Grow Where You're Planted...

June 12, 2024

LEFT - Sharon Bastian gives peas a chance...

It's been a struggle growing a garden where the shade also keeps growing every year... and the cedar roots... but this year Red Hen Garden has found its happy spot with several key crops planted in mass.

Lessons learned

1. Grow what thrives in 4-5 hours of sun. In Red Hen's case that list includes:  lettuce, onions, peas, beans, fennel, potatoes, kale, herbs, rhubarb, asparagus, and flowers.
2. Voles happen... OVERPLANT! One for the row, and one for the vole... all attempts to kill off our furry friends have not worked.
3. Discontinue using the beds/or pots on the beds where the cedar roots have penetrated. Even lining the beds didn't help as the roots found their way back in and sucked the water out of the bed or pots. We lost the use of five beds due to roots coupled with shade.
4. Have a slug picking off party in the morning after spring rains. Hand picking off jars of slugs and having dry spells between waterings seem to be keeping slugs at bay.
5. Plant Chinese Cabbage as slug traps- it's slug candy. While they focus on the one plant, other nearby plants are more or less left alone.

What else worked...

• A concentrated effort made planting enough starts easier and more focused. We need 20+ flats each time.
• Watering 3 times a week by hand seems to be encouraging plants to grow better roots than they did with the irrigation system.
• Three volunteers/three hours a week each is enough to keep this garden humming along.