Composting by Dowding

 Dear Garden lovers,

The new video series by Charles Dowding is very current, and is fascinating to follow. Here's a collection of his work on composting for the vegetable garden. Fabulous information.

Charles Dowding on Composting:

1.  4 Compost heaps in 3 bays ready in 6 months: (video)

2.  Composting from start to finish: (video)

And two more of interest:

3. Making compost in different sizes: (video)

4. Removing the lower leaves of plants to keep ground clear of slugs (video) and to increase air circulation around plant in humid climates with alot of rain.

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At the DIGS garden we are re-arranging the composting set up behind the back fence to fit everything in among the blackberry. Even the blackberry plants themselves are becoming compost, through being mowed mechanically into shredded blackberry cane each week.

The frosty cold nights dipping below zero have led to a bit of frozen lettuce under the Remay floating-row-cover cloth. One hoop had collapsed and the touching of the cloth on plants caused leaf loss through freezing. We'll have to get the plastic out to cover them.

Enjoy the Dowding info.

Best, Jen

Winners of Our Garlic Raffles

 

Dear Garlic and Garden lovers,

Two more delicious garlic braids have been won. Here's all the news:

Update: Round two of the raffle was held at the Beacon House on December 3rd 2023. Congratulations To Sara G. and Valerie T. who were the winners of this delicious (and beautiful) organic garlic grown at DIGS this year. For those who didn't win, the new crop is in the ground for next year's raffle.

Previously:

Round one of the community garden’s garlic braid draws was held today (Saturday) at the 10am garden meet-up. Winners of the first two braids were Jim K. of Cpt. Morg. and Tom B. (friend from Ontario to the Harris's we hear).  

Both braids are made from the garden’s prized Red Russian stock garlic. This variety of garlic is now the world’s most popular, a purple stripe cherished by gourmets for its succulence and long-lasting traits. 

 Tickets for the next draw — for a similar pair of Red-Russian braids — will be available in early November with the draw for those to be held Sunday, Dec. 3 at the Christmas craft sale at Beacon House. Ticket prices remain the same — $2 each or three for $5. Notice of ticket availability will be posted soon. Proceeds go to support the Community Garden!

From Mike G. of DIGS.

September interest

 A few topics this month to figure out:

1. We needed to figure out our crop rotation plans for the spring to come, so that we know which beds are free for overwintering crops.

Saturday morning we planted two kinds of spinach; one very fast one called Yukon that is a 45 day harvest timeline, and the old Savoy (crinkly kind) variety called Bloomsdale, which is 50 days to harvest. Both spinach varieties will stay pretty stunted as the light fades in the late fall, then burst back to life in early March. They may or may not get poly-tunnels in December-February as the consensus was, from last year, that spinach does fine here in this microclimate/zone without needing physical protection from winter weather.

But we will need to cover the lettuce (Barilla) which is also ready to transplant; perhaps by next week. We will need re-bar supports purchased as 12" pegs, and plastic piping to be used as the frame. Alternatively, this cattle fencing idea (video) is also good. You cover lettuce with a hoop frame and poly when temperatures are expected to drop to 4 degrees Celsius.

See diagram below. Currently edible crops are in medium-green text.

click on the jpg above to enlarge.

2. Winter Veg!! This farmer is using the same Eliot Coleman method as we have been researching at DIGS (double covered crops for warmth). This farmer is in Kentucky in Zone 6b and to compare, we're much warmer in Zone 8 here ourselves, which is a minimum temperature that falls within the -12 to -7 degrees Celsius range in winter. This video quickly goes through food to eat during winter harvests:

Easy winter crops to grow for eating with no heat required (video)

3. Also: Why didn't the beets thrive in Bed 1 this past (hot/dry) summer? About 50% were undersized and fibrous. Most folk agree that since it was SO hot and dry and the soil was very parched, that the beets were likely needing shading and moisture. Here's a good video that gives the gist of this crop's life cycle demands (video):

We do have beetgreens being grown in bed 17 (left side front of DIGS) that are being grown just for greens, by the way, if anybody needs a few beetgreens (use like spinach.) Just to mention it. We could be planting beets to overwinter if we had some seed, that's something to plan ahead for maybe.

