Hello everyone,
We just got very lucky. I called John at the Calgary Attendance and they just happened to have a cancellation for tomorrow so we can have a crew out. Yay! Between them and the Child and Youth Friendly Calgary volunteers on Saturday, we'll have all that soil moved in time for Sunday's church in the garden event. :o)
If anyone can come out tomorrow that would be wonderful. I confess I was a bit fried by the end of yesterday and I've already forgotten what we've got for snack and such. The crew will be there from about 9:15-9:30 to 3:00pm.
I spoke with Olive Bailey from the City and she's setting aside 2 hazelnut bushes for us. Next Wednesday would be a good time to get them. Can anyone go and pick them up? They are at 111-17 St. SE (Mayland Heights) and Olive is there from 7:30am-4:15pm. We would need to call her at 371-7581 to let her know when we're coming.
I have the ParentLink wee kids in the morning next Wednesday (9:30-10:30/11:00am) so if we get the bushes in time, we can get the parents & kids to plant them. Who knows, maybe the kids will watch them grow over the years and pick hazelnuts when they're older. :o)
Thursday, July 30, 2009
New Garden Beds
Hi everyone,
Nature doesn't like bare ground so it would be a good idea to plant the new beds with cover crops as soon as possible before She moves the weeds in to do the job. I would like to plant cover crops right away to fill up the beds. They can be dug in during early Fall or left through the winter to protect the soil and raked off in Spring.
Practically anything can be used as long as we sow it densely. I have a lot of spinach and arugula (domestic & wild). We can also easily get some of the more commonly sown cover crops seeds:
- oats
- buckwheat
- alfalfa
- field peas
- canola
- barley
It will only take about an hour or so to plant all 20 plots. Let me know what you all think - if you have any preferences for any type of cover crop, etc. I'm aiming to have this in by next week.
We also need to number the boxes. The numbers on the older boxes could also be refreshed. I'm guessing they were painted on using a stencil. I'll look into getting that next time I'm in Home Depot.
Nature doesn't like bare ground so it would be a good idea to plant the new beds with cover crops as soon as possible before She moves the weeds in to do the job. I would like to plant cover crops right away to fill up the beds. They can be dug in during early Fall or left through the winter to protect the soil and raked off in Spring.
Practically anything can be used as long as we sow it densely. I have a lot of spinach and arugula (domestic & wild). We can also easily get some of the more commonly sown cover crops seeds:
- oats
- buckwheat
- alfalfa
- field peas
- canola
- barley
It will only take about an hour or so to plant all 20 plots. Let me know what you all think - if you have any preferences for any type of cover crop, etc. I'm aiming to have this in by next week.
We also need to number the boxes. The numbers on the older boxes could also be refreshed. I'm guessing they were painted on using a stencil. I'll look into getting that next time I'm in Home Depot.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Big things happening Wednesday, 29th
Hello everyone,
Home Depot has called and confirmed for 12 people on next Wed. 29th at 8:00am-2:00pm. They will be bringing extra wheelbarrows to help move the soil into the plots. Their PR dept. will be alerting the media so hopefully we'll get some coverage out of this. 4 people each will be coming from 3 stores. They will be bringing some items for us that was on our wishlist.
Child and Youth Friendly Calgary will be rounding up a crew to come out from 10-noon to help wheelbarrow soil into plots. There will be at least 6 and up to 12 youth. These folks are also coming out this Saturday from 2-4pm.
Our four regular Y-Map volunteers will be there from 12:30-2:00pm as usual next Wednesday. I've also asked the Y-Map coordinator to see if they can get any more kids out.
The Calgary Foundation - I'll be emailing Julie Black today to invite her out. They had requested that we invite them to major workdays.
Community Garden Resource Network - I'll contact Gael and ask her to put the word out there. This would be a good opportunity for those who are looking to start their own community gardens to come and see how it can be done.
Lorna - if you're willing to part with some old fence boards, can you get them cut into roughly one-foot sections and bring them to the garden? We can use them to help level the beds on the uneven ground.
If anyone else has spare lumber they want to put to good use, this could be your chance.
We are accepting names to add to a list for the new plots for next year. Perhaps you, as a member, might want to rent an additional plot? Do you know someone who wants a plot? Please contact Maeve at or phone 403-454-0328 to get added to the list.
Home Depot has called and confirmed for 12 people on next Wed. 29th at 8:00am-2:00pm. They will be bringing extra wheelbarrows to help move the soil into the plots. Their PR dept. will be alerting the media so hopefully we'll get some coverage out of this. 4 people each will be coming from 3 stores. They will be bringing some items for us that was on our wishlist.
