Thank you Volunteers!

Some good work was done on Wednesday and nobody had to shovel manure!

The first phase of getting the paths set around the compost pile was started by ripping up the jungle around the bins.  We need weed barrier set down and lots of mulch set on top, at least two inches.  That work would be good for anyone who is looking for something to do to get their hours in.  Also, the east side community garden areas all desperately need weeding, and in many cases mulching.

This was the last mid-week workshare day as I am going out of town and then my children start school.  Thanks for the fun and the work!

Alpaca Manure in the Rain

Has everyone noticed the alpaca manure - mild and composted.  The compost bins on both sides have some and we can get more on a regular basis.  Thanks to Paul Weiss for connecting us and Adam Kemna for the heavy grunt work.  A little rain doesn't stop this volunteer!

This is a volunteer day from a couple of weeks ago. We got both of these areas all clean -- let's go keep them clean!

The girl scout troop put down a bunch of mulch by the front gate. Good job, girls! Now we can mulch the rest of the paths and around all the trees.

Compost

There is quite a bit of compost/stuff in front of the garden! It looks and smells good, but I don't know anything about it! I'll assuming its Second Start's to use, so we should get it off the street and into our plots as fast as possible. Everyone take a wheelbarrow load or two. And we have some compost, thanks to Katie Martin. She and her children have been building and turning the compost piles diligently. Please do your part and add vegetable matter from your gardens, leftovers from the kitchen (no meat or fat), no bindweed or other seedy weeds but young innocent weeds like sunflowers and dandelions and tops of comfrey are OK. And Adam, Joy, and Paul have collaborated to bring us some manure. They are set to bring more this weekend (I think) and will need some strong bodies to transport it into the compost bins East and West.

Another Wednesday Volunteer Day

This Wednesday we had another great work-share day. The weeds are just taking over the whole garden - but we made a bit of a dent. This is mostly chickweed blanketing the pergola garden, quite enough to make a dozen chickens very happy. This stuff is edible by humans as well and high in Omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin C. There is quite a bit here and more weeds in the Herb Garden -- a good project for independent work, too.

Here is the new compost bin the volunteers made this spring. It looks good, doesn't it? We even got some Alpaca manure in it, thanks to Adam and Paul.

Volunteer Opportunity this Wednesday

This Wednesday will be another chance to hang out with other gardeners and get some work done to take care of our beautiful space. We need a bunch of people willing to rake and shovel mulch to fix some of our shared paths. I'll be there 6 pm until dark to answer questions and head you in the right direction.

From Jill
Below are 2 corrections to the calendar of events posted in the newsletter:

1) There will be a workshare this Sunday May 16 from 12 - 4. Several key tasks for this workshare are:
-laying fabric for the squash bed & getting squash seeds planted
-removing debris from compost bin construction
-removing old pallets from compost bin construction area

2) The July potluck brunch will be on *Sunday* July 25 (not Saturday)

We will need volunteers to sign up to water and weed the squash bed. Especially when it gets hot, we will a different person everyday. (Of course, you can stick a finger in the dirt to make sure it is not already soaked.)

We had a fabulous workshare day today. We had a fantastic turnout for the new-gardener meet-and-greet! Thirty-seven people! I got to meet many new gardeners and hang out while eating pizza in the sun. We cleaned up the garden and freed our perennials from debris. A big shout out to the people who helped rip out the old compost bin on the east side and pour concrete for the new bin. That was hard work! Please let me know right away if you do not want your photos taged with your name (children's names are not published online for security) . It's a good way to connect names with faces so that we can get to know each other. And you are invited to add photos and comments to our Facebook site, as a fan. Talk to me if you want to contribute to the blog.

The volunteer day was postponed due to weather. (Yes, it snowed on me when I went running today.) Rescheduled for Sunday, March 28th at11 am. Hopefully it will be a little warmer and the ground will be dry enough to dig holes for the compost bin.

I will be more timely about this blog in the future! Any gardeners who are really tuned-in to on-line posting can volunteer to add to this blog (talk to me) or can add content to the Facebook page as a fan. Also, the newsletter is always looking for cool stuff, like Paul Weiss's photos of the winter garden.

New Gardening Season

Happy Spring, Gardeners!

From the Newsletter:

Orientation & Workshare Reminder

Our 2010 Orientation will be Saturday, March
27 at 9a.m. at the garden. All new gardeners
are required to attend. Returning gardeners
are encouraged to attend as well - come get to
know our new gardeners!

The first workshare of 2010 will follow the
orientation: March 27 from 10a.m. to 2p.m.
Our first big project of the year will be
rebuilding the East garden compost bins.

This pile of wood is the new compost bin, ready to be installed in place. Paul Weiss and David Pinter worked all day Saturday cutting the wood, shaping it, and attaching it together. Thanks, guys!