A Growing Community

Pictures from May, 2011

Almost Ready to Go

The only task remaining is to attach chicken wire on top of the garden structure to keep out birds. Then gardeners can begin planting!

Pictures from June, 2010

Compost & Beds

Linda, Allison, John and Sharon met at the garden last Monday (May 24, 2010) to check the compost and discuss options for creating raised beds. We walked around the ranch and looked at many materials available to recycle into the bed construction. We like the idea of using existing containers like tubs, crates and cabinets which are already on site. We also saw concrete chunks, rocks, pallets, wooden planks, beams we thought we could utilize. Sharon agreed to move some of the concrete chunks and rocks to the garden area so we can collect and start designing and installing the beds.

Chuck and Stacy tilled the soil and added manure for in-ground beds on one side of the garden. They did a great job digging. Yay! Chuck has been tending and planting for the revegetation of Lake Chuckawalla. The datura and grasses are looking good.

We plan to met next Monday (June 7) at 8 am for a composting session. We are going to fill the Compost Tumbler and get the first load cooking. Please feel free to bring your appropriate “garbage” and join us. And, yes, we decided we could use more manure!

Horehound & Hens

Hi all,

This blog entry is actually about two very exciting OCG updates:
1. Horehound, and
2. Chicken Wire!

A wonderful group of students from Sierra Oaks came out on Friday morning to help us continue momentum on preparations of the garden.

1. One of the tasks for the morning was to start weeding the area, especially of Horehound, which has been informally labeled as “the enemy.”

For those unfamiliar with Horehound, it is an herb indigenous to Europe, often used in herbal remedies for congestion of the respiratory passages. It is also incredibly invasive if not controlled, and it has run amuck in the garden’s vicinity!

So the goal is to remove all the horehound within about a 20-foot radius of the garden, to protect it from future and further invasion.

2. Before we plant anything in the garden, it was previously agreed that we need to make sure that whatever we grow needs to be protected. So Friday morning, a group of us tackled a few salvaged rolls of chicken wire. As of now, almost 5 feet of chicken wire above-ground and 1 foot below (smaller mesh size) have been wrapped around the semi-circle structure of the garden. If anyone knows someone with extra chicken wire lying around, please ask if they would be willing to donate to our cause!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, a few pictures for a visual update from Friday. Thank you again to the Sierra Oaks group for coming out to work with us. They brought great energy to the garden, and we hope to have them over again!