Archive for March 2009

workshop update

Thank you to everyone to came to our workshop last Sunday, it was so nice to see so many folks who would like to grow their own food! We look forward to seeing you at the gardens over the season!

corine in action




interactive garden planning



the square foot plan


As soon as I can figure out how to upload the presentation, I will so that it's available!

We will be meeting at the garden next Sunday at 10am to begin putting some seeds into the ground, and to plan the rest of the beds that we didn't make it to during the workshop. Come join us!


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A nice, big, wet one!

3/26/09 9:00am

Snow, that is. As predicted, March is going out like a lion. And that’s a good thing! We’ve had an incredibly dry winter, and the 12 inch snowfall we had yesterday will go far towards improving soil moisture content.

For those of you who don’t often get to watch it snow I’ve created a little time sequence photo gallery for you. Watch the snow pile up on my chiminea!


noon


3:00pm


6:00pm



3/27/2009 9:00am




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Listen...

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It’s not just what you see but also what you hear that reminds you that change is on the way. The recent sounds of spring in my neighborhood:

-The buzzing of hundreds of bees in the flowering trees.
-The cooing of a pair of mourning doves. They’ve just arrived and will stay now through the summer.
-The tune Little Redbird* being broadcast endlessly by an ice cream truck.
-The obnoxious whine of a lawnmower.

Take out your ear buds and listen to spring!

*Warning. If you don’t already know this song then do NOT search it. It’s the worst of the worst brain worms and will drive you insane!

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Royal Star Magnolia

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I’m so impressed. Pam had the correct guess as to the identity of this plant from just a small view of the bud---good job! Today the flowers have opened; isn’t she a beauty! We’ll see how long they last once the snow arrives tomorrow…

Magnolia stellata ‘Royal Star’ is a shrub type magnolia that should achieve a mature size of 10’ high by 12’ wide. The white, 3" diameter flowers appear in early spring and are very showy. This shrub was planted just last fall in a very hot and sunny location in front of a neighbor’s house. The site is not what I would have recommended, so I’m curious to see how it does. Typically magnolias need a protected site, deep, rich soil and plenty of moisture. But, hey! It survived the winter and is off to a good start. Go Royal Star!

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First Day of Spring



Leaves are leaping and blossoms are bursting. Well, a few anyway. Most of the native plants are too smart to be fooled by a mere date on the calendar and will take their own good time to wake up. Many of the Prunus species (plums, apricots, cherries,etc) are in full bloom, as are the Pyrus (pears) and Forsythia.

Can you guess what exotic plant this bud is on? The answer will be revealed when the flower is in full bloom…

Happy spring!

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Plan-A-Garden Workshop

City Square Communal Garden
Plan-A-Garden Workshop

When: 1 pm – 4 pm, Sunday, March 29, 2009
Where: SPEC Building, 2150 Maple Street

This workshop will give participants the tools they need to successfully plan a food-producing garden. We will learn about

· companion planting,
· vertical gardening,
· square foot gardening and
· crop rotation,

and incorporate this knowledge directly to plan the City Square Communal Garden!

All are welcome, please register by contacting bakervicky@shaw.ca!

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city square - back in action

It's spring and we are very excited about the beginning of a new season! We met the other day to check on the garden after a long hiatus. Our new volunteers Erica and Lawrence helped to weed and straighten out the trellises. erica and zlatko weeding


lawrence happy in the garden
the workshop on organic food gardening at CityFarmer has provided much food for thought ha ha ha (seriously, though - very worth taking!)
cob shed at City Farmer mmmm....cob....


we have updated our work list / wish list for this year:

  • line raised beds with plastic to help prevent rot-lawrence thinks he has some plastic hanging around
  • fill beds with soil and compost - lawrence is checking with his uncle to try to get some from his organic acerage
  • organize a cob-building workshop for a tool shed- vicky is connecting with mudgirls for this.
  • buy compost aerator - $10 from City Farmer
  • find someone who can help us make mosaic stepping stones
  • find a barrel to make a 'vat-o-spuds'
  • make sustainable, waterproof signs and labels
  • construct small wooden blocks to protect sprinklers in beds
  • find material for metal trellises (nylon mesh?)

If you know where to get resources or have any ideas that would help us out, contact bakervicky@shaw.ca

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Whack it!

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It’s spring clean-up time in the garden. I use these hedge shears not for shearing (heaven forbid!) but for whacking back all of my ornamental grasses and perennials. When the plants’ foliage is nice and dry it’s really easy and fast to go through the beds snipping everything down to the base. And believe me; I have a lot of plants to snip!

Next weekend all of the debris will get raked up and hauled off to our favorite recycler-composter guy.

There are a few woody plants that I will also cut back to the ground, but not for a month or so. These include: Russian sage (Perovskia), Powis Castle sage (Artemesia), butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii), leadplant, (Amorpha canescens), and St. Johnswort (Hypericum). I recently read that hummingbird mints (Agastache sp) should also be cut back a bit later in the spring, so I’ll wait a bit on those, too.

Happy Sunday!

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Water it!

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March is up to her usual tricks this year. She’s come in like a lamb and will probably go out like a lion! With temperatures predicted to be in the 60s and 70s this week---and no wind, yea!---it’s the perfect opportunity to give your trees, shrubs and garden a good soak. One to 1.5 inches of water would be ideal.

If you have new plantings, things that have been put in in the last year or two, remember to water them right at the base of the plant. It takes a long time for plants to establish roots beyond the initial rootball, and water doesn’t move from the “native” garden soil into commercial potting medium very well.

Otherwise, enjoy the sunny warmth of this false spring and hope for some nice, soggy snow!

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