Steady as She Goes as the SACG Prepares for Running Water

It was a slower week (for a change) at the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden as  we  prepare for the installation of a water line for the first time since we broke ground in 2009 courtesy of the Mid-Ohio Foodbank’s Urban Agriculture Grant program.  We had two very strong yet tidy CS volunteers to help us empty and reconfigure a compost bin and clear space for the equipment.  Other than that, it was steady as she goes this week.

 On Wednesday, Sabrina, Taylor and I watered quite a bit, harvested a lot and weeded a little.  I noticed that the City had been by earlier that day to re-mark our water tap and they also apparently tested the tap and it still works.  Hooray!  On Friday, the inch and a half of predicted rain was only a half inch.  On Saturday, we got a late start,

but our two volunteers did a fabulous job of clearing out a compost bin to make room for the water meter.  They dug all the way down to the sidewalk that was there before we took over the lot in 2009.  (That sidewalk had already been covered with dirt and grass when we arrived in 2009.  We had never seen it before this Saturday, but we suspected it was there because we kept hitting a hard surface whenever we tried to dig there.  As a result, we moved our northern fence 10 feet south to avoid it.  In the beginning, we grew pumpkins and had compost bins out there, but then in 2013, we moved the compost bins back there (after moving them south in 2010).  

Our CS volunteers also made room for the line zipping equipment to enter the Garden by consolidating our com-til pile, leveling out our extra wood chips, moving our lovely landscaping stone curb, and cutting back and bagging the raspberry brambles on both sides of six feet of the fence.  We will cut the fence and bend it back when the equipment arrives. Our CS volunteers also mowed our lot and the orchard lot and helped me to harvest for our 23 pound fresh produce donation to Faith Mission’s Homeless shelter.  We harvested zucchini, collard greens, green beans, turnip greens, beets and tomatoes.   I also spent time tidying up the squash and hunting squash bugs, weeding the new native plant bed at the corner of Stoddart and Main, mulching that bed, pruning flowers, planting coleus and snapdragons donated to GCGC by Strader’s Garden Centers, watering in the new plantings,  and, of course, harvesting.  I was actually able to leave on time today, which was exciting all by itself. 

Back in March, we applied to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank’s Urban Agriculture Grant program for funds to provide the SACG with City water, and learned in May that we had been selected. The MOFBUAG program started last year and is focused mostly on purchasing hoop houses for community gardens and urban farms, like the one that Kimball Farms installed right behind the SACG last year.  However, I belatedly learned that those funds could also be used to install water lines for community gardens, which is what Franklinton Farms, Four Seasons City Farm and the Miracle Garden all did last year.  

Thing is, all of the plumbing projects turned into lengthy ordeals and none of them went as planned.  For instance, Franklinton got their water turned on first and the email describing the process was hair-raising.  I am hoping that we will avoid that fate.  Also, all of those projects involved digging trenches for the water lines, which is a non-starter for me during the growing season, but we are required to have spent all of the funds by mid-November – about four days after we typically close for the season.  I have found a contractor that says that it can zip the lines in without digging a trench (and this was confirmed by one of the plumbers who completed the project for one of the other gardens; in fact he suggested that we hire him for the water meter portion and this other company to just connect the lines).   I am concerned about all of the construction debris that remains in the lot, under the extensive amount of soil and compost we have added.  We are planning on laying most of the line underneath the path.  The contractor wants to put the line only about 6-8 inches down, but I would like to be deeper (especially in the garden plots) because rototillers might cut the line).  

As you can tell, there is a lot of handwringing involved.   I am a professional worrier and worry about everything.  This is by far the most complicated project that we have undertaken and everybody is giving us different advice and opinions. I know that I am driving our contractor crazy with my questions and concerns.  They will probably want hazard pay after working with me.  

Running out of water in both of our tanks and rain barrels (i.e., 900 gallon capacity) just a few days before the ONTENA tour really highlighted how much we need a reliable back-up supply.   We can get one free fill-up from the City per year, but it often takes more than a week after making the request to get that water, since it always comes during a dry period when Rain Brothers is busy fulfilling other requests. 

I planned on two weekends after the OTNEA tour before tearing up the Garden for the project because, this being Ohio, you can almost count on bad weather taking over one of the weekends.  Leigh Anne was concerned about rain this last Saturday, but it didn’t start until about 5 p.m. yesterday, so we had no difficulty completing everything.   We are ready for the plumber to come anytime.   

Next weekend, we will be back to our “typical” routine of watering, weeding, planting and harvesting.  After the lines are installed, and assuming no hiccups, we will probably replace the fence posts in that area and add braces to straighten the fence.  Then, we will have 100 square feet to plant in. Last Sunday, I started lettuce and beet seedlings for our Fall harvest and they sprouted this morning. 

Other than this, the Garden is looking lovely.  There was a beautiful black and blue butterfly hanging out in the herb garden.  I had started pinching back the basil and it was not too disturbed by that and stuck around a couple of hours.    The finches have returned en masse to enjoy our sunflowers in bloom.  Unlike the bees, which pose patiently for photos, I have never in 10 years been able to photograph any of the dozens of yellow finches that hang out at the SACG between July and September.   Sigh.