Victory Garden work days Feb 14-15, 2014

We made a ton of progress in the Victory Garden the last two days. I am thrilled with us getting every thing done we had on the list.

Next work day is around St Patrick's Day which is the traditional time to plant the spring garden. We need to plan that, which is makes for quality recliner time for me and Belle, the pom-a-poo.

Good news is Stephanie Alligood has graciously agreed to serve as the Project Leader from a Master Gardener perspective. She will do a great job and is already doing good things for us including organizing our flowers and whimsy decorations. We are looking for people who want to help with that.

Bob Hathaway brought us a trailer of compost donated by the Dixon.
He also made and brought to us interesting worm compost pipes. See picture below.

On Friday Feb 14 and today Feb 15, Bob, Sam, Selby, Leah, Rose, Jack and Deborah, Arlene, Stephanie, and I:

Cleaned up and laid down plastic and straw bales and bags of leaves in plots 3, 5, and 6.
Harvest 12 lbs of rutabagas.
Put up four new cattle panels as trellises and secured them.
Reset some onyuns which had washed out the ground.
We filled 61 pots with compost to plant bush type sweetpeas. I will start the seeds at home.

I gave a talk to at the Tipton County Museum this morning which starred our garden. Your work was well received. Same talk I gave last year and they wanted it again this year and brought friends. A Master Gardener from Dyersburg (where I was born) filmed it and with my permission will show it to the MG group up there. Mimi thinks its the jokes they liked, and I tell you: I got a million of'em.

Ain't God good!
cw

Spring Gardening planning and starting Next work day Satiddy Feb 8 10am-noon

 Time to get back in the garden and make useful strides toward a successful spring garden. I am energized like the EverReady Rabbit. 

As you may remember the last spring garden was a bust with cool damp weather hindering germination. But we will not stop trying as His needy folks are still hungry.

Since last blog post we have done several things such as ordering and replanting Dixon Dale Farms onyuns since the first set succumbed to the effects of two frog strangling deluges and two nose and toes nipping freezes. We also planted a pound each of red and white onyun sets. Also looks like the carrots and rutabagas suffered the same fate.

Stephanie and Jan and that team have made individual compost piles in each of the five trash carts the town gave us. They are gathering coffee grounds from Starbucks and putting in each cart as well as on the main compost pile. This is much needed and hard work!

Les Risner donated and delivered a big pile of bags of pine needles.

Dianne Parks has donated decorative gourd seeds to us. BIG THANKS!

Bob Hathaway will be getting us a trailer of compost next week donated by Dixon Gardens.

The garlics looks fine.

It is my dream we make a major upgrade to the garden with respect to decorating and flowers and no-bare-ground-mulching. To this end we are soliciting a team to plan and implement and manage this Herculean effort. Leah and Arlene have expressed an interest and would make excellent project leaders. Maybe they can contact the MAMG interns. I have send a solicitation to CHS TV and Mark Heuberger asking for a general email be sent out to his town list. 

Next work day, Lord willing, is Satiddy Feb 8 from 10am till noon. RSVP to this email if you can be there.

You must have turned in to me or our mailbox a signed liability release form before you work in the garden each year.

Here's a plan of things for us to get done ASAP, and as always I welcome and need your input positive or negative. 

Place bales of hay/straw around the two front plots both inside and outside of the fence underlaid with landscape fabric and/or shingles which I have. They will serve both as planters (some) and platform for the myriads of potted flowers and herbs we want.

Fill 100 6 inch and 10 inch plastic containers with our new compost.

Plant 20 containers of our new bush sweet pea plants.

Move and organize most of our front bin stuff to our new shed.

Dig up the carrots and rutabagas and take any good ones to the Food Pantry.

Clean out and hill up and cover with black plastic plots 2-6 exceptin where the garlics is.

Start 120 Napa cabbage seeds in seed trays.

Put blood meal (natural nitrogen) on the garlics and onyuns.

Set up four new trellises opposite (north side) the extant south four trellises.

Clean up and sharpen our tools.

We have fund balance of $405 so we will need to raise about $500 to get thhe redecoration done.

We need these supplies:

Four trellises and rebar (about $120)

Six pallets to use in the redecorating (I will donate these)

Forty bales of hay or straw ($240)

A hunnert combination 6 and 10 inch (used) plastic containers ($25)
Trailer load of compost (Bob is getting this for us)
Black plastic ($100)

Landscape fabric under bales and between raised beds ($50)
Bags of leaves to hold down plastic (I will scrounge these)
Bone meal, blood meal, nitrogen, organic minerals ($120)

On my wish list:

12 Texas tomato cages with extensions ($200) http://www.tomatocage.com/

Baskets and other whimsy containers and art

Solar lights
Neon glow paint for some of the containers

Butterfly lick
Bird bath
Sundial
Hummingbird feeder
Bird houses
Plastic chicken wire fence to replace real chicken wire fence
More raised beds

I have learned to dream big!

Thanks,

Ain't God good!

cw   See beautiful pictures below: