Brian's Garden Weekly Work
June 20, 2024
Wednesday 6/12 morning harvest for the Port Townsend Food Bank was supported by Diane and her friend Mary (visiting from Minnesota), Marta, Lys and Amber. They harvested bok choi, broccoli leaves, chard, kale (both varieties), kohlrabi leaves, lettuce (heads and salad mix) and spinach for a total of 53.5 pounds.
Our garden has been producing. We put out 85.25 more pounds to the food banks this week compared to last!
Garden Status
Most of the garden is planted now! What we have left to get in the ground:
• tomatoes
• peppers
• companion cilantro
• companion basil
• delicata squash
• pie pumpkins
• more chard
• more pollinator flowers
**we have seedlings started for all of these (some are in the hoop house)
Once we harvest the garlic, we will fill that space with Brussels sprouts.
And as some spring and summer plants come to their end, we will fill in with late fall and winter plants
Thanks to June 13th Work Party Volunteers!
Lyscontinued working on irrigation. Important work getting the system set up in the right order.
Lyswatered the garden. Everybody got a good drink of water!
Mike transplanted cucumbers in Beds 4N, 5N, and 4S. They were ready to get in the ground!
Amber transplanted tomatillos in newly prepared grow bags. And she found some baby voles while transplanting.
Kathy and Denny transplanted zucchinis in Bed 9N after finishing turning over the cover crop and weeding out all of the bindweed. A second day of hard work on that bed!
Karl continued to work on the gate in the back fence line. Reusing materials calls for lots of creativity!
Amber flipped the hoop house from Bed 5S to Bed 6S. Bed 5S is ready for cucumbers, delicata and peppers.
Karl weed-whacked around the chicken coop and back side of the garden. Much needed weed control!
Amber vacuumed the chicken coop; now it’s all ready to scrub clean.
Tasks for June 20th Work Party
Irrigation and watering: (HIGH PRIORITY)
- trench main lines, then measure and run sections of drip line down each bed (3 per bed) to get ready for connections
- water plants in hoop house - when watering the tomatoes, make sure that water does not touch their leaves
Pest control:
- rabbits: continue attaching rabbit-proof fencing (chicken-wire) to outer perimeter and sheet mulch with hog fuel
- slugs: create slug traps out of yogurt containers, fill with bait and bury in soil in affected beds
Weeding - beds and aisles:
- bindweed needs to be dug out wherever it is popping up
- all beds are in need of weeding
- carefully weed where we recently seeded, being mindful to not pull up baby seedlings (Bed 5N - carrots, Bed 8S - radishes)
- weed aisles and add additional hog fuel to sparse aisles
Planting - direct seeding:
- (HIGH PRIORITY) add 2 more rows of carrots in Bed 5N (on the east side of the bed)
- (HIGH PRIORITY) plant radishes in Bed 7N
- Planting - starts:
(HIGH PRIORITY) plug lettuce seedlings in open spaces (Bed 1N and Bed 9S) - dig out lettuce roots and re-fertilize where we have taken out whole heads - (HIGH PRIORITY) transplant pollinator flowers around garden - refer to garden map, but fill-in/plant where it makes sense (as map may not be up to date with flower locations and varieties)
- Plant maintenance:
(HIGH PRIORITY) thin beets and transplant them where there is more space in Bed 6N - transplant some phacelia from Bed 1N to Bed 5S and Bed 6N (if possible)
Construction:
- (HIGH PRIORITY) build two tomato structures in Bed 7S
- (HIGH PRIORITY) build trellis support for cucumbers in Beds 4N, 5N, 4S and 5S
- finish gate in the fence near the bulk compost and soil piles (using the two framed, galvanized panels)
Groundskeeping:
(HIGH PRIORITY) lay cardboard down between two fences atop newly laid chicken wire and top with hog fuel
- finish weeding the inside perimeter of the fence and sheet mulch with hog fuel
- clean chicken coop - scrub interior
We hope to see you for some FUN in the garden!
- Amber, Lys and Denny
Co-managers at Brian's Food Bank Garden
BELOW: Garden fresh produce arriving at the PT Food Bank
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