by Amy Swanson
Our crew came from Follen and Hancock: Carla, Mark, Harriet, Susan, Keith, Lu, Roger, Marie, Amy
Journal observations:
• Looks like we are running about one week behind vs. last year…both in terms of what we are planting as well as signs of growth on returning plants
• Soil tests on small garden came back…deficient in nitrogen, so Carla added urea and cow blood (?). Also planting peas which will add even more nitrogen back.
• No signs of asparagus soldiers yet…still hiding out under the composted manure.
• First rhubarb knobs can be seen.
• Garlic is looking good. Was visible 2 weeks ago when I last worked, and even more so today.
• Amazingly, I miss the garden paths?! I was so used to them last year, keeping my big feet off the plants. With so little planted as of yet, they really haven’t been necessary. Soon tho! (Memo to self: bring newspaper next time I work to add to Carla’s supply for creating paths.)
What we did:
• Cleared straw off of strawberry beds
• Installed heavy metal stakes which will be the first step of a fence for the peas
• Removed stump from old boysenberry bush
• Planted spinach and bok choy
• Brought out the rosemary plant that wintered in the basement of the barn. Harriet did an excellent job of