This has been a week of ups
and downs at the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden. It’s been hot and dry, but two new gardeners
joined and we had visits from old friends. My home azaleas are in bloom and the unseasonable heat is causing other flowers to bloom early. Even my bok choy is going to seed early and it's only about three inches tall!
On Sunday, Kaci and Stan
began putting in their work equity to join the Garden with Rayna there to help and coordinate. They turned more compost from our bins,
demolished the former wood chip pile, stacked the mulch bags, rolled up
the old fence, watered the fruit trees and blueberry bushes, watered, and
picked up litter. Kaci
brought her sister to help. I built a
compost sifter at my house in order to sift the decomposed compost from the sticks
and un-decomposed leaves, etc. Frank and
Barb had built one to sift the soil in their plot back in 2009 and I’ve always
wanted one. I brought it with me
Saturday.
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| What's left of the wood chip pile |
On Monday, I rode over the Garden
on my bike. John had spent the afternoon preparing his plot and planting. He left a cigar crater in Tony's plot to mock him for not making any progress in his weedy plot. Contrary to what I reported here last week, John did remember to take mint home with him for a Kentucky Derby celebration (where mint juleps are the drink of choice) and Ken Yee at Wing's made a mint mash of them for juleps all around. Meanwhile, Frank had dropped off two of
our old rain barrels for our new neighbors.
I got into the shed to get the hoses and other supplies and dropped them
off. Because I was already there, I
also watered. I got home just as it was
starting to rain. Happily, the rain was
a slow drizzle, which is great for seeds and seedlings. Sadly, we only got a half inch of rain and it
was barely noticeable in the rain tank or my rain barrels.
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| The 2015 wood chip pile in March |
On Tuesday, I dropped by the
Garden to see if the rain made a dent in the big tank (which it
hadn’t). However, Charlie had dropped off my old rain
barrel and I dragged it from behind our shed to the west side of our new
neighbors. He thought the Garden “looked
great.” He loved our new rolling
composter and noticed that we had moved the blueberry bushes and added new
fruit trees. He's been volunteering to help Marge at the St. Vincent de Paul pantry garden near the intersection of Livingston and James Road.
On Wednesday, Kaci finished
her work equity with help from her friends Angela and Ruby. They prepared a row
for planting and watered the food pantry plot. Kaci’s mother lives in the neighborhood and
told her how to join after seeing our lawn sign (making it a good investment).
When they were finished, they sorted through our seed stache to see what she
should grow. I prepared a bean trellis
for the food pantry plot and planted some kale seeds in that plot. I also weeded and watered in my plot and the
food pantry plot. Amy was there aggressively
weeding the southeast flower bed. (You
can always tell a real gardener from a pretender by how aggressively they
weed; real gardeners are compulsive and
cannot help themselves. You can see them
bend over and pull weeds no matter where they are). Neal stopped by to weed his plot again even
though he really hasn’t planted anything yet.
On Thursday, I attended the
monthly GCGC meeting, which was at the Fulsome & Pine nursery near
Orient. GCGC members could purchase a
flat of any 12 3-packs for
just $12. I picked up a flat for myself
(of mostly flowers, like impatiens, petunias, and portuculas) and flowers and
vegetables for the Garden. Dr. Darraugh
from CLC Labs was our featured speaker.
Dr. Darraugh speaks to the GCGC every
year about the importance of good soil to growing plants. In fact, he was the featured speaker for the very
first GCGC meeting I attended back in 2011.
CLC Labs tests soil from all over the world for nutrients, etc and helps
landscapers, homeowners, cities, farmers and gardeners improve their soil for
its intended purpose. CLC gives a price
break to area community gardens, will speak with you personally about the
test results and recommendations and generally reviews test results of a few
gardens at the GCGC meeting. Sadly, we didn’t have access to an overhead
projector, but he made a few educational points for us:
· There is such a thing as too much compost. In addition to providing valuable nutrients
for the soil, compost helps soil retain moisture like a sponge. If there is too much compost, the ground
stays too wet. Of course, I doubt that
there is such as thing as too much water for most tomatoes . . .
· Soil should be 25% soil, 25% compost and 50% air. Roots need oxygen and if the soil is too
compact or wet, the plants will suffocate.