4. The cucumber frame in bed 9 is going to wait til next June when cucumbers will be planted in that bed again. It was complicated to set up. But it looks a little forlorn, and may not withstand any giant snow storms, so I went hunting for good frames for cucumbers online and found this interesting A-frame made of agricultural fencing (video is set to begin at a good spot for short viewing time):

As mentioned above, you can also use these panels of cattle fencing to make strong hoops to hold netting, row cover cloth or poly in the winter. (video)

5. Finally harvestable leaf lettuce is available to Saturday work party participants all over the garden, if you take the outer leaves from mature heads and leave the center of the lettuce to grow on. There is also pak choi in bed 17 that you can take outer leaves with a long stem on each one for stir fry. Enjoy!

Jen

Pac Choi try out

 Dear Gardeners,

 Just with the idea of trying it out we have just planted some Pac Choi, in small amounts, to learn more about it as a possible vegetable for us to grow at DIGS. The West Coast Seed Planning Guide says that Pac Choi can be started from seed and then covered over winter all through this month. I checked out a few informative videos and will see if "cut and come again" is a good method for us this winter. Here are the videos I found most helpful.

Pak choi 

Bok choi and pak choi; how to grow (video)

How to utilize "Cut and come again" to get three heads from one (video):

The first video also covers how to avoid bolting in this sensitive-to-heat plant.

Enjoy watching them grow in square bed 17a with more to come, as they are sprouting on the baby lettuce table.

Best, Jen

Garlic Braid How-To Demo

 Dear Gardeners,

Mike G. will be giving a "How to make Garlic Braids" demonstration at the DIGS garden Labour Day weekend, on Saturday Sept. 2nd at 10:30 am. It would be a quick, 15-minute demo covering cleaning the garlic bulbs for tying, and then wrapping them with twine into a fantastic hanger.  Just as last year, the magnificent braids (there are four this year) that Mike and Andria made will be raffled off so you can win one!

We will be holding two separate garlic braid draws this year, doubling your chances to win with two braids in each draw. The garlic is the Community Garden’s finest — jumbo-sized European Purple Stripe, which will last all winter when hung in your kitchen. Each braid has 16 bulbs. 

Ticket prices are the same as last year — $2 for one raffle ticket, or three tickets for $5.

Garlic Braid Raffle Tickets will be available every Saturday morning at the Community Garden (between 10 and 11:30 A.M.), at the DIGS  Fall Fair on Sept. 9 at Beacon House, or by contacting Veronica Z. or Mike G.

 Draws to be held Thanksgiving Weekend, Saturday, Oct. 7, and for Christmas, during the Art Walk at Beacon House Dec. 3. The funds raised go toward DIGS garden.

Zucchini Parmesan Crisps Recipe

 Zucchini Parmesan Crisps Recipe

What to do with all your zucchini? Well, this recipe looks absolutely perfect! (video)

Ingredients

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

3 tbsps or more of olive oil

3 medium zucchini

Mix with your hands 1/4 inch sliced zucchini in a large bowl with salt, pepper, garlic powder and oil.

Oil a baking tray. Dip each piece of zucchini in a mixture of grated parmesan and panko. Press to adhere.

Bake at 450 for 18-20 minutes until crunchy and brown.

Greenhouses or poly-tunnels

 The fabulous Charles Dowding market gardening videos that we've been watching have terrific greenhouse  or poly-tunnel specific information that will be useful for us making the most expedient use of our year round cool greenhouse.

Right now in late July our poly-tunnel at DIGS has cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes (sometimes melon and eggplant too.) 

Here's a video showing how crops are changed over in May/June to tomato/cuke/melon/basil and every heat-loving plant that prefers protection from the elements: video.

And here is specific information about tomatoes in the poly-tunnel: video.

At the end of the hot season, the poly-tunnel is often used as a holding area for plants that will grow slowly over the winter, but be harvestably in small amounts: video.

Here's Dowding's poly-tunnel in December where they harvest the outer leaves of salad in winter, as salad is the most in demand food they grow. This video will start right at that part of the entire tour video: video set to start at winter salad.

And more information on salad in the winter (Nov-Feb) from an unheated greenhouse: video.

Another way to grow salad indoors is on trays set on tables (staging.): video.

And here is a longer comparison of greenhouses to polytunnels: video.

Guide to sowing seeds in the greenhouse: video.

Germinating seeds in a greenhouse hotbed: video.

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And finally, Charles Dowding has had a seeding tray manufactured (in UK and USA) that is unbreakable and lasts for over 15 years, while reducing soil required.

