Friday, May 25, 2012

Spring is Here!


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!
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...

Have a great weekend everyone. Happy planting!