Volunteer work days, July 1 to 7, 2012

Tuesday, July 3, 8:30 to 11:00:  Sir and spray the milk and honey prep.  This particular prep encourages increases in our beneficial insect population.  Plant more green beans, and weed, feed and mulch the strawberries.

Thursday, July 5, 5:00 to 8:00:  We'll hill the ginger, harvest potatoes, and weed and mulch any root beds that need it.  There will also be a grill available, and a vegetable from the garden will be served.  Last Thursday we had fresh, sun warmed tomatoes and green beans sauteed in ghee.

Friday, July 6, 5:00 to 8:00:  Stir and spray fermented nettle prep, weed, feed and mulch the flower beds.  The grill and fresh veggies from the garden will be available this evening as well.

Saturday, July 7, 5:00 to 6:30 in the morning:  Stir and spray the silica prep.  The silica prep helps plants make the best use of sunlight and has been shown to increase flavor and sweetness.  Because of its relationship to sunlight, it is best applied just at sunrise, thus the super early start time.

Volunteer Days, June 20 to June 27, 2012

The summer schedule is likely to change from week to week as I adjust for vacations, summer camps and the like.  Below is the schedule up through June 29.  A number of excellent regular volunteers have agreed to come in for two hour time slots while I am away on vacation.  Please come and support them if you are able.  The garden is in great need of weeding, but there is also plenty to harvest!

Below is the schedule.  In addition to the work mentioned below, there will be time to harvest chard, celery, dill, basil, spring collards, arugula, cilantro, carrots, squash, tomatoes, and green beans. 

Wednesday, June 20 from 9 to 11:  Weed B3.  Thin sunflowers.  Add mulch.  Deadhead all flowers in the bed.  Penny will be your guide.

Thursday, June 21 from 10 to 12:  Finish anything that didn't get done in B3 the day before.  Weed C1.  Add mulch.  Deadhead all flowers in the bed.  Kristen will be your guide.

Friday, June 22 from 3 to 5:  Weed celery and swiss chard in A1, plant big empty spaces with cover crop and water well.  Put thick layer of leaf mulch around chard and celery.  Therisa will be your guide.

Saturday, June 23 from 10 to 12:  Weed B5.  Thin and transplant okra.  Feed entire bed with a thick layer of sifted compost and a scoop of feather meal.  Cover with leaf mulch.  Attach vine plants to trellis with twine or twist ties where possible.  Kristen will be your guide.

Monday, June 25 from 9 to 11:  Finish anything that didn't get done in B5 on Saturday.  Weed A2.  Feed entire bed with a thick layer of sifted compost and a scoop of feather meal.  Cover with leaf mulch.  Snip suckers from tomato vines and continue training up strings.  Pat will be your guide.

Tuesday, June 26 from 9 to 11:  Harvest garlic in B1 and lay out in greenhouse to cure.  Check ginger in pots near shiitake logs.  If base of ginger plant is bright pink, add 4" of sifted compost to that pot.  Give B1 a quick weed, plant cover crop over entire bed and water well.   Weed D4 and cover bed with leaf mulch.  Nice will be your guide.

Wednesday, June 27 from 9 to 11:  Finish anything that didn't get done the day before.  Weed D6.  Thin leeks and transplant so that plants are 4 to 6 inches apart in their rows.  Water well.  Add a layer of leaf mulch.

Thursday, June 28 from 5 to 8:  This will be our first attempt at summer potlucks.  Bring an easy dish to share.  I'll have a small fire going for grilling and plans for something fresh to eat from the garden.  As to work, we'll finish anything that didn't get done the day before.  Weed D1.  Plant cover crop in big empty section and water well.  Add a thick layer of sifted compost and another layer of mulch around potatoes.

 

Volunteer Work Days June 10 to 16, 2012

There will only be one work day this week, Thursday, June 14 from 8:30 to noon.  We will weed, weed and weed some more.

The chicken coop is finished and chickens will be arriving tomorrow late morning.  Come check them out!

