Wednesday in the Garden

 

Tools out, ready to garden!

Our (Wednesday report this week is from Peggy McDonald, former garden coordinator, who is standing in for Cathy Alfano, current coordinator, while she’s out for a while. Peggy’s update gives a vignette of what goes on in the VegHeadz garden every Wednesday.   The busy VegHeadz are really something  Thanks, Peggy. for the garden report and the photos!

It was a glorious day in the garden, here are a few of our activities.

The area where the roselle was growing -- how about Yacon in the sun? We have it growing in the shade in the Forest Garden, but not in the full sun. Will it get bigger, will the tuber harvest be bigger? We are still open for other suggestions.

Michael brought his string trimmer and made fast work of cutting down the weeds around the bamboo and sugarcane. Peggy started but did not finish laying cardboard and mulching this area. We counted 5 new loads of mulch just inches from this area so it’s very convenient.

Mary sowed buckwheat as a cover crop to attract beneficial insects around her flower bed. The seeds only need to be scattered and raked in a little. A light dusting of mulch keeps birds from making off with the seeds. There is plenty more buckwheat seed for everyone. We should plant it throughout the garden to feed pollinators, predator bugs, and bees from our hives. Remember the delicious dark honey the bees make from it.

We marked the area for 14 sunflowers on the East side of the garden and started to weed and put some fine mulch around. Mary made a funny face when I asked if she, Marie and Jeannie had finished the 110 foot row. Let's just say it’s a work in progress.

We have sweet potato sprouts where we grew them last year, imagine that. The mushroom compost soil has been reordered and arrived today.

Joanne continues to weed and mulch around the two flower beds on the South Side.

Vegetable Garden updates:
· Linda harvested carrots and planted two Edamame plants in the D beds. She tied up our flowering Cilantro again. I want to collect seeds, but it keeps falling over.

· Cathi braved the ants to turn the compost bins and planted zucchini and cucumber seeds in the A Beds.

· Glenn worked on trellising his Square foot beds,​ we'll have to wait to see what his vining crop will be.

· Nancy worked on the containers in the Patio Garden. Today she planted sunflowers and aji dulce pepper and will add container eggplants when they get a little bigger. Her last addition was Aunt Molly’s Ground Cherry. It will be pretty cascading over the sides of the 15 gallon pot.

· Louie replaced annual herbs or ones that died in the cold. Herb garden additions- Thai and Sweet Basil, Thyme and Lemon Thyme. Tea Garden bed- Rosemary, Lemon Balm, Edible Lavender and Marigolds.

· Michael used a rebar stake to kill a few newly sprouting old banana stumps.

· BJ and Linda weeded the Library Seed Bed #1 and noticed the labels for this year's crops, but nothing planted yet. We may need to get a set of the seeds distributed at the Leon County libraries from Extension Agent Molly Jameson who heads up that program.

Compost garden soil mix.  We keep it under
wraps to prevent leaching

Michael is working on maintaining the
extensive banana mat.  The bananas plants are so
 prolific we have trouble keeping them thinned out  
enough to produce fruit.

We kill the core of older plants that 
have produced fruit so new plants have
more chance to grow and produce.  
The old plants will continue to grow,
but they only fruit once.  Rebar 
kills the core.

The roses Kwan Park planted with the arbor he built at the garden entrance
are blooming beautifully.  Thank you, Kwan!