Child and Youth Friendly Calgary will be rounding up a crew to come out from 10-noon to help wheelbarrow soil into plots. There will be at least 6 and up to 12 youth. These folks are also coming out this Saturday from 2-4pm.
Our four regular Y-Map volunteers will be there from 12:30-2:00pm as usual next Wednesday. I've also asked the Y-Map coordinator to see if they can get any more kids out.
The Calgary Foundation - I'll be emailing Julie Black today to invite her out. They had requested that we invite them to major workdays.
Community Garden Resource Network - I'll contact Gael and ask her to put the word out there. This would be a good opportunity for those who are looking to start their own community gardens to come and see how it can be done.
Lorna - if you're willing to part with some old fence boards, can you get them cut into roughly one-foot sections and bring them to the garden? We can use them to help level the beds on the uneven ground.
If anyone else has spare lumber they want to put to good use, this could be your chance.
We are accepting names to add to a list for the new plots for next year. Perhaps you, as a member, might want to rent an additional plot? Do you know someone who wants a plot? Please contact Maeve at or phone 403-454-0328 to get added to the list.
Monday, July 20, 2009
The Tossed Salad Plot
On Monday, July 13th, the day of our one good rain this season, plot no.4 was seeded with a blend of over a dozen salad ingredients.
There's a mix of lettuces, other greens, herbs and other items that might go into a salad like carrots and cucumbers. The seeds were put into a container, shook and then tossed into the plot - all while huddling under the cover of an umbrella. Then the soil was raked lightly so some of the seeds would be covered. I couldn't rake one-handed so I had to forsake the umbrella for a bit. It was the fastest raking you ever saw.
The entire bed was planted in less than five minutes. That's the beauty of the broadcasting method of sowing. It's quick. One famous gardening fellow, Masanobu Fukuoka (author of "The One Straw Revolution"), uses the broadcasting method for his "Natural Way of Farming". He, too, mixes seeds and then tosses the mix all around his garden. He lets Nature determine where the best spot will be for each type of vegetable to grow. It's all part of his do-nothing method of gardening where he tries to expend as little effort as possible and let Nature take care of the rest. He figures Nature knows far more about growing plants than we do so he leaves it in more capable hands. It's worked for him. Now let's see if it will work for us.
Some seeds have already sprouted! Do we know what they are? Heck no, but it'll be fun to figure it out. It is a community plot so feel free to harvest what you dare. :o)
There's a mix of lettuces, other greens, herbs and other items that might go into a salad like carrots and cucumbers. The seeds were put into a container, shook and then tossed into the plot - all while huddling under the cover of an umbrella. Then the soil was raked lightly so some of the seeds would be covered. I couldn't rake one-handed so I had to forsake the umbrella for a bit. It was the fastest raking you ever saw.
The entire bed was planted in less than five minutes. That's the beauty of the broadcasting method of sowing. It's quick. One famous gardening fellow, Masanobu Fukuoka (author of "The One Straw Revolution"), uses the broadcasting method for his "Natural Way of Farming". He, too, mixes seeds and then tosses the mix all around his garden. He lets Nature determine where the best spot will be for each type of vegetable to grow. It's all part of his do-nothing method of gardening where he tries to expend as little effort as possible and let Nature take care of the rest. He figures Nature knows far more about growing plants than we do so he leaves it in more capable hands. It's worked for him. Now let's see if it will work for us.
Some seeds have already sprouted! Do we know what they are? Heck no, but it'll be fun to figure it out. It is a community plot so feel free to harvest what you dare. :o)
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Home Depot & other good news
Hello everyone,
Great news! Ron's application for $1,000 from the Shell Community Service fund has been approved! Shell employees who put in more than 48 volunteer hoursa year with a hon-profit can apply every year for a grant of up to $1,000. He had asked for funds to cover the cost of fence building materials. This will go a long way to cover the cost of the fence posts and cement.
Trevor Morrison, the store manager for the Home Depot store in Marlborough called and we have Wednesday, July 29th in the morning (8:00am) as the time for the building for the plots. He estimates he'll have 9-12 people from 3 different stores coming out to help build the 20 plots. He will do a mock-up at his store so he can get a good time estimate on how long it takes to put one together. He said he can also bring extra wheelbarrows to help us get the soil in the plots.
