Hello garden friends, and happy AUTUMN! The equinox has passed, fall is officially here, and it is definitely starting to feel like it! We successfully completed our fall workday in the community garden last weekend and I would love to share some details about our day, as well as some fall/ winter garden plans. Here’s to some Muddy Musings!
So, as I said, the other weekend we had our fall workday. Our community garden is made up of 21 total plots in the main area, with an additional smaller section off of one side adding 7 more plots. It is a hybridized group of the general public in our community, and church members from the church in which the land belongs to. Workdays are held to maintain our community spaces, foster connection amongst fellow gardeners, and prepare the garden accordingly to the season.
If you’ve had the chance to read my last blog post, you know that our primary goal this workday was WEEDS and booooyyyyy did we work hard! I am incredibly thankful and impressed with the amount of weeding we got done within four hours out of those who showed up to work. We had just under 20 individuals getting to work, and as one of them comically said amidst a pile of green debris, it was the “free version of Planet Fitness- LITERALLY!”
Although it was pretty intense work, everyone had a fantastic attitude and great rapport. I was genuinely concerned that we might lose our beloved garden plots to the weeds for next year- but the garden will live to see another year! Our primary contesters were the Crab Grass and the Bermuda Grass within the walkways that bordered and connected each individual 5x20 plot. We set off at 8am and everyone got to picking, hacking, digging, raking, ripping, and pulling every weed that dared challenge our garden. Our volunteers HAND CLEARED aaaaaalllll of the borders and middle aisles that were roughly a foot and a half wide within a roughly 3,000 square foot space. I am impressed. Some areas, the grass was mid-calf in height, while some other areas, the roots were so incredibly deep and expansive that we would pull up sections of roots as thick as my pinky finger and longer than my forearm. The Bermuda Grass especially had thick knots of roots that we ripped out all across the garden. Bermuda Grass, interestingly enough, is an incredibly aggressive and rapid growth grass that not only spreads by seed, but by underground rhizome as well. This enables it to pop up under borders and barriers with ease. It is certainly not a friend in the garden.
Prior to our workday, we did do some preparatory work against the weeds to help in their removal. We weed-eated and then attempted a homemade “poison” with high acidity (30%) horticulture grade vinegar. The vinegar was certainly affective in killing the grass/ weeds, however, my takeaway would be that it needs a much heavier application than what I gave, and perhaps even staggered application across a longer period. I split two gallons across the *walkways* of our nearly 3,000 square foot garden. The walkways were roughly a foot and a half wide surrounding 5x20 plots. This quantity perhaps would have been better suited for about 1/4th, or one corner, of the entirety of the. garden walkways. We also had rain that fouled some of our preparatory plans, but I could see a succession application working very well. Perhaps a heavy application on day one and then again in 2-3 day increments until you saw desired results. I have heard that direct sun and heat help to expedite this process. I also shared an alternative “recipe” on my previous post if you are unable to obtain (or afford) such high acidity vinegar. Of course, we then pulled all of the grass and weeds, but it is always an option to leave them. Benefits to leaving weeds in place (yet contained) include water retention, soil preservation, and insect habitat, among others.
Moving forward, gardeners had mixed plans for overwintering their plots. Some have sown fall crops and hope for yet another bounty before frost sneaks in. Others have decided to let their beds die back and “sleep” over the winter (as in, not cutting and clearing and simply leaving green debris in place) to provide much needed shelter for beneficial insects and other garden critters. Still yet, some have chosen more of a “middle-ground” and have sown seed for cover crops. Cover crops are a seed intentionally sown for the purpose of keeping the ground “covered” over winter as opposed to bare (this helps with soil health and preservation) but without the intent of reaping a harvest. Cover crops are often various mild grasses or clovers, and some have additional soil health benefits such as clover, which adds nitrogen back into the soil. Each gardener has a different goal in mind and each of these options can be great for you depending on what you are seeking for your garden. Who knew gardening could involve so much planning!
The garden is finally feeling slower, and now freshly “cleaned”, it’s feeling ready for the great slumber. I am excited for the slow in season and in bustle, for a brief moment of exhale, a pause, and a chance to yearn for that peak summer hustle yet again. I look forward to a humble fall harvest within my own plot, and already feel excitement for the life that will come back around, in due time, after a season of rest. I certainly will enjoy a break from fighting weeds- that’s for sure. In this off time, I am planning on coming up with a more offensive measure of weed control for next season. BUT, enough weeds for now. I’m just happy they’re gone and thankful for all of those who contributed. Many hands certainly make light work!
Happy fall ya’ll, and happy “slowing"!
Casey
