Brian's Garden Work

May 30, 2024

Thanks to May 30th Work Party Volunteers!

Weeds, seeds and drip lines… oh my!

We really went to town on the weeds. 

Mark focused on digging up our pesky bindweed. Diane weeded the celery bed. Karl weed-wacked along the outer perimeter of the fence. Amber weeded between the deer fence and the garden fence.

Keep our garden growing.

Denny seeded carrots in Bed 5N and pumpkins and pole beans in flats. Diane also seeded carrots. Mike seeded sugar snap peas in Bed 1N, snow peas in Bed 1S and beets in Bed 7N. Kerri also seeded beets in Bed 7N.

Kerri added Farmyard Blend around the bok choy and added more soil to to mound up the potatoes in the grow bags.

Prepare for the drier season.

Karl cut long the long sections of drip line in half and got them organized near all the beds.

Manage those garden pests.

Denny dusted diatomaceous earth to combat cutworms in infested beds. Amber concentrated on weeding the perimeter to prepare for adding our chicken-wire rabbit deterrent.

Bunny made a guest appearance while we were all there after they had been spooked out of the weeds. 

Tasks for May 30th Work Party

Another garden variety of tasks this week. Note the high priority items.

Irrigation: (HIGH PRIORITY) run sections of drip line down each bed (3 per bed) and get ready to make connections

Pest control: 

• cutworms: monitor treatment of diatomaceous earth in Beds 3N, 4N, 7N, 3S and 9S - apply more, if necessary 
• rabbits: finish weeding the outer perimeter, attach rabbit-proof fencing (chicken-wire) and sheet mulch with hog fuel
• (HIGH PRIORITY) slugs: create beer traps with yogurt containers - put in lettuce beds and other beds with slug damage

Weeding - beds and aisles: 

• bindweed is really popping up and needs to be dug out
• finish weeding between deer fence and garden fence
• carefully weed next to beds where we directly seeded (as seedlings are still very small)
• finish weeding the inside perimeter of the fence and sheet mulch with hog fuel
• add additional hog fuel to sparse aisles

Planting - direct seeding: 

• seed radishes in grow bags on top of potatoes
• radishes in Bed 7N

Planting - starts in hoop house: (HIGH PRIORITY)

• squash seedlings - plant in Bed 4S and Bed 5S and create low hoops to cover with plastic
• bean seedlings - plant in Bed 1N and Bed 1S, then give them a dose of worm tea

Plant maintenance:

• thin carrots in Bed 1S, 2N and 5N
• thin beets in Bed 6N
• transplant some phacelia from Bed 1N to Bed 5S and Bed 6N
• water plants in hoop house - when watering the tomatoes, make sure that water does not touch their leaves

Fertilization:

• mound farmyard blend around all alliums - cover the white and red areas to increase the size on the lower plant
• onions in Bed 1S, Bed 2S, Bed 6N, Bed 8N and Bed 9S 
• leeks in Bed 7N
• garlic in Bed 8N

Construction:

• (HIGH PRIORITY) Create low hoops over lettuce and other delicates to run shade cloth in upcoming hot weather
• Create a gate in the fence near the bulk compost and soil piles (using the two framed, galvanized panels)
• Hang wooden gate, a lovely donation from Beth, between shed and chicken coop (need to determine how to secure and what hardware we need)
• Begin planning build for tomato covering

Bed preparation: 

• prepare more grow bags for tomatillos (mix compost and garden soil with fertilizer amendments)
• (HIGH PRIORITY) terminate cover crop in Bed 9N… it may have to be weeded out instead of turned under... the plants are just too BIG!

If anyone has some old beer they would like to donate for our slug traps, please bring it tomorrow :) 

We hope to see you for some FUN in the garden!

- Amber, Lys and Denny
Co-managers at Brian's Food Bank Garden