Great news! Ron's application for $1,000 from the Shell Community Service fund has been approved! Shell employees who put in more than 48 volunteer hoursa year with a hon-profit can apply every year for a grant of up to $1,000. He had asked for funds to cover the cost of fence building materials. This will go a long way to cover the cost of the fence posts and cement.
Trevor Morrison, the store manager for the Home Depot store in Marlborough called and we have Wednesday, July 29th in the morning (8:00am) as the time for the building for the plots. He estimates he'll have 9-12 people from 3 different stores coming out to help build the 20 plots. He will do a mock-up at his store so he can get a good time estimate on how long it takes to put one together. He said he can also bring extra wheelbarrows to help us get the soil in the plots.
Youth Volunteers in the Garden
The YMCA Y-Map program running out of the Pearson high school has connected us with four volunteers to help in the garden. These volunteers are in the garden most Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:30-2:00pm (see calendar). This week the young ladies braved rainy and blustery weather to prepare and plant the Y-Map plot. They dug out all the weeds and most of non-productive raspberries and mixed in compost. Twelve fast-growing vegetables were selected and planted. Then they helped transplant the orphan raspberry bushes into the raspberry plot. Lorna was on hand to guided the kids along and that was a great comfort to me because my experience with youth and kids is rather limited.
The pumpkins at the Leisure Centre are blooming!Thurs. - a special outing for Y-Map where they recruit volunteers from their entire base. Four youth and their two adult coordinators came out. We split off into two teams and switched tasks halfway. One team weeded the raspberry patch and the other worked on earth moving. Some of the soil from the pile beside the shed was moved over to the orchard and mixed with compost and framed in sod to create another raised, round bed for a new community summer squash patch. Then additional soil was moved to level out the site of the new plots.
Joan made yummy banana bread and cookies and these goodies were much appreciated when they were devoured at the end of the day.
Garden member Ron's plot contributed a great deal of dill. I was able to convince the coordinators, Nancy & Jenny, to take some home but there were no takers among the kids. Maybe if we mix it with some cucumbers... how about we organize a pickling session for them sometime? We've got cucumbers growing and Ron can donate fresh garlic and we have no end of dill.
Got milk?
Lorna kindly donated half a dozen 4L milk jug with the bottoms cut off. We've been using them on our pumpkins, watermelon and squash to speed up germination and growth. They work! Take a look at the picture of the two crookneck squash seedlings. Both were planted at the same time. One was put under a milk jug with the top off and the other left alone. The protected one germinated faster and is much, much bigger.
Lorna, if you're reading this, can you please save more milk jugs and bring them to the garden? Thanks. We've got some pickles we've got to grow.
The pumpkin the community grew
Kath Smyth, a gardening expert with greengate, has challenged the city to grow a bigger pumpkin than her....so we thought we would give her some competition. We've got pumpkins growing on the hill between the two apple trees, at the Village Square Leisure Centre, in the Calgary Drop-In Centre's plot in the East Village community garden and at our volunteer Geoff's plot at the Garden Path community garden in Inglewood.
greengate donated the seeds, potting mix and organic fertilizer. Bob, the fellow who heads up the Leisure Centre is an eight-time winner of giant pumpkin contests and he's given us some good tips. Alma is investigating a donation of a snazzy organic hydroponic fertilizer from New York. Maryann from the East Village garden is helping keep the pumpkin watered. The youth from Y-Map will be helping to water and fertilize. The Calgary Attendance crew provided us with grass clippings for mulch. Geoff is helping with watering and experimenting with new-age crystal growth stimulants.
We've got a whole bunch of different people working on it. This, to me, is what community gardening is all about. BIG PUMPKINS!!! You didn't think I was going to say, "people working together for a common purpose" did you? :o)
Keyhole garden
Planting has begun into the keyhole garden beside the front composter. It's slow going because the wee little super dull knife we have in our tool arsenal isn't cutting through the sod very easily. greengate has donated some herbs and assorted flowers and I can bring some dill seeds. We know those will grow for sure.
Watering is tricky because of the steep slope of the soil. I did try making terraces but that didn't work too well because it's too small. A bigger one would terrace very well in theory. Normally you would build a waiste-high retaining wall around the outside to keep the dirt in and then you can plant on a level surface. We simply didn't have enough of the right kind of rocks. The small rounded ones are terrible for stacking into a retaining wall - at least with my skills. Please keep your eyes out for spare bricks or large flat rocks and if you find some, they can be stashed next to it until we have enough. A wooden planter built to surround it would also work if we can find someone handy to help build it.
Compost and rain and grey water can be dumped into the basket. If you can all throw a watering can of water on the surface until the seedlings take, I would appreciate it.
