6/25/18

Hey folks, we've got our transplants in the beds! We've got tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, carrots, peas, corn, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, beets, and maybe some other stuff the I'm forgetting. We used our trellis space for tomatoes and peas (not sure what kind of tomatoes they are yet), and we put some of the stuff that might need a trellis later along a side of one of the beds where we could easily add a trellis.
There's still plenty more room, though, so if there's something you'd like to plant, please jump on in. If you have questions, you can e-mail info@evergreenshores.org.
We do have a neighbor working on getting some in-ground beds going near the pool where those garden boxes used to be. She's intending to put herbs there, so let us know if you're interested in contributing to that project. We'll be using some of the leftover soil to fluff those beds up to keep those plants happy.
Happy gardening, everyone.

6/24/18

Thanks to everyone who's working to donate starts for the garden. The irrigation system looks like it's working, and it looks like we'll have good weather for transplanting tomorrow. We'll be down there at 10am to put the starts in the beds. Come on down if you'd like to help out and get your hands dirty!

6/23/18

Thanks to everyone who pitched in on the garden beds!

We got them built today and the irrigation hooked up. We'll be testing out the irrigation tonight, and if all goes well, we'll be transplanting the starts sometime on Monday or early Tuesday. I'm not sure how much of the bed space will be filled by the starts we have going, so that will be something we'll be figuring out when we do the transplanting.

This is a community garden, so when stuff gets ready to harvest, please feel free! If you'd like to contribute, please feel free to do that, too (contributing seeds/starts, weeding)!

In the meantime, happy gardening!

6/21/18

As mentioned, we're going to be doing the garden build this Saturday, the 23rd at 10am. Please come join us if you're interested! We'll be assembling the bed frames, trellis, and setting up the irrigation system. If our soil has arrived, we'll also be filling the beds and putting in the starts.

I'm planning to have the lumber pre-cut, so we should not need any saws. We'll be somewhat limited on the tools available, so if you'd like to bring your own, we'll be using Phillips head screws. It looks like we'll have a couple of wheelbarrows available, but may only have a couple of shovels.

In the meanwhile, we've got some large pieces of cardboard laid out near where the beds will be. These are there so Joshua knows where to put the soil (and to make it easier to get all of the soil off the ground and into the beds).

Hope to see you there!

6/15/18

Thanks to everyone who has expressed interest in the garden project and offered to help and donate time and supplies!

Kris has purchased the soil, and Joshua will be hauling it for us sometime next week (thanks, folks!).

Pat already purchased the drip irrigation kit, which we've already received (thanks,Pat!).

Harmonie and I went to Home Depot and purchased supplies for the beds, so we have everything we need to proceed (thank you, Harmonie!), and now just need to schedule the build. 

Stephanie is coordinating getting seeds and starts going, including donations from the neighborhood (thanks, Stephanie!).

I originally based the bed design on the beds that GRuB builds with their Victory Garden Project. This was back in February or March, and I didn't have specific information about what kind of lumber they use, or what dimensions, so I used my best guess and ran the numbers planning to use 1"x4"x 8' cedar lumber. After I received my GRuB garden, I discovered that they use 2"x4"x8' lumber, and decided that 1" thick lumber would not be as sturdy as I would like and decided to switch to 2" thick lumber. By this point, the board had approved $800 for the project, so I recalculated the numbers and found that the thicker lumber would still be within the approved budget. However, when Harmonie and I got to Home Depot, we discovered that they did not have enough of the untreated cedar for our needs. We spoke with one of their lumber experts who recommended the pressure treated cedar, as it is approved for ground contact and is more rot-resistant. I specifically asked the pressure-treated lumber is still ok to use for garden beds, and was assured it was (this was in line with the research I'd done on the topic, which indicated that in 2003, the lumber industry phased out the use of the nastier chemicals used for pressure-treating).

As Nick pointed out, pressure-treated lumber is not approved for organic certification. My preference is to use organic gardening methods whenever possible, which was why I originally planned to use untreated cedar. However, given that the pressure treated lumber was less expensive and -importantly- available, we made a judgment call to go ahead and go with that. I feel comfortable with the 'risk factor' and feel good that it helped us to save on cost, which I know many of you are also concerned about.

If you're interested in learning more about the risk assessment of using pressure-treated lumber for garden beds, I recommend this link, which has some useful information: https://extension.psu.edu/environmental-soil-issues-garden-use-of-treated-lumber

As I said, the board approved $800. At this point, I think we have everything we need, and it looks like we've spent just under $530: $321.61 at Home Depot, $125.90 for the drip irrigation kit with timer, and about $54 for organic soil.

Since this weekend is already almost here (and it's Fathers' Day weekend), I'd like to schedule the build for Saturday the 23rd at 10am. How does that work for folks?

-Brianna

6/12/18

There has been overwhelming support of donations for plant starts, plants and lumber by community members for the community garden!

Volunteers who have been currently working on this project are discussing whether to start building this weekend or the following weekend. 

We will keep you updated on here as soon as a decision has been made.

If you woud like to volunteer your time, please comment on this post or even better, fill out the volunteer form (above this blog forum), provide a phone number or email and a committee rep will contact you.