See Dowding's higher quality seed modules: video.

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Charles Dowding Videos

 A new market gardening expert has uploaded tons of educational videos that are so helpful. Thanks to Jane T. and Jane F. for forwarding this incredibly valuable information. And please help yourself to the free Charles Dowding's "how to grow" videos. Dowding is a lifelong farmer and market gardener and has dedicated himself to making videos of each season of his garden.

Here is a very quick tour of his garden and greenhouse/polytunnel: quick tour video. 

And here is a deliciously LONGER tour: video. (20 min.)

And if you're curious about the validity of the "No Dig" method (putting compost on top of a bed once a year and leaving the bed undisturbed), Dowding has run a ten year trial side by side of two identical beds to prove that "no dig" produces more food and stronger plants: video of No-Dig vs. Dig over ten years.

And to start off with one or two focus areas, perhaps some of the most useful topics for us at a Community Garden would be: 

Grow more food in less space!

Intensive Summer planting: video.

High Yields in Small Spaces: video.

Clearing one crop to plant another quick and easy: video.

Spacing plants efficiently: video.

Soil doesn't need to rest: video about non-rotation of crops.

Multi-sowing seeds in the greenhouse: video.

_____________________and of course....

Best method of composting

The "How to compost" videos are in a playlist, which is helpful too.

Most importantly:

How much compost do you need? video. and

Making compost in 3 bays: video.

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 I found while watching that we're already doing so much of what Dowding recommends already at DIGS community garden, that we're ahead of the game here.

 Please feel free to comment (comment button below). 

And more films to follow in next blogpost.

What can you plant in July?

 Dear Gardeners,

Note from future selves: If you haven't planted your carrots by mid-July, you are too late for winter carrots. Plant plant!! Just had to write that as a reminder to our carroty breatheren. Plant early, plant often and keep seed moist.  :>)

Now that we're coming into the second half of July the question is: Can any veggies still be planted from seed? The answer is YES! Here's a video to give ten bountiful crops from beets, kale and chard to a few less well known crops (video):

And here, looking ahead, are some educational videos about what to sow in the upcoming months before the sun gets too low in the sky. These are Charles Dowding videos.

What can you plant in August through October?

Winter crops sown in August-Oct: video.

Winter crops sown in September: video.

No dig, easy and speedy (Sept crops): video.

Also, if planning ahead to winter edibles, very easy-at-a-glance is Linda Gilkeson's month by month winter planting guide: 

More to follow, as we're planning our new greenhouse/polytunnel in the upcoming months! Also the garden is full of produce from garlic and rhubarb to raspberries, blueberries, lettuce zucchini and potatoes. So much going on in July!

Jen

What's up in the early June garden?

click on photo to enlarge

 Well now that the plants sale is over, the Dessert Auction is imminent, and crops are being planted like crazy in the garden, what else is going on at DIGS? How nice of you to ask!! Click on the above picture to see that we now have a new special reserved section for propagating native plants, a new cucumber trellis, and mysterious white fabric floating row covers over certain seeded crops. The white Remay cloth or row-cover-polyester is keeping out bugs that destroy carrots/turnip/radish. So after watering underneathe you want make sure it's sealed down with rocks and corner-clothes-pegs afterward so the bugs cannot enter and take up residence while the plants are young. 

click on photo to enlarge

When you first enter the front gate, if you turn to the left you'll see the tallest wooden beds 15 and 17 which are currently part of our Coleman Project (growing more veg in less space throughout the cold seasons too). 

Here we've been having good success so far featuring "Cut and Come Again" Mesclun (mixed seed packet of small sized lettuce/kale/arugula that is meant to harvest as "baby greens"), a mixture of full-sized spinach, lettuce and parsley, and transplants from Jim's garden of leeks and scallions to fill in spaces not taken up with carrot and turnip. The Little Diggers Sunday 10am program is also using Remay cloth to cover radishes, and soon, carrots in the littlediggers L-shaped bed near the center of the garden front.

click on photo to enlarge

 

Elsewhere, peas and broadbeans are almost ready to harvest, and the asparagus is finishing. Note that asparagus stems that were simply broken off above the soil-level ended up dead and withered (see photo above top left), whereas if broken/cut below ground asparagus stems stay alive.  In starch-land, the large row potatoes are flowering, and the shorter potato towers by the gate are also doing well.