Volunteering Opportunities
Edging - Ron has purchased and dropped off some 2x4's in the shed. We can use them to complete the edging along the front of the raspberry bed. Pitchforks for best for digging out the trench.
Transplanting - all the raspberry bushes you see outside the raspberry bed can be transplanted into the raspberry bed.
Weeding - all flower beds, the rhubarb patch on the hill, the raspberry patch and the orchard can be weeded on an on-going basis.
Watering - the Keyhole garden, raspberry patch, rhubarb patch, orchard, grapes, & flower beds. Also, the pile of sod and soil can use a lot of water. We're working on moving both and moist soil is easier to work with than dust. Watering volunteers are also needed to water over at the Leisure Centre where we're growing food to donate to the Calgary Drop-In Centre.
Wooden stakes - stack them behind the back composter.
Mentoring youth - share your garden skills by working with Y-Map volunteers.
Odds and ends
Calgary Attendance - The workcrew scheduled to come out today was cancelled due to uncertain weather. The person doing the bookings is away until Monday. I'll give him a call and see if we can reschedule.
Wood strips - a pile of oak stakes was dropped off yesterday. They were supposed to be stacked away behind the back composter and they will be shortly. Feel free to help yourself to as many as you like. The strips are tough and would make nice planters if they were screwed onto a wooden frame. Keep your eyes out for carpentry knowledgeable volunteers who might be able to help out with that.
Strawberries - they are in the bed at the front of the garden with the rhubarb. Some of them are beginning to ripen up.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Report from Alma
It was my turn to do watering today and, since the weather hadn't co-operated and given us a nice dump of rain, I decided that the raspberries, et al, in the long bed at the back, needed moisture most. I thoroughly soaked each and every plant with the water bubbler and it took me about 3 hours. They should be good for a little while now. There was one raspberry plant pulled up and thrown on the grass.
Whilst watering, I had the idea of featuring a new garden plot on the blog each week with a picture. It would be great to get the list of current gardeners with their names, email address and plot number so that I could acknowledge them underneath the picture. What do you think?
Whilst watering, I had the idea of featuring a new garden plot on the blog each week with a picture. It would be great to get the list of current gardeners with their names, email address and plot number so that I could acknowledge them underneath the picture. What do you think?
Friday, July 3, 2009
Update from Alex
Hello everyone,
I heard back from the Hort. Society about our entry. It's only open to homeowners so we don't qualify to compete. Drat! It said that applied to the Food Garden Category but it didn't mention it for the other categories so I thought we could enter.
Earlier today I was in the garden and the Y-Map supervisor dropped by with 3 of the 4 volunteers who will be coming on a regular basis. She wanted to show them where to meet (by the dumpster). She mentioned Y-Map also does activities throughout the summer for all the kids in that program and I asked them to come next Thursday from 3-5pm to help tidy up the garden for the competition. I would still like them to come. The Calgary Attendance crew starts around 9:30am and should be done by 3pm. I'll know next week how many kids can come.
I was going to use Thursday to spruce up the garden for the judging and I would like to proceed along those lines. Some items to get done (by either group):
Earth Moving
- Move soil from the dirt pile to the area around plot. no. 1 - the one with all the garlic growing in it - for test sowing of the White Dutch Clover seeds.
- Fill up plot 6 (Y-Map plot) with soil from dirt pile and layer with compost.
- Finish levelling that pile of soil (use it to level out the ground where the new plots will go
- Move sod pile to Northeast corner and water well
- Flatten that bump where the youth group tree used to be and reseed with grass.
Edging
- Finish putting in the edging along the raspberry bed. We will need to get another twelve (2"x4"x8feet) boads.
- Edge around all non-fruit trees and remove all the weeds within the circle. Water deeply.
- Edge along bed behind dumpster.
Tidying Up
- Pick up garbage along fence and in the garden
- Weed every single community bed including the grapes, currants, horse radish in front of the shed, raspberries, the orchard spaces and around the new plots
- Attendance to mow and weed whack the entire garden
- Remove the dead trees
- turn the compost and put finished compost in back composter
Planting & Transplanting
- Transplant those two lilac bushes that are between the new plots
- Transplant raspberries that are outside the raspberry bed into the raspberry bed
- Sow grass seeds (area of flattened bump & area previously occupied by dirt pile). We need to get some grass seeds.
I heard back from the Hort. Society about our entry. It's only open to homeowners so we don't qualify to compete. Drat! It said that applied to the Food Garden Category but it didn't mention it for the other categories so I thought we could enter.
