First, I would like to thank all of you for making it possible for us to create beauty, food and soil. It was truly a wonderful experience and very rewarding. Whoever is interested in continuing our efforts in growing a garden has a great start. There are friendly neighbors who will gladly help, and a garden that has been established. We placed the garden where the beds allow the drainage to flow back in to the river. It is a fertile piece of land, protected with a fence around it. There is water, hoses and tools, seed flats and an abundant amount of compost already made. There is more than one garden; in fact, there are several fenced gardens, and others that are along pathways with dug beds and amended soils. We would welcome any of the members of the community to take up the activity where we left it.
Most, if not all, beds were productive and provided food, flowers and herbs, and then were interplanted with a bean crop of several varieties to produce seed and stabilize the beds with their roots, as well as cover the beds with foliage to create a cover when the rains came. We understand this was successful; that is, the garden is still there and continued to grow and produce food, was protected from the rain, and drained as well as produced seed. Our last communication in August/September, we heard that the garden was a jungle. We can only imagine the growth and abundance that remains.
Some suggestions for the future are as follows. See if you can find the beds and paths and begin to work where the garden allows you to start. Collect seed if there is any and keep it dry and in paper bags or glass jars in a ventilated room. Begin cutting down all the dead growth and clear an area, one at a time, until you can distinguish where the paths and the beds are. Cutting the weeds dry stocks will not disturb the beds, rather than digging out the roots, although in some cases you may have to.
Make a compost pile with all the roughage you take from the garden, or put it into existing compost. Once this is done, you will have reclaimed the garden and the space. This will take some effort, but within a few days, maybe a week, you will see the foundation of our work last year. There may be a lot of young growth intermittent with dead stalks. These could be weeds or last year’s crops gone to seed. Don’t just assume everything is to be composted. If the seedlings have sprouted, then you are well on your way to having a productive, diversified garden. Taking pictures and sending them to us will help if you need to identify what is there or to just keep us informed.
Let’s say there is a lot of green undergrowth and it looks like greens; ie, lettuce, spinach, chard, kale and so on. Then you are already there and need only to cut, thin and harvest and clear any weeds to make space. Also, you may find the pathways are covered with growth and also could be food or flowers, etc. We will see together…all in all, it’s a good fantasy! If, on the other hand, when you clear the garden beds, everything is thick stalks and grasses and stickers, then cutting is the best first step.
Clear out the stalks, dig out the roots and grasses and bad weeds that have thorns, and then we will assess the next step. Maybe digging is needed to turn in the growth in the beds and skimming in the path to remove the weeds. Possibly just skimming the beds will be the right action, and then top dressing with sifted compost; that is, digging into a finished compost pile or using compost that has been stockpiled along the fence. At any rate, sifting it through a screen and adding a four inch layer to the top of the bed and turning it into the top six inches and raising the bed would do it. Presto: ready for seeds or plants.
This is so interesting…you see we are preparing for winter and extending the growing season under hoop houses and cold frames , and thinking about planning and designing for next spring --where you are beginning your spring season of growth in the garden now!
Love and appreciation,
Juaquin
Note: If you need to refresh your memory on any of the steps such as starting seeds in flats, transplanting, creating beds, sift-turning, etc., just go back to older posts on this blog. You can also use the search function. Please feel free to send your questions by email.
