Inside Brian's Garden

September 18, 2024

Wednesday 9/18 morning harvest for the Port Townsend Food Bank was supported by Diane, Karl, Lys and Amber. They harvested 45.5 pounds. The extra help really made a difference!

Thanks to September 12th Work Party Volunteers!

Mike prepared beds and planted spinach seeds in Bed 1N and 1S. Amber moved grow bags to the north fence-line for planting, transplanted cilantro starts into grow bags, staked PSB and removed calendula plants that were affected by powdery mildew and ran a load of yard waste to the dump. Mehdi continued weeding and working behind the chicken coop. Lys continued pruning grapes, weeded the tomato house and weeded the pathways of field bindweed. Kathy maintained the tomatoes (removing suckers and tying up as necessary) and tended to the squash and cucumbers. Denny brought the worms back to the worm bin in the garden and ran a load of yard waste to the dump.

Tasks for September 19th Work Party

Planting: 

• direct seed: beets (Bed 6N), kohlrabi (Bed 2N), arugula (grow bags), radishes (grow bags)
• transplant: kohlrabi (Bed 2N), onions (Bed 6N and 8N), collards (Bed 2N), Asian greens/bok choi (Bed 9S), lettuces (Bed 3S)

• Planting Schedule for Fall and Winter Harvests:
• September 26
• direct seed: fava beans, cover crop, mache
• plant: garlic (Bed 7N)

Groundskeeping: 

• continue weeding and adding chicken-wire to outside north-fence line and sheet mulch along fence afterwards
• would be fantastic to finish the north side before we start on the toilet enclosure
• weed aisles and add additional hog fuel to sparse aisles
• continue weeding behind the chicken coop, add cardboard and hog fuel to sheet mulch the entire area
• move more grow bags (filled with soil and straw) to inside north fence-line for planting arugula
• add a drying line under the canopy (up out of the way) where we can hang towels to dry

Plant maintenance: 

• finish pruning grapes, removing affected branches, leaves and fruit
• remove remaining peas
• encourage vining squash to attach to trellises and sprawling squash to stay in their beds

Preparing for Fall and Winter

We just planted and will plant a few more crops that will be great for fall and winter harvest: spinach, collards, kohlrabi, arugula, radishes, Asian greens/bok choi and lettuces. 

We will also be planting garlic in the immediate future. We will plant garlic in the entirety of Bed 7N. This crop will be ready for harvest August/September 2025.

Purple sprouting broccoli is planted in Bed 8S and will overwinter here. Watercress will also be left to overwinter.

We will keep existing plants like kale and chard in the ground as long as we can still harvest from these plants. 

Soon, other beds will stop producing and we will remove those plants. We will then plant cover crops in these beds. We will seed cover crop mix blends, as well as seed some mache and fava beans as cover crops, too.

After the cucurbits in Beds 4S, 5S and 6S and the tomatoes in Bed 7S have been removed, we will begin our compost bin project. This will entail us removing the material from all three bins and initiating the three-bin process.