Green beans have had germination problems (bush beans will likely need to be resown but that's better for succession planting if done weeks apart anyway) and the squash transplants are struggling in the cold weather. Not pictured, but a great new feature, the new raspberry cane pattern of semi-circular bending to produce three times more fruit and at a lower height has been a huge success. More photos of that to follow as the season progresses. Exciting stuff!!

Best, Jen

Fall Fair Sept.9 2023

 

Get ready; there are three months until......

DIGS Ninth Annual FALL FAIR 2023

Saturday, September 9 at Beacon House here on P. I.

Submit your entries at Beacon House on: Friday, September 8: 6-8 pm  or

Saturday, September 9: 8-9:30 am

On September 9 Saturday

10 am to noon Beacon House will first be CLOSED for judging.

Doors open at 12 noon to the public to view exhibits

12-3pm Food Available: Hot Dogs, Chips, juice/soft drink.

What you can do:

View the exhibits

Enter the Garlic Braid Raffle - 3:30pm for the Draw

Cock-a-Doodle Poo contest

Coconut Shie

Participate/Watch the Kids Races on the field below:

Egg tosses – 1) kids 2) adult

Adult Tug of War

1st Ever Electric Bike Race

Electric Wheel Barrow Race

PI Beacon Library Book Sale/Design-A-Bookmark Contest Display

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Exhibits to remain on display until 3pm.

Pick up your entries and winning ribbons between 3 to 4pm

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GENERAL RULES FOR ENTRIES

1. NO LATE ENTRIES will be accepted. See times at top.

2. Adults...one dollar PER entry. NO entry fee for children, even if entered in an adult category. Enter as many items as you wish.

3. Two age categories for children and teens: Primary 7 years and under ; Junior 8 to 14 years

Children and teens may enter in their age category OR they may choose to challenge the adults in their categories

4. Entries must be MADE or GROWN or BAKED by the entrant within the last 12 months.

5. There are 5 categories and several classes within each category. Ribbons for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places will be awarded for each class within a category.

________________

CATEGORIES (please read instructions carefully)

VISUAL ARTS

1. Painting

2. Sketch in black and whitemounted on a black mat (no frame or glass) (black mat supplied if required)

3. Photograph mounted on a black mat (no frame or glass)

4. Natural Beach Art

5. Carving/Sculpture/Wood Working

5. Card Making using photographs

HORTICULTURE

“BEST” means best representation of species

1. Biggest Squash

2. Best Root Vegetable

3. Biggest Zucchini by Weight

4. Biggest Onion by weight (roots removed, tops folded over with elastic)

5. Largest Garlic Bulb by weight (roots removed, top trimmed to 1”)

6. Biggest Tomato by weight

7. Best Potted Herbs

8. Flower arrangement of any variety

BAKING/PRESERVES

1. Pie, any variety, topped (crust, crumble etc.)

2. Muffins (4 of one variety)

3. Yeast Breads or Buns...white, brown, whole grain, sourdough

4. Coffee cake or Loaf cake

5. Cookies, six of uniform size, same variety

6. Cake, any layer cake with icing or frosting

7. Fruit Crisp

8. Homemade Candy, Fudge, Peanut Brittle

9. Kombucha (fermented tea in clear glass container)

NOTE: The following must be in containers with standard 2 part lids, hot water sealed and labelled with the date.

10. Jam, Jelly, Marmalade

11. Pickles, Chutney, Relishes, Salsa

12. Fruit preserves

HOME ARTS AND CRAFTS

1. Knitted or Crocheted item

2. Ceramics, pottery

3. Sewn item

4. Felting

5. Spinning

6. Weaving

7. Dyeing

8. Needle Work

9. Quilting

10. Rug Hooking

11. Card making – crafted or drawn

CHILDREN'S CATAGORIES– Primary (7 and under)Junior (8 to 14)

1. Visual Arts (painting, sketch- mounted on black mat, beach art, photograph – mounted on black mat)

2. Best dressed or decorated veggie or fruit

3. Baking

4. Fabric or Wool craft

5. Ceramics – pottery or woodworking

6. Lego structure

7. Play dough structure

8. Biggest Maple Leaf

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At the end of the day, PLEASE PICK UP YOUR ENTRIES and take them home afterwards,  between 3 to 4pm. Thankyou!!

