Tidy up and Irrigate Update 4/2/2022
Work day: We plan to work on Monday, 4/4 starting at 5pm. Our goals are the following:
assemble and test the irrigation
tidy up the garden (de-cluttering and weeding)
Last week: We had a productive crew who planted more than 100 seedlings. The lettuce and brassica seedlings are doing fine, but they need watering every day.
Crew list: Kiersten, George, Maisie, William, Tom, Walter, Father Pontian, Kathy, Jason N. and Jason S.
Welcome to Jason N.! First time in the garden at St. Mary’s
It’s hard to see the little seedlings that we planted last Monday.
Small harvest: I was able to make a deliver a tiny harvest of cilantro, spinach, and kale to the pantry on 3/30. This harvest is about 1 month earlier than last year from herbs and greens that survived the winter. Next week we should be able to deliver a few small bunches of carrots and more cilantro. I harvested this delicious carrot last week. We do not have many carrots, but these few carrots serve to prove our ability to provide vegetables earlier in the spring.
This carrot and the bed in the background survived the winter without cover in our Oak Ridge garden.
Saints Isidore and Maria garden: In our goal to feed the hungry, we will soon begin work on a satellite garden on Dutch Valley road. The SS. Isidore and Maria garden will grow long season, storage crops like winter squash and sweet potatoes in order to increase the food that we can supply to our hungry neighbors at the St. Joseph food pantry deeper into the winter months. In the coming months we will install irrigation and weed control barriers. We plan to plant butternut squash and sweet potato slips in late May or early June. More news soon…
Facts:
growing area is 36 feet wide x 47 feet long
plan for 6 rows spaced apart 6 feet
in-row spacing will be 3 or 6 feet depending on variety of squash, sweet potato
plastic “weed shield” will help on the rows
drip line irrigation planned underneath weed shield
cover crops are planned for pest and weed control and nutrient retention
potential deer management complements of neighborhood dogs
Walter and Alice standing by SS. Isidore and Maria garden.