Stay tuned for the summer work schedule which will start next week.  Yes, we will be gardening throughout the summer!  Meanwhile have a great start to your summer break.

Volunteer Days June 3 - 9, 2012

Tuesday, June 5, 8:30 to 10:30:  We'll trellis as many vining plants as we can and harvest for the afternoon market

Thursday, June 7, 8:30 to noon:  We'll weed, feed and mulch the leeks, sweet potatoes and parsnips.

Friday, June 8, 1:00 to 3:00:  We'll weed, deadhead, feed and mulch as many flower beds as we can.

Volunteer Days May 27 to June 2, 2012

Monday, May 28 from 1 to 4:  We'll plant beans, harvest the grains, finish putting up the trellises, and work on the chicken coop.

Thursday, May 31 from 8:30 to noon:  We'll plant buckwheat in B1, hill the potatoes, check to see if the ginger is ready for hilling yet, and weed all of the root beds.

Friday, June 1:  We'll finish whatever we didn't get done on Thursday.

Pictures of the Week

This is our ginger experiment.  Rather than growing it with loads of organic fertilizer in a soilless medium, we're trying biodynamic compost and watering it with compost tea.  So far so good.

Plants that the botany class has been working with in the greenhouse.

The photo doesn't really do it justice, but this is the sort of thing I've gotten used to seeing on the blackboard when I peak into the greenhouse, beautiful pictures of flowers and plant parts.

Volunteer Days May 20 to 26, 2012

Thursday, May 24 from 8:30 to 10:30:  We'll finish putting up trellises for all of our vine plants, finish moving the rock pile outside of the garden fence and clean and repair the explosive fluids cabinet.

Friday, May 25 8:30 to 10:30:  We'll transplant chives and plant phacelia, echinacea and coreopsis seeds, and weed and feed as many flower beds as we can.

                          1:00 to 3:00:  We'll apply compost tea, fermented nettle and fish emulsion to the beds, and weed and feed as many leaf beds as we can.

 Trip Week

Third grade had a wonderful time visiting Minka Farm this week.  They helped with farm chores including feeding and watering the animals, collecting eggs, cleaning out barns, and caring for the plants.  They also got to wash, card, spin and weave wool, go boating on the pond, swing on the rope swing and help with meal preparation and clean up.  A good time was had by all!

Ninth grade went on a series of day trips ending with a single overnight this year.  They learned about passive solar technology at NC State and Duke, biofuel and sweet potatoes at Piedmont Biofarms, recycling water, organic farming and heritage breed chickens at Chatham County Community College, and working with wood by hand at Roy Underhill's Woodright Shop.  They finished off their week with an overnight at Pickard's Mountain where they spent time reflecting on all they experienced over the course of the week, learned a little about the current level of stress our planet is under, and tried to put into words what they felt they could take home from the whole experience.

Volunteer Days, May 13 through 19, 2012

It is field trip week for both 3rd and 9th grades this week so I will not be in the garden much at all.  If anyone is able to come out and work at any time, please do.  Everything is desperate for weeding.  Below is which beds need weeding on which days.  I'll post this list in the grey shed as well.  Please come out if you can find the time!

Monday, May 14:  B3, C1, D3 and D5 - all flower beds
Tuesday, May 15:  A1, C2, C5, and D7 - all leaf beds
Wednesday, May 16 until 4pm:  A2, A4, A5, and B5 - all fruit beds/
                                 after 5 pm:  A1, C2, C5 and D7 (leaf beds)
Thursday, May 17:  A1, C2, C5 and D7 - leaf beds again
Friday and Saturday, May 18 and 19:  A2, A4, A5, and B5 - fruit beds again.

I recommend pulling any weeds that are flowering or have gone to seed first, then pull any weeds taller than the crop plant.  Finally, pull all smaller weeds and give the surface (top inch or less) of the soil a good scraping with the hand hoe, a claw or the edge of a trowel.

Thank you in advance for anything and everything that you are able to do!