Matthew's Credo: Eden was a Garden, NOT a farm.
© Matthew
(See Also: Previous post - Student Operated Agricultural Project is a GO for Year Two )
Potatoes anyone?? Ashley
is putting the finishing touches on our potato rows in the team garden.
Learning from the mistakes we (I) made last year, this year we made
some awesome potato beds. Should be rolling in potatoes this year.
Purples, Golds, and Reds!
Student Organized Agricultural Project at Evergreen Community Garden
(Part of the Evergreen Community Garden Club, a Registered Student Organization)
Student Operated Agricultural Project
is a GO for Year Two*.
*Garden Tip #1: Until the soil dries out more, the best way to take care of the soil is to leave it alone.
Working on wet soil will compact it, killing the soil food web and making later work even harder.
 |
| Some of the 2012 S.OA.P. members, breaking ground | |
We have a HUGE plot in Evergreen Community
Gardens dedicated to
people who do not want an individual plot, but still want to get their hands
dirty at Evergreen’s garden. It works great for anyone who thinks they might be
gone for part of the summer, isn’t sure they want their own plot, can commit
some time, but aren’t sure how much, and people who just like the idea of
working on a team in a larger plot, with more crop options.
Last year it was a lot of fun. We started with around 10
gardeners. A few moved out of the area and we ended up with way more of some food than we could use. Some things do really well, and some things kind of
flop, so we learn as we go. Every season is different and there are no
“experts”.
 |
| Gardener Ashley with Baby Sunflower |
- Regularly
scheduled meetings especially during the planning and work party stages,
but come and go as you please.
- Everyone
who participates shares in the harvest
- As of
today the soil is still too wet to work but there are several things we
can start on.
- Here
is a general list of gardeny things we can do:
- Get
together and create our crop plan
- Go
through seed catalogs
- Decide
what we want to plant (so we can get seeds) and where we want to plant
them (crop rotation from last year)
- Draw
a plan on garden map
- Make
a “To Do” check list to help guide gardeners who come at different times
 |
| Starting seed in homemade paper pots |
- Tool
familiarization
- Start
seeds in the greenhouse (can start now, on-going through the season)
- Some
good things to start now are hearty greens (kale, collards etc), onions,
etc.
- Working the soil – creating seed beds
 |
| Bean Trellis - Before |
 |
| Bean Trellis - During |
- Clear
out old beds
- Dig
and/or double dig
- Add
soil amendments (compost, etc.)
- Let
rest for a week or so, then
- Plant
our starts
- Garden
Feng Shui
- Creative
use of space
- Vertical
gardening
- Shape
of the beds
- Ornamental/Insectary
borders (flowers and herbs)
 |
| Rose, holding one of the many harvest baskets |
- Culinary
herb patch
- What
herbs do we want to grow
- Tending
and maintenance
- Watering
- Weeding
- Thinning
- Pruning
- Snacking
- Harvesting
- Garden
Potlucks
- Helping
with Community
Garden upkeep
- Doing
our part for the larger garden
- Pitching
ideas/helping out with Harvest Festival
The S.O.A.P. garden group is forming now. There is still time to sign up. The first step is to
put together an
Interest List.
All interested people should contact garden coordinator, Ali M. at
tesccommunitygardens@gmail.com and she will compile a list of people interested in the Community Plot, or contact Matthew at
nascentgrasshopper@gmail.com . Our first preliminary planning meeting will be some time in late March - we are waiting to see what the status of the greenhouse expansion project is.
