28 October 2010
Wood Chips Are Here
I heard that a huge pile of wood chips was unexpectedly dropped off by the New Haven Parks Department yesterday. Thanks to Kate and Ashley for getting them out of the parking lot on such short notice so we stay on good terms with our neighbors.
25 October 2010
Raised Beds Needed For Roots and Shoots
Our soil test showed that there is a marginal level of lead on our garden site - its not high enough to get freaked out about, but we still want to play it safe. Since lead accumulates in leaf and root tissues but not in the fruiting bodies of plants, we've decided to grow all of our leafy greens and root veggies in raised beds with imported compost from off site.
This means the area that we sheet mulched will be reserved for tomatoes, peas, beans, squash, and other fruiting plants. Maybe some berries?
Our sheet mulched area is in the sunniest part of the garden, so our roots and shoots will just have to make due with some part sun and dappled shade closer to the apple tree.
Kate, Ashley, and I met at the garden recently to take some measurements and brainstorm some ideas. Depending on how much materials and compost we can fit into our budget, we'll hopefully be able to set aside about 150 square feet of raised beds.
For more on lead in garden soils, go to this link.
This means the area that we sheet mulched will be reserved for tomatoes, peas, beans, squash, and other fruiting plants. Maybe some berries?
Our sheet mulched area is in the sunniest part of the garden, so our roots and shoots will just have to make due with some part sun and dappled shade closer to the apple tree.
Kate, Ashley, and I met at the garden recently to take some measurements and brainstorm some ideas. Depending on how much materials and compost we can fit into our budget, we'll hopefully be able to set aside about 150 square feet of raised beds.
For more on lead in garden soils, go to this link.
08 October 2010
Getting To Know You
It was so nice to meet some new folks at the potluck over the weekend. We had a lot of great suggestions from Janis based on her experiences with other community gardens - namely to keep the project manageable with a small group of committed members and an efficient design of the garden space. And I really liked Barbara's suggestion to donate part of the harvest to a food pantry and to support our neighbors (like Common Ground) in our seed purchases, etc.
For those of you who couldn't make it, but still want to get involved in the planning for next year - please email me, I'd love to hear from you.
Kate, Ashley, and I will be meeting soon to put together a membership application for 2011. Look for it in your inboxes in the coming weeks.
For those of you who couldn't make it, but still want to get involved in the planning for next year - please email me, I'd love to hear from you.
Kate, Ashley, and I will be meeting soon to put together a membership application for 2011. Look for it in your inboxes in the coming weeks.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)