Plantsale half-price 2023 plantsale

May 20th, Saturday Half-Price Sale

 SATURDAY May 20th, 2023 - 10:30 a.m. to Noon

Please bring loonies, toonies, paper money or cheques, writing utensil and something to carry your plants home with.

 No change will be available. There is an "Honour box" only.

Half Price Plant Sale List

Flowers

6 Packs - $1.50 - alyssum, asters, cosmos, dianthus, impatiens, lobelia, marigold, nicotania, pansy, salvia,  viola.     

3 ½” pots - $1.50- geraniums 

Basket stuffers - 2 ½” pots - $1.00 - bacopa,  myositis

Hanging Planters - Violas - $7.50

 

Vegetables

6 Packs - $1.50 - basil, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, dill, ground cherry, kale, leeks, mint, onion, lettuce, parsley, pepper

3 ½” pots - $1.00 - cucumber, giant leek,  giant onion, squash, zucchini 

Tomatoes

3 ½” pots - $1.00 -  Cherry - Sweet Million, Gardener’s Delight, Sun Gold, Golden Nugget & Red Robin - Regular -  Early Girl, Super Fantastic, Tasti-Lee, Old German, Roma - San Marzano.  

Perennials - ****NOT HALF PRICE***. Available @ regular price.

3 ½” pot – $3.00 - columbine, dahlia, daisy, delphinium, fox glove, grass, hellebore, hollyhock, hydrangea, lavender, lily, lupin, mint, nirene, phlox, sage, saxifrage, sedums , veronica, yarrow.

1 gallon pots - $5.00 –bleeding heart, cone flower , dahlia, daisy, delphinium, fox glove, fern, hellebore, hollyhock, hosta, hydrangea, lavender, red hot poker, rhodos,

Fruit in 1 gallon pots - $5.00 – asparagus, fig, raspberry, rhubarb

$10.00 large Pots – rhodo, rhubarb

May & June Events Upcoming

Dessert Auction of The “Douglas Island Garden Society” Upcoming

When: 2:00 pm, Saturday, June 17th 2023

Where: Beacon House, Protection Island

We are pleased to present this fabulous event, where our Community gets together to bid on fabulous desserts, which supports the Community Garden.

These creative, culinary masterpieces showcase the artistry of islanders, and while you take a tour of these tantalizing treats, enjoy some light refreshments at Nicky’s Booth with lilting harp music played by Tamara.                                                       This is a bidding auction, where the 1st prize for the dessert with the highest bid will be a lovely dinner for four, courtesy of David Essig, (Chef Extraordinaire) either at his house or the winner’s house. A prize will be given to one of the bakers of these fabulous desserts by random draw.

Put on your designer dessert hat for this upcoming Dessert challenge.

We will be accepting desserts from (12:30 to 1:30 pm) on June 17th 2023.

Please notify Us about how many & what type of Dessert You will be bringing at jfoxwell@shaw.ca

The doors will be open to the public at 2:00 pm when bidding commences and bidding will stop at 4:00 pm 

_______________________

DIGS 2023 Annual Spring Plant Sale

The Plant Sale will be held at The Community Garden Saturday May 13, 2023 from 10:00 a..m. to 12:00 noon.

1.  15 people at a time will be accommodated - no socializing in the garden. Please shop and exit, so the next person in line can enter,.

2.  Bring your own boxes/containers to carry multiple pots - only have a limited number available on site. 

3.  Due to the  limited space, there will be no holding area.

4.  HONOUR SYSTEM - Plants will be clearly marked with the type & price. No change will be made - tally up your order and drop you cheque or cash in "the BOX" as you exit.(Assistants will help mathematically challenged.)

NOTE:  There will be a limited number of "consultants" on hand to answer questions.  A price list of available plants will be posted ahead of time and also put up here on the blog, to assist shoppers in planning & costing their purchases.

Hope to see you Saturday May 13th!

DIGS Plant Sale Committee

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June 4th 2023 Garden Tour!

The Protection Island Garden Tour Returns!

After a three-year break due to Covid, The Protection Island Museum is pleased to announce that the annual PI Garden tour is back.

Save the date! Sunday, June 4, starting at 10 am at the traffic circle where maps will be given out.

Seven island gardens will be open for your personal viewing.  You are invited to wander around, learn from the gardener, take note of what plants work where on our island, and appreciate the personal vision of each garden owner. 

The tour will be followed by the greatly anticipated barbecue and multi-prize raffle on the museum grounds. 