Earlier today I was in the garden and the Y-Map supervisor dropped by with 3 of the 4 volunteers who will be coming on a regular basis. She wanted to show them where to meet (by the dumpster). She mentioned Y-Map also does activities throughout the summer for all the kids in that program and I asked them to come next Thursday from 3-5pm to help tidy up the garden for the competition. I would still like them to come. The Calgary Attendance crew starts around 9:30am and should be done by 3pm. I'll know next week how many kids can come.
I was going to use Thursday to spruce up the garden for the judging and I would like to proceed along those lines. Some items to get done (by either group):
Earth Moving
- Move soil from the dirt pile to the area around plot. no. 1 - the one with all the garlic growing in it - for test sowing of the White Dutch Clover seeds.
- Fill up plot 6 (Y-Map plot) with soil from dirt pile and layer with compost.
- Finish levelling that pile of soil (use it to level out the ground where the new plots will go
- Move sod pile to Northeast corner and water well
- Flatten that bump where the youth group tree used to be and reseed with grass.
Edging
- Finish putting in the edging along the raspberry bed. We will need to get another twelve (2"x4"x8feet) boads.
- Edge around all non-fruit trees and remove all the weeds within the circle. Water deeply.
- Edge along bed behind dumpster.
Tidying Up
- Pick up garbage along fence and in the garden
- Weed every single community bed including the grapes, currants, horse radish in front of the shed, raspberries, the orchard spaces and around the new plots
- Attendance to mow and weed whack the entire garden
- Remove the dead trees
- turn the compost and put finished compost in back composter
Planting & Transplanting
- Transplant those two lilac bushes that are between the new plots
- Transplant raspberries that are outside the raspberry bed into the raspberry bed
- Sow grass seeds (area of flattened bump & area previously occupied by dirt pile). We need to get some grass seeds.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Here are some updates for today
Hello everyone,
Perennials
Lorna, were you going to go to pick up the perennial donations from the Hort. Society tomorrow? (Wed.) They can be planted in plot no. 14 beside the back composter. I can help with that if you can let me know when you're going.
Watering
The raspberry bed could use more water to help the plants get better established and there are also catmint, tomatoes and brassicas in there that could use some water. I ran into Ruth? and asked her to help water that bed when she's volunteering to water. I finally got some water onto those grapes today.
The raspberries, grapes, orchard and rhubarb patch on top of the hill get watered the least and I think we need to organize volunteers to help water those. I know there's something set up now where people come to water everyone's plots, but plots have owners who are supposed to take care of them so I think it's better if we ask volunteers to water the community beds instead. They get much less attention.
More mischief in the garden
In the afternoon I was walking in the garden with a couple of the residents of the apartment building and they told me the teenagers who live at the bottom right unit was going through the raspberry bed and breaking off canes. When I was watering them yesterday, I did notice several leafing canes that had died recently. They also ripped off some branches off a poplar and threw it in the back corner. I'm also wondering if they were the ones who snapped off one of our saskatoon bushes. Somethng to keep an eye on.
Even more worrying, when I walked to the back of the church with those two folks I noticed water was coming out of the tap at the back of the church. It wasn't a geyser, but it was a strong enough flow to have the water streaming off the tap at a good rate. I have no idea how long it's been on. The day before I used that tap to water the raspberries, but I definitely turned it off. I disconnected the hose from that tap so if it wasn't off, believe me, I would have noticed. I got the key from the shed and turned the water off.
A little while ago someone stole a watering key so this could be further mischief stemming from that. Please keep an eye on that tap, and the tap on the west side of the church when you're in the garden.
Plots
A micro-irrigation plot has been added beside The Melon Colony beside the cherry trees. It's almost finished. I'll be there on Thursday morning to add the sod around the outside to keep the soil together. The clay pot in the middle will hold water that will slowly diffuse into the surrounding soil depending on need. Fancy summer squash will be planted there (striped zucchini, cousa squash, yellow crookneck and green pattypan).
Maeve has confirmed that the empty plot no. 14 (closest to the back composter) will be used for a nursery bed and the youth volunteers can help take care of it. We'll use it for seed starting and for parking perennials for fall transplanting. I've started summer squash under plastic cloches (green zucchini, yellow patty-pan and vegetable marrow). Trudi was kind enough to lend us the use of her cloches to speed up the process. If all goes well we should have at least 20 plants to set out. A few can stay in the nursery bed, a good many can be transplanted into the keyhole garden once it's completed, and the rest can go into the self watering pots for the leisure centre. It's late in the season so the plants won't produce much before frost...just in case you were worried we'll get innundated with summer squash.