Half of the air pockets (i.e., 25% of the total) will create space for
water so that the soil will eventually be 25% each of soil, air, compost and
water. Clay soils are too compact to create air spaces and should be improved
with compost.
· Over fertilizing plants with phosphorous and potassium can result in plants being
unable to absorb other valuable and necessary nutrients. So, less can be more.
· Many folks confuse manganese deficiency with iron
deficiency.
· Com-Til is a great fertilizer is you are worried about
lead contamination from prior demolition of houses or buildings which had lead
paint or pipes, etc. The sewage
component of this compost apparently binds up the lead. Lead is a naturally occurring element, but is
elevated in urban gardens because of lead paint and car exhaust, etc. As a result of potential lead contamination,
many urban gardens use raised beds. You
can also get the soil tested for lead
(which costs more than a nutrient test, but is not prohibitively expensive,
like arsenic tests).
· He is not a fan of pulverized top soil because, among
other things, it does not leave enough
space for air pockets.
· Limestone sand and many types of compost raise the pH
of the soil, while peat moss and silica sand (like for swimming pools) will
lower the pH.
Dr. Darraugh will be
returning for the June GCGC meeting as well.
This time, there will be a projector and he will review with us the
results of recent community garden soil tests and discuss more common improvements
that can be made to the soil. Sadly, the
meeting ran late and I missed the few minute of The Black List. Grumble.
On Friday, I mowed and
planted flowers at my house. I tried to
reach our newly assigned WEP volunteers without luck. Frank and Barb installed tree boxes around the peach and other trees on the Block Watch lot next to us. They also mowed all three lots, even though it wasn't their turn at the SACG (due to my being able to reconfigure our chore chart with the addition of FOUR new gardeners).
On Saturday, I arrived a bit
later than usual and found Amy and Sabrina already hard at work. Amy again rode her bike to the Garden and
weeded the northeast flower bed. She
told me that thieves had returned to the Garden to steal our bagged mulch
(donated by Scotts) and there was a bag laying by the compost bin. Before I left for the day, I carried the bag
over and mulched part of a flower bed. I also reinforced the fence in Kaci's plot (where brambles are not very thick and the thieves have been breaking bushes and fence to climb over). The heat has freaked out our flowers. They think it's June and have started to flower early even though their growth has been stunted from the time of year and lack of rain. So, we will have short purple salvia and daisies.
Sabrina told me that her
husband was not being transferred (which would have meant they would be moving
out of the county and leaving the SACG). Sad news for them, but great news for
us. She was weeding and watering the
food pantry plot and picking up litter around the Garden. We're all having trouble with our lettuce crops because of the heat. The only lettuce which is doing well is the lettuce I planted at home in March (or volunteered) and transplanted from seedlings I started in March. I almost wished I had picked some up for them from Fulsome & Pine. No worries. Tom picked up some for their plot at DeMonye's.
I planted pole beans, and mustard
greens in the food pantry plot. I also
planted asparagus beans in my plot and prepared two rows for cucumbers and
squash (using my new compost sifter).
When Tom and Zephyr arrived, we borrowed the Alexander’s heavy ladder to
check the gutters next door and put in downspout/gutter strainers. Daniel told me last week that he thought the
back gutter needed cleaned out (since we could see things growing out of it and
it was still leaking/dripping water days after the last rain) and he would do
that. So, we kept the ladder until he
and Melinda were to arrive at noonish so that they could use it.
Susan stopped by to donate
some children’s books for our Free Little Library. She was recovering well from her surgery and
getting mentally prepared for a summer of additional treatment. She was delighted how well the Garden looked
and missed being with us. Next Year!!! We went to see Ms. Dee’s kitten, Cookie, who
needs a new home, but Cookie wasn’t feeling very social.
Another fan of the Garden
stopped by to retrieve our extra raspberry seedlings. I hate to see them go to waste and have
already killed a dozen because we didn’t have anywhere to put them. Only one of them had flowered (showing the
berries that he could have this year), but the rest will grow and give him
berries next year.
Melinda and Daniel arrived to
build their rain barrel platforms and water their seedlings. Daniel decided it would be easier to clean the
back gutter from the roof and didn’t need the ladder. I went home to cool down a bit (since it was excruciatingly hot when the sun was out) and planned to
return after they finished building their platforms so that we could return the
ladder to the Alexanders. However, the
ladder was gone when I returned and I couldn’t initially find Daniel. Panic!