Tour entry and barbecue by donation.  Raffle tickets are $4 each or three for $10.

More details to be posted. 

Electric Lawnmowing & Trimming

Dear Allotment Bed folk & DIGS members,

As you may know, the mowing of the grass at the DIGS community garden is the responsibility of the Allotment Bed folk. There is a schedule that shows whose turn it is to mow and trim at DIGS, both inside and outside the fence.

 Today at the Saturday work party we briefly discussed the tricky business of the Allotment Bed & DIGS members using our brand new electric lawnmower without prior instruction on its delicate parts and battery insertion direction etc.

How will we go about making sure that every Allotment Bed person knows exactly how to use the new lawnmower without breaking it? (For example, Kevin told us that getting too close to structures on the sides causes catching of the side bits of the mower). How can they learn to weedwhack (or whipper-snipper) successfully and at the right angle so that the string doesn't run out from breaking off countless times? How do you charge the batteries, and when should you change batteries?

How does one move the hoses that are lying on the ground? How do you mow around so many hoses?

Should you keep the mower going between patches of mowing, or should you turn it off to save the battery so you don't run out of battery before you're finished?

Where and when are the batteries charged? How high should the grass be cut?

What do you do when you're unsure? Where is it dangerous (rocky) to mow?

Last season when the mower was purchased we held an announced training day for Allotment folk, but none of them attended. So can anyone use the comment button below, or make suggestions as to the best way to keep our lawnmower safe from forgetful/stubborn/hasty/unsure human use? 

One suggestion that Jim Harris made was for the mowing to be done Saturday morning during the work party so we all could be there for it. Another person suggested putting the instructions up on a clearly printed large outdoor poster? But would people read it and follow it?

We really need to solve this going forward. Thanks for any and all help with this conundrum. Please help, thanks.

Jen for Jim/Veronica/Kevin etc.

Metal roofing raised beds

 Here at DIGS, we need to rebuild and replace some of our raised beds, and since the lumber we used to use (4" x 4" yellow cedar) has become prohibitively expensive at approximately $500 for a 24 foot by 4 foot garden bed, we took a look at two local designs that utilize a timber frame mounted with corrugated metal roofing.

 Firstly, a brief field trip to the Co-Op Greenhouse at Beban Rec. center gave us a good look at their use of horizontal metal roofing (click on photos to enlarge):

The design requires plenty of costly 2x4" wood, and the Co-Op volunteers showed us how the longest pieces of wood do warp, bend and bow over distances, which looks slightly irregular. Also the flaw in this particular build was that the wood is exposed to the wet soil where it would rot and need replacing at the corners. The above beds were obviously also too tall for our uses at DIGS (they filled the height of the beds utlizing "hugelkulture" to save on the amount of soil required) so we'd need to re-think the design for our own uses.

On the other hand, utilizing the metal roofing vertically, as our P.I. neighbour Gordon did in his garden on Pirates' allows perfectly strong and stable beds of any length, and have no wood exposure to wet soil at all. Just brilliant. The cost is approximately $140 worth of metal for a 24 foot by 4 foot garden bed (we still have to price the lightweight lumber). Plus we have the nearby expertise of the inventor himself, who has built several, to show us the easiest way to put them together. What a win all around!

click on photos to enlarge

Note that all the roofing comes pre-cut from the store, and has standard nut fasteners that affix it to the lightweight wood.

Note too that in the preferred second design, with the metal used vertically, there are no corner posts at all. The strength of the product is in its vertical positioning.

Jim Harris has asked that we take more DIGS garden measurements and really sort out how many beds will fit. Our priority is to plan on the maximum grow area for the left front of the garden where the beds will be replaced first (the clematis and rose trellis area will be replaced with public and possibly some allotment veggie beds). All of this will be voted on and planned as we go.

We can put the new beds closer together than lawn-mower-width, Jim suggests, and use mulch on the paths instead of lawn, as long as the paths are wide enough for wheelbarrows. So this could be fun to work out using graph paper and little paper pieces, if folks are into it.

We should also decide on whether, over time, all the rotten timber should be replaced with vertical metal roofing in this new design. They should last for decades without the need for further investment. The Zinc coating is foodsafe and does not break down over time, and the 1"x3" trim will be Yellow Cedar. (Red Cedar suffers from a powder beetle problem).

