Revered Gardeners!

We had hoped for a good rain dump over the weekend, but as of Sunday afternoon we took in only .1 inches. The steady march into an extended drought continues, which means we'll need to remain vigilant about watering.

Recap of the Week:

We harvested heavily, mostly greens, and shared the abundance with SAFE and Stone Soup Menu. Watering stayed steady and kept everything growing strong.

We hosted tours for 5th and 6th graders on Monday. Upper School students also joined us Friday during Hawbridge’s Earth Day activities to explore composting up close.

In the beds, we put up trellises for cucumbers and tomatoes, refreshed soil with compost for summer crops, and stayed ahead of the weeds. We also started building shelving and tool racks in the new shed thanks to Richard! The week wrapped with a scythe demo from Cameron Conover, which was both practical and surprisingly fun. (Thanks for your time Cameron!)

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This week we will continue to meet on Wednesday at 3:30 and on Saturday at 9:30.

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The week ahead:

• Water

• Continue dressing beds for summer crop planting

• Harvest: last of the lettuces, beet greens, last of arugula, cilantro, chards, kales, spinach, radishes, green onions, strawberries, pak choi, maybe cauliflower

• Begin installation of tool storage systems in the new shed

• Install more trellises for tomatoes and vining plants

• Turn compost piles

• Weed, especially crabgrass and nut sedge

• Sow seed of squash, okra, radishes, bush beans, zuchinni

• Transplant plugs of tomatoes, peppers

Garden needs:

• kitchen scraps for compost

Garden Happenings:

Garden friend and Saxapahaw Timebank member, Cameron Conover, demonstrated proper scythe work at Saturday's work session. We're considering buying a scythe system, a move that will allow us to replace the lawnmower and reduce our carbon footprint at the garden. We'll post here as things develop.

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Super garden supporter, RJ Dobs, constructed a handy ramp at the new shed. This will take away the danger of the big step from shed floor to ground level and make entry and exit much safer.

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Michelle Aronson at FarmBelly, a local organic farm, donated important "green" material to our compost operation. The green material?--spent leaf lettuce plants. Thanks to Ginger for arranging the delivery!

Check these Links:

Take a minute to watch this short video on determining when a compost pile is ready for use in the garden. It might just make us think differently about weeds in our piles!

See you in the garden!

The Sax Patch Team