I took the cloches off the giant pumpkin plot between the two apple trees on the hill. The plants have grown quite a bit and they are bigger than the ones at the Leisure Centre where there's a warmer micro climate. All the plants were started at the same time so I think the cloches make a big difference. It's either that or my secret ingredient that I added to our pumpkin plot.
The layout of the new plots have been "penciled in". There are 12 more that will go in front of the raspberry bed but their layout is simple so I didn't bother to mark those. These position are not set in stone so we can move them around until we're happy with them. Having them marked will make it easier to see where we need to do more leveling with that pile of soil. That's something the Calgary Attendance crew can do when they are next here.
Thursday morning - around 10:00am is when I'll be trying to get some work done on the keyhole garden. At the very least I want to put in the "basket" for the compost in the middle of the plot.
Alex
Perennials
Lorna, were you going to go to pick up the perennial donations from the Hort. Society tomorrow? (Wed.) They can be planted in plot no. 14 beside the back composter. I can help with that if you can let me know when you're going.
Watering
The raspberry bed could use more water to help the plants get better established and there are also catmint, tomatoes and brassicas in there that could use some water. I ran into Ruth? and asked her to help water that bed when she's volunteering to water. I finally got some water onto those grapes today.
The raspberries, grapes, orchard and rhubarb patch on top of the hill get watered the least and I think we need to organize volunteers to help water those. I know there's something set up now where people come to water everyone's plots, but plots have owners who are supposed to take care of them so I think it's better if we ask volunteers to water the community beds instead. They get much less attention.
More mischief in the garden
In the afternoon I was walking in the garden with a couple of the residents of the apartment building and they told me the teenagers who live at the bottom right unit was going through the raspberry bed and breaking off canes. When I was watering them yesterday, I did notice several leafing canes that had died recently. They also ripped off some branches off a poplar and threw it in the back corner. I'm also wondering if they were the ones who snapped off one of our saskatoon bushes. Somethng to keep an eye on.
Even more worrying, when I walked to the back of the church with those two folks I noticed water was coming out of the tap at the back of the church. It wasn't a geyser, but it was a strong enough flow to have the water streaming off the tap at a good rate. I have no idea how long it's been on. The day before I used that tap to water the raspberries, but I definitely turned it off. I disconnected the hose from that tap so if it wasn't off, believe me, I would have noticed. I got the key from the shed and turned the water off.
A little while ago someone stole a watering key so this could be further mischief stemming from that. Please keep an eye on that tap, and the tap on the west side of the church when you're in the garden.
Plots
A micro-irrigation plot has been added beside The Melon Colony beside the cherry trees. It's almost finished. I'll be there on Thursday morning to add the sod around the outside to keep the soil together. The clay pot in the middle will hold water that will slowly diffuse into the surrounding soil depending on need. Fancy summer squash will be planted there (striped zucchini, cousa squash, yellow crookneck and green pattypan).
Maeve has confirmed that the empty plot no. 14 (closest to the back composter) will be used for a nursery bed and the youth volunteers can help take care of it. We'll use it for seed starting and for parking perennials for fall transplanting. I've started summer squash under plastic cloches (green zucchini, yellow patty-pan and vegetable marrow). Trudi was kind enough to lend us the use of her cloches to speed up the process. If all goes well we should have at least 20 plants to set out. A few can stay in the nursery bed, a good many can be transplanted into the keyhole garden once it's completed, and the rest can go into the self watering pots for the leisure centre. It's late in the season so the plants won't produce much before frost...just in case you were worried we'll get innundated with summer squash.
I took the cloches off the giant pumpkin plot between the two apple trees on the hill. The plants have grown quite a bit and they are bigger than the ones at the Leisure Centre where there's a warmer micro climate. All the plants were started at the same time so I think the cloches make a big difference. It's either that or my secret ingredient that I added to our pumpkin plot.
The layout of the new plots have been "penciled in". There are 12 more that will go in front of the raspberry bed but their layout is simple so I didn't bother to mark those. These position are not set in stone so we can move them around until we're happy with them. Having them marked will make it easier to see where we need to do more leveling with that pile of soil. That's something the Calgary Attendance crew can do when they are next here.
Thursday morning - around 10:00am is when I'll be trying to get some work done on the keyhole garden. At the very least I want to put in the "basket" for the compost in the middle of the plot.
Alex
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