So this is part of the success of our tiny field trip this week, as well as finding the structural engineer who will help us build a healthy/organic footing for the greenhouse (timber, gravel, rebar anchors etc.).

All the news, now for some measuring and planning!

Jen (for Jim Harris) (who doesn't use computer)

Little Diggers April 2nd start

 

The community garden will once again be offering a "Little Diggers" program. The program this year will be a series of Sunday morning lessons dealing with plants and will be held in the community garden each Sunday morning starting April 2 until September 2023. The lesson will start at 10:00 am and go until 12:00 and children of all ages are welcome. There is a $5.00 registration fee per child payable at the first lesson.

All parents are asked to accompany their children so they can help them with some activities.

Jim Harris

March plantings

 These past few Saturday work parties have been full of fun and greenhouse work and baked goods. Many new crops have been started, and many many more are at people's homes, started as seedlings (such as Snowpea, Onion, Leek, Tomato) waiting to be planted in the Community Garden. Here are some photos from the past two weekends.

Firstly, so many hanging baskets, Geraniums, Sweetpea pots, Annuals (such as Pansy, Viola & Petunia) and outdoor perennials have been transplanted in huge numbers by some pretty amazing volunteers. They move tiny plants on to larger and larger pots, in readiness for the plant sale on May 13th, and for transplanting into our own community garden beds too. This is steady work, and we are so grateful to those who come on weekdays as well to transplant so much!

click on photo to enlarge

Started two weeks ago, in Bed 17 we have repeated the spring planting for "The Coleman Project" with two kinds of Radishes and some mixed Lettuce (Mesclun) to start off (see last year's success!). Later there will be Turnip, Carrot and other crops added. These Radish varieties are not "hot" and are very juicy and delish, plus will be completely worm-free as they were grown beneath "Reemay" cloth which keeps the chewiest of bugs out of them.

 Meanwhile, in the larger public beds, the Garlic and Kale have been joined by Broadbeans and Potatoes! The Reemay cloth is to stop the birds from making a buffet out of newly sprouted beans.

The compost corral now out of sight at the back of the garden, has begun again, with layers of dry leaves and seaweed starting to be piled up alternating, inside of a pallet wood rectangle next to Joyce's Greenhouse. We no longer mow the leaves to break them down, as we're using an electric lawnmower now instead of gas, so we will be adding beneficial bacterial powder to help break the leaves down faster. We lost a couple of years of composting over lockdown so have to speed it up again so we can constantly replenish the beds. Folks with raked and bagged leaves at home are welcome to donate them to DIGS to add to our compost corral. 

 Although it's difficult to photograph, I did note that chicken manure was top dressed over the Rhubarb crop (yummy for them!) and also thanks to volunteers, the heavy-duty arches were raised in beds 2 &3 to support the Squash and Beans plantings.

click on photos to enlarge

Finally, we'll be researching changing the raised veggie beds from (expensive) wood to corrugated metal roofing material with wooden top edging this week. Many of the beds have rotten wood now, and they fragment. It will be a large ongoing project to gradually replace them with more affordable alternatives. Photos of the metal beds will appear on the blog shortly so stay tuned.

Jen

P.S. Good tips on how to get more food in less space from Linda Gilkeson! See the pdf here from March 2022.

Veg in Feb

 A nice bunch of folk have been coming out Saturday's at 10am for our garden work parties. Sure there's not alot of "Veg in Feb", but we do have some plants ready to take off as soon as the weather warms and the sun is a little higher in the sky. Here they are: Lettuce, Spinach, Broadbeans, Kale, Swiss Chard, and of course, the Garlic is up (it was planted last summer).

A reminder to Kale lovers; please don't pick the leaves from the middle of the plants, but just the very lowest leaves. They do not grow at all in the winter, so there will be no new leaves growing until there's more sunshine.

 The news from the City is that we're in line for a grant to replace the rotting 4x4 wood that comprises the raised beds, and a small grant for a slightly larger greenhouse to sit on the same site as our existing greenhouse. Here are a couple of photos showing the kind of wood rot problem we face (it's natural) and our current "cool" poly greenhouse which is well utilized.

click on photos to enlarge.

Also, last week a team of volunteers cleared a small patch of blackberry, roots and all, in order to re-create a place for the seaweed/leaf corral. This is where we build a bin out of wooden pallets to layer seaweed and mown leaves to create soil. In the coming workparties we'll further this corral and fill it, hopefully.