Playing in the Dirt

I’ve made the decision to give up my community plot for the coming gardening season.  I contemplated it last year, but I didn’t want to give up…I felt that I learned something from the first season in the community garden, and I really liked the idea of being part of a community garden.  I wanted to meet other gardeners and learn some more about organic gardening.

I ended up visiting the plot this past somer more infrequently than I did the first year I gardened there.  That might be in part due to the rainy season we had…the year before it was necessary to go and water a lot more often.  This year, ironically the year we installed rain barrels for conserving water, I had to visit the garden for the purpose of watering only in the spring.

I’ve done what I set out to do…I’ve made some new gardening friends and I continue to learn more each year about gardening organically.  I’m part of Canadian Organic Growers, and I participate on the Steering Committee now for Durham Organic Gardeners (our local COG chapter).  The community plot is just too much work for a gardener who also has a large back yard garden.  I’d much rather allow other gardeners who have no space of their own to use the plot to grow food and learn the kinds of things I’ve learned over the past two years.

I technically have use of my plot until the end of the calendar year, but I’ll be finishing up sometime in October, since I won’t be doing any cool weather crops over there.  It’s been a great experience, and I hope others who use the plot love it as much as I have.

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For the last week I have been in California, first to attend the BlogHer conference in San Francisco, and then to visit a friend who lives in Palo Alto.

My friend Derek is a gardener, too, so he knows how much I enjoy visiting local gardens, especially community gardens.

He took me around the block from his home to show me this community garden, which is situated right in the middle of a residential area.  There is a children’s park nearby, as well as some simple green space.  This is the kind of urban planning I can really get behind!

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Lately garden blogging has been so interesting…although I am coveting the weather either on the west coast, England or further southern states, there are still gardeners who live north of me, which means they are pretty much in the tundra. All kidding aside, no matter where you live, or what your growing conditions are, there will always be a gardener who would love to live in your climate instead of theirs. We all just suck it up and do our best with what we have to work with, though, don’t we?

Yesterday i stopped off at the community garden to check it out now that the snow has melted. I thought some of you might like to see how our community garden is looking these days.

A sign welcomes you to the Ecology Garden. Isn’t the sky a lovely shade of blue? It was a little bit windy, but fairly mild for early April.

This is our shed. Inside there are all kinds of tools, two wheelbarrows, a potting bench and half a dozen watering cans. It stays locked until a member comes to work in the garden. This year we are hoping to add eavestroughing so we can collect rainwater from the shed’s roof.

Here is our compost heap. I bet there is some good stuff cooking in the bottom. We have a load of mushroom compost delivered every year at the start of the season, as well. The mushroom compost is donated by a local non-profit organization.

Here are just two of the many water barrels we have in the garden. A local resident allows us to use her outdoor tap to fill the barrels, and we also collect rain water. Donations and COG membership help to pay for the water. In the fall, the barrels are turned upside down until they are filled again in late spring for the season. We keep them covered with sheets of plywood to control the mosquito population.

Here is our plot. This year I will be sharing it with a friend of mine who recently moved to Bowmanville from Toronto, so about half of this space will be mine. There is a bit of cleanup to do, as you can see, and the soil needs a whack of that mushroom compost that’s on the way.

Here is an overview shot of about two thirds of the garden. You can see the autumn version here.

I hope you enjoyed the tour!

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Yesterday I had some time to draw out my vegetable garden plans for 2008. Again, I will be gardening in the back yard and at the Bowmanville Community Organic (Ecology) Garden nearby. This year I will be sharing the community plot with a friend who recently moved into town.

On both plans, I have indicated only a couple of specific varieties…I want to wait until after Seedy Saturday to narrow down what exactly I am going to grow this year. I know that I am going to cut back on the tomatoes this year. Last year I was overwhelmed.

Here’s my rough plan for the community plot:

I want to keep an eye out at local yard sales, or on Freecycle for an arbour or archway to place at the entryway to our plot. It will make it a bit more formal, and provide some vertical space on which to grow cucumbers or morning glory. I also have an old half-barrel here at home that I’m going to bring over to the community garden, to use there, instead. I’ll divide the chives I have at home and bring some to plant in the barrel, along with some edible nasturtiums near the entry to our plot.

I’m planning to plant some ornamental and edible annual flowers in among the vegetable crops, sticking to (hopefully) tidy rows, and using straw for mulch. I thought it would be fun to bring in a birdhouse, too.

My friend Kelly has offered some blackberry canes, and I will need to buy a rhubarb plant unless I can get some from a friend or family member.

Some jobs that will need to be done early in the season:

Get on top of any weed issues that arise!
Amend the soil with compost.
Bring in straw to be used for mulch.
Find an archway or arbour.
Bring barrel over.
Divide up any plants or seedlings from the home garden to bring over to the community plot.
Edge along the fence, removing thick grass and weeds to maximize planting space.

Next up: plans for the back yard vegetable garden!

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Lately I’m all over my collection of gardening books, trying to absorb as many photos of greenery and lovely, orderly lines of growing vegetables and pots of herbs.

Sigh.

This is the time of year I really start to itch to get growing something. I’m totally jealous of gardeners who can grow a “winter garden” because here the winter garden consists simply of my collection of houseplants.

I’m constantly planning both the community garden plot (which I’ll be sharing with a friend this year) and back yard vegetable patch. I envision a cutting garden at the back end of the plot, and maybe even a couple of rows of corn. It’s all about adding height and interest this year! Oh, and compost. Improving the compost.

There are some fantastic photos of community gardens (and gardeners) on Flickr if you use “community garden” as your full text search term. Click here to see what I mean.

My latest article is up at Suite101, How to Organize Vegetable Seeds. Feel free to check it out!

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