We finally have a key for the greenhouse lock! It can be found hanging on the wall (above the volunteer hours sheet) in the shed. Please remember to put it back if you use it. I've attached it to an old sprinkler head so it's not so easy to misplace. Everyone is free to use the greenhouse. I ask anyone that does use it to mark their plants with their name so I know what belongs to who. I'll work on getting a couple of shelves as well to try and optimize the space.
The manure is now on site thanks to Morris Lamrock and his Y2C2 crew who lovingly collected and dropped off 4 truckloads for us. Yay! I have one barrel set up in the north garden for tea and is simmering as we speak. It is the one closest to the main water hookup. So if you're wondering what's up with the stinky water, that's why. I'm not sure what the weed seed content will be with the manure so sometimes it's a bit safer to water with the manure tea as opposed to mixing it in with your soil but that choice is totally yours. I'll be setting up a couple more once I get some more barrels on site. Coming soon...
Remember to record your hours in the shed if you work any time in the garden other than that on your plot. I'll have the task assignments posted on the website tomorrow.
.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Spring is Here!
The weather seems to be somewhat stable so I would say we're safe to plant. If you want extra protection, invest in some of the white row cover. It's usable year after year and can be picked up at most of the garden centres in town. Make sure you pay attention to the width as some row covers only come in 3' widths and ideally you need 5' for our individual plots (not including our rather large new plots!). I have had some gardeners sew two together to make one which is an excellent idea. To those of you using plastic, be very careful that you don't leave it under too long. Your soil will be prone to dry out quicker and there is the chance that the heat may become too intense for seedlings as there really is no airflow. I also ask that everyone using any kind of extra protection , be it row cover or plastic to take it home with you when you are finished and not leave it at the garden.
What else...Oh yes, the porta-potty is now on site. Use at your own risk. It is scheduled for clean out every 2 weeks but if you find its conditions unacceptable, please contact me and I'll have it dealt with.
The greenhouse will be sorted in the next couple of weeks. I think we are going to keep a lock on it with a common key kept in the shed. I have to get a copy of the key made first but will keep you all posted on that.
Have a great weekend everyone. Happy planting!
 |
| Growing Gompanions |
Just a quick update...
The water is turned on now. Those of you in the Craig Family garden please be careful to shut off all valves after you are done with the water. Anyone who does not know how to turn on the water for either garden and would like to know how, should meet me at the garden on a Wednesday night (work bee) so that I can explain it. There are a few gardeners who do already know how things operate so your other option is to ask one of them if they are there at the same time as you. It is much easier to show you than it is to try and explain it here. The city sometimes changes the setup for the water meter as well which can complicate things further even for me! Those of you with barrel filling tasks, this is your time!
The water is turned on now. Those of you in the Craig Family garden please be careful to shut off all valves after you are done with the water. Anyone who does not know how to turn on the water for either garden and would like to know how, should meet me at the garden on a Wednesday night (work bee) so that I can explain it. There are a few gardeners who do already know how things operate so your other option is to ask one of them if they are there at the same time as you. It is much easier to show you than it is to try and explain it here. The city sometimes changes the setup for the water meter as well which can complicate things further even for me! Those of you with barrel filling tasks, this is your time!
We are pretty much out of usable compost for now. We do have the other pile but I don't think we'll get anything out of it for another month or so. I want to remind everyone that we do practice organic gardening methods and insist that all gardeners refrain from using any kinds of chemical fertilizers in their plots. Keep an eye on any soil you add as well as often they are "enriched" with fertilizer. If you aren't sure please ask. We should have a load of manure arriving next week. This will be a nice addition for us especially if we get some "tea" going. I'll keep you posted on that...
The weather seems to be somewhat stable so I would say we're safe to plant. If you want extra protection, invest in some of the white row cover. It's usable year after year and can be picked up at most of the garden centres in town. Make sure you pay attention to the width as some row covers only come in 3' widths and ideally you need 5' for our individual plots (not including our rather large new plots!). I have had some gardeners sew two together to make one which is an excellent idea. To those of you using plastic, be very careful that you don't leave it under too long. Your soil will be prone to dry out quicker and there is the chance that the heat may become too intense for seedlings as there really is no airflow. I also ask that everyone using any kind of extra protection , be it row cover or plastic to take it home with you when you are finished and not leave it at the garden.
What else...Oh yes, the porta-potty is now on site. Use at your own risk. It is scheduled for clean out every 2 weeks but if you find its conditions unacceptable, please contact me and I'll have it dealt with.
The greenhouse will be sorted in the next couple of weeks. I think we are going to keep a lock on it with a common key kept in the shed. I have to get a copy of the key made first but will keep you all posted on that.
I think that's it for now. Don't forget to mark your volunteer hours down in the shed. Also, don't forget to volunteer! Just to clarify, any work done in the garden, other than that in your own plot, counts as volunteer time. This includes your hours spent on task assignments. If you still can't figure out your task assignment or haven't been assigned one, please contact me and I will explain/assign. I'm in the process of posting the assignments on one of the tabs above but haven't quite got that completed. Coming soon...
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Work Bees
Hello Everyone and welcome to a new year of gardening, hopefully warm and fruitful!
Getting down to business, I just want everyone to be aware of the upcoming work bees. These are a great chance to make a dent in your 16 hours of "communal service" in the garden (volunteer work). Our first work bee will be this coming Saturday from 9-3pm. You can come for part of it or all of it, the choice is yours. We have a mountain of preseason tasks to deal with so naturally the more hands we have the easier the work will be. Some of the things we will be trying to conquer include:
The Wednesday night work bee will start next week. These start at 6pm and go to 8pm. Once school is out and my time is a bit more my own, I will likely bump the time back to 7-9pm.
There will be one more Saturday work bee on May 19th, 9-3pm.
That's it for now. Remember to enter your email address in the space over on the right hand side of the page to ensure you get the blog posts.
See you Saturday!
Getting down to business, I just want everyone to be aware of the upcoming work bees. These are a great chance to make a dent in your 16 hours of "communal service" in the garden (volunteer work). Our first work bee will be this coming Saturday from 9-3pm. You can come for part of it or all of it, the choice is yours. We have a mountain of preseason tasks to deal with so naturally the more hands we have the easier the work will be. Some of the things we will be trying to conquer include:
- oiling the new beds
- general cleanup
- sorting the compost pile
- gopher proofing in the Craig garden
- cleaning and organizing the shed
- lining and filling the new beds - this is a large task and I'm not sure I'll be prepared material wise but I might be, so be prepared...
The Wednesday night work bee will start next week. These start at 6pm and go to 8pm. Once school is out and my time is a bit more my own, I will likely bump the time back to 7-9pm.
There will be one more Saturday work bee on May 19th, 9-3pm.
That's it for now. Remember to enter your email address in the space over on the right hand side of the page to ensure you get the blog posts.
See you Saturday!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)