It turns out that Jason noticed I had left and came back to retrieve his
own ladder. Oops.
Neal had been back to again
weed his plot. Neal always comes at the
hottest time of the day because he loves to be outside when it’s hot. However, it was too hot for even Neal, so he
left.
I planted flowers in the
flower pots that St.
Vincent de Paul pantry donated to us in 2011. I then watered a few things in. It was bearable when we arrived this morning
because of the cloud cover. However,
with the sun bearing down, I found myself with sunburned arms and legs and a sun
damaged face. Ugh. Then, Mother Nature has mocked me several
times as thunder storms have tracked just a mile or so east of us last night
and AGAIN this morning. No rain for you
SACG or Bexley! There was wet pavement and even rain puddles on the Alum Creek bike trail this morning. Grrrr. We desperately need rain
to fill our tanks and barrels and water in our seeds. Seth emailed us this week that the City will
give us one free fill-up, but I’d like to save it for the dry and dog days of
summer if we can . . . . .
This week, after the cold
front passes on Thursday, we will be planting our tomatoes and peppers, etc. I
also hope that we can pick up our Kurtz Brothers top soil donation from the
City and will be exchanging our dead Montmorency cherry tree at Straders. It never leafed out like our other new trees. Our first Montmorency tree looks
unbelievably healthy and farm girl Rayna has volunteered
to prune it. Over the summer, we will
need volunteers to help stain our picnic table and raised platform bed and
paint our shed.
The crazy weather this month (with hot weather at the beginning of the month and cool weather at the end) has delayed the summer planting until this weekend at the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden. We’ve even got a wait list for plots based on the lovely Spring weather we have experienced spontaneous volunteers showing up to help.
the downspout drains which had clogged with the extraordinary amount of tree pollen we’ve received this year. Pastor Brown gave me a hard time (joking, of course). Fortunately, there was still water in the west gutter to drain into the tank when I cleared the strainer. I also brought three gallons of water with me to test the downspouts and ensure that they were emptying into the tank. While I was up on the ladder, I also checked the volume in the west tank (which was only about 100 gallons). Because there clearly was not enough water to sustain us over the long weekend (which will probably be the busiest planting time of the year), Barb agreed that we could take water from the Block Watch tank (which Rain Brothers filled this week) until it rains again and puts water in our tank. Frank and Barb had also built a new platform for the Block Watch tank to increase the water pressure.
where his tomatoes and peas had sprouted. Neal stopped by later in the day to set up his hardware and to plant most of his plot.
When I arrived on Saturday, Sabrina and Rayna had already been there for at least an hour. Someone had also stuffed our Free Little Library and even left pictures around the base of it and the nearby cherry tree. I had filled the truck of my rental car and part of the back seat with trays of seedlings and came prepared with a 15-point to-do list. I put trellises in my plot, the food pantry plot and the neighbor plot and planted tomatoes in all of those plots, transplanted my overabundance of mint to points around my sprouted zucchini and squash, pulled the spearmint growing up in the cat mint, weeded the southern flower bed, pulled a few weeds out of the center flower bed (and watered some of the sunflower seedlings that are growing up under the abundant daisies), set up a trellis for my pole beans, watered everything in my plot, planted peppers in my plot and the food pantry plot, planted 1-1/2 flats of lettuce in the food pantry plots, re-organized the shed, and pruned a volunteer tree. 
Before she left, Sabrina watered the food pantry plot. She had completely filled her plot and was contemplating whether she could handle more real estate with a baby on the way. We also discussed the benefits of lemon balm and mint in deterring mosquitoes (which are apparently abundant at her new apartment). Rayna was busy using our compost to improve the soil in her plot. Like me, she has a tray of home-sprouted peppers for her plot. 
Lots of people stopped by on their way to the Asian Festival at nearby Franklin Park Conservatory. One church group took a tour of the Garden and gave me a bottle of water and brown papper lunch bag (which they were distributing throughout the neighborhood). I finally left after 5 (after harvesting some dill and lettuce from my plot). It was a long day and I never got around to planting my pole beans or planting peppers in the food pantry plot . . . . . . There’s always Wednesday.
