January Update

As the wind blows outside and snow is flying through the air, things are growing in the garden.  Green shoots from garlic planted this fall can be found among the herbs and winter rye.  A fresh layer of straw has been added to help moderate the soil temperature.  The greenhouse with the leaf mulch has been repaired;  it was damaged by a local.  Cabbages, brussel spouts, kale, still seem to be growing while the arugula looks frozen.  Thyme, oregano, and sage love the warm brick walls of the building.

This growing season beds will be planted with the intentions of growing more food.  Over the summer a number of "street people" used the garden as a source of nutrition.  When the planting is done, extra plants will be put into the garden to help feed these people.  Next fall a new school program will move into the Everett building and the teachers will have the opportunity to take over the garden for the students. 

Here is to a great growing season in 2010!

BRRRRRR! Still Growing

Saturday, November 28; 11am

The snow is falling and I still have a bag of winter rye to plant. Please join us Saturday, November 28th at 11am to plant the rest of the winter rye. Bring shovels, or better yet, a roto-tiller. The weather forecast looks beautiful. Have a great weekend; hope to see you in the garden.

Fall Radishes

The fall veggies planted in the garden love this weather. Radishes, kohlrabi, cabbage, brussel sprouts, and two surviving plants of kale! Peas were also planted and will be dug under to add nitrogen to the soil. We will meet again on Wednesday at 1pm to rake leaves for the leaf compost and plant winter rye. It is time to add organic matter to the soil.

Beautiful Day

The sun was shining; a warm breeze rustled the leaves...garlic and strawberries are planted for next season. Leaves have been raked and moved into one of the greenhouses to start a leaf compost for the winter. We would still like to plant some winter rye, carrots and cone flowers. With weather permitting, we will meet again next Tuesday at 4:30pm. Has anyone seen our sign? It has disappeared.

Sunshine?

Looks like the weather will be clearing up this week. The sunshine has given us time to prepare the garden for the next season. Please join us in the garden this Tuesday at 4:30pm. Bring rakes,shovels and clippers with you. Tons of leaves are falling that can be used to create a beautiful leaf mulch. I also have strawberries and garlic to plant. The garden could use a winter cover crop..if anyone has seeds for green manure, we can take this time to plant them. Enjoy!

Beautiful Herbs

The herbs in the garden are beautiful. They are great plants to have in a community garden; perennials, sun loving, heat resistant, with good ground cover(straw, compost, leaves, etc) regular water is not necessary. The cool wet summer has really boosted the herbs in our garden. We have had a great season for basil, rosemary, lavender, spearmint, chocolate mint, thyme, oregano, marjoram, and flat leaf parsley. In the next couple of weeks the perennial herbs will be split and annuals potted. We would love to keep pots of herbs in the greenhouses over the winter. Can't wait to plant the herbs and perennial plants in the new garden at Indianola Informal School at Crestview. Our garden will then grow from one to two locations!