If it gets too hot we’ll just turn a hose on you. jjh

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Wed. May 20

I arrived at the garden and was delighted to see Jen and Michael St. James already hard at work weeding a plot. More workers drifted in behind me. Della and Debbie created a bean arbor and Della and Mae Lee planted beans beside it. Della and Ryan planted a row of beans along a fence panel. Geri and Debbie planted 3 rows of tomatoes in the fenced area after Kathy put in a huge effort prepping the plot. Patricia C. helped on that project, too. Geri cautioned us not to over water that area due to the hardpan so close to the surface. We are being more careful to give the tomatoes plenty of room, planting them farther apart and not along a fence. We will try making cages with hog wire. It is sturdy but has big enough holes in it to harvest the tomatoes. Linda brought herbs from her garden and planted them in the north raised bed.

Kocha was dealt a solid blow when Suzanne and Linda teamed up by the entrance and pulled roots and all. On the other side of the garden Amber and Erin and their crew of kids and Patricia C. tackled the kocha with the Rogue hoes. There was some watering done. Michael C. was the official photographer for the day. We harvested radishes and spinach from our late winter plot.

ATTENTION OFFICERS / BOARD MEMBERS! Meeting at the garden this Sat. May 23, 11 AM

Sat. May 23

We welcomed Steve back to the garden and he and Ron mowed the mustard in Jan and George’s yard. They took turns mowing the rest of the kocha. (FYI- a certain leaf hopper walks around on the mustard blossoms, picks up a virus and then flies over to our sweet baby tomato plants, then they have the virus and their leaves curl and turn brown. Last year we pulled almost half of our GH tomato plants) Suzanne watered the greenhouse and checked the plots to see if they needed to be watered. We were glad to see Bethel back in the garden recovered from her foot surgery. She prepped and planted more beans along the fence panels. Debbie did shovel therapy all over the garden. Geri planted more tomatoes in the caged area and I painted plot signs. It was a lovely day to garden.

What we need to do next

Let’s make some trial tomato cages out of hog wire. We need to decide where we will plant chiles. The padrons could go in the plot by the back trees, Deb has already begun to prep a plot by the fish tanks. There are several open plots in the circle; however, they are flat and mostly below the surface. We will have to see how they might work for chiles. There is a fence panel in the caged area that could be set up for a divider. Pretty soon it will be time to harvest garlic. Can’t wait! That job is almost like recovering artifacts in my student archaeology days.
Every work day the garden changes, see you there! jjh

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We had 1/2 inch of rain on Tuesday night so there was no need to water Wed. May 13. Suz Taylor got there early and planted carrots. Two of the 3 plots that were planted this spring got weeded and cleaned up by Linda, Geri, and Amber. They look great. The 3rd plot with leafy spinach and radishes needs the same treatment. Della, Michael, and Willie came back from a field trip and helped, too. Ingrid and Deb, with Mae and Samson’s help, transplanted a dozen tomatoes from the Greenhouse into the no-till fenced area which had the cover crop of wheat. The wheat was clipped close to the ground and the 12 tomatoes were planted in amongst the clippings without disturbing the roots. By not tilling we don’t disturb the microbes in the soil. The area around the plants will be continually mulched. This keeps the wheat from returning in addition to building up the soil. An experiment in no till. Let’s see what happens.
For Saturday we need to plant beans along fences and maybe make a tunnel in one of the plots for beans to grow on. We also need to mark out the chile patch and start making rows for planting. The 2 raised beds in the Circle are ready for planting. How about herbs? Good rain on Thursday so we may or may not have to water.
Take more milkweed seeds home to scatter for the Monarchs. And throw some kochia on the compost piles – a combo of green and brown leaves will speed up the compost. Debbie

While Suzanne and Joyce were busy at the garage sale, Ron and Steve got the big pump working and started the blue hoses. They also worked on the new tomato patch and watered it along with a few other beds on the greenhouse side of the garden. Deb, Michael, and I worked together with the blue hoses. We leveled and watered the new corn patch (old tomatoe patch).  We also watered the spinach, potatoes, fruit trees, and everything else along the fence line as well as the garlic beds and the old Padron pepper and eggplant patch. Some areas may have received a little too much water. Geri and Willie planted in the flower bed, watered the green beans, and tended to the greenhouse. We need to water the enclosed bed (peas, kale, etc..) by the shed next time, unless someone took care of it after we left. We also received an interesting visit from a woman who was promoting the concept of victory gardens. Continue reading →

What we did Sat

I brought in my 4×8 raised garden bed and we laid it out as two beds, one on each side of the trellis in the circle. They will be shallow, 6″ high. Suzanne and I cut in the edge of the plot for the boards and turned the center. Della and Amber dug up the other plot. We think we want to plant herbs in the raised beds. Molly was busy restoring another circle plot on the eve of her trip to Spain. Ron and Steve were busy with the pump.

What we need to do on Wed.
Continue work on the raised beds. Someone can restore another circle plot. We will need to water and weed, as always. I think we can also start working inside the enclosed plot on the north side. Continue reading →

What we did on Wed.
Steve led a team of Erin, Amber, and Della and dug the creeping burmuda grass out of another circle plot. Geri gave tender care to the asparagus patch and the greenhouse. Deb turned the compost pile and then she and Patricia weeded the onions and set up a fence for the baby peas in the shed plot. Linda weeded the shallots. We watered again with the little pump. The junior gardeners watered, hauled away the Bermuda grass, and ate popcorn and apples. I replaced ID signs and cleaned up the shed plot. It was a great day of work and fun. Continue reading →

Wednesday, April 15
A whirlwind day of work and, well, wind! A new garden wagon was dropped off by Layne Hedrick and it was put immediately to work by the hardworking children. They put rocks, then compost and soil in the 4 large pots at each corner of the trellis and then planted beans.
Erin, Amber, Deb and Della reclaimed the old tomato plot behind our welcome sign and prepped it for a future corn crop. The kids discovered worms and grubs and now they know why there are white perforated pipes around the circle. The found worms have a new home.
Ron and Steve continue to work on the enlarged fenced area for future tomatoes. We watered until the wind drove us home. The last I saw of Geri she was engulfed in a pile of branches she was trimming off the north bushes. True grit!
Welcome back Bethel Little and Patricia Clemens! Missed you both. jjh Continue reading →

Saturday, 4/4…..

A wonderful weather day for gardening and since we are trying to rotate our crops, Ron and Steve enlarged the fencing around the north tomato plot while Molly, Lisa, and Bernie prepped the plot on the west end of the greenhouse and then planted broccoli, carrots, and lettuce. We have to at least temporarily covered the prepped and planted plots to keep the neighbor’s chickens from eating the seeds and taking dirt baths. We are using green plastic landscaper’s fencing which allows the young plants to grow up through the grid. Geri, William, and Rosie planted earth boxes and worked in the GH. Ingrid was water captain and did a great job getting the little pump with two double hoses around to everything that needed a drink. Suzanne weeded and watered the jasmine plants along East fence with Della and Michael’s help. Della planted more garlic to fill in an existing patch…we’ll see how that works and I painted large signs on scrap wood to ID the various plots. We also put the seed packet, a date and workers on a card, inside a freezer bag, and tie it to a stake at each plot. Continue reading →

Saturday, 3/28

Ron got to the garden early and had it mostly measured and mapped. Steve helped on the final measurements. Steve sold a number of hoes out of the back of his car and now is ordering another 2 dozen. Those people that are already using them find them wonderful to wipe out spring weeds. We have a good place to sharpen them now. Bernie, Lisa, and Rosie weeded, prepped, and planted a plot with two rows of onions. Della, William, Michael, and Rosie had great fun filling pots with seed starting compost for Geri in the greenhouse. Deb brought a plot rotation map and made some decisions on what/where we plant next. Molly planted peas in the shed plot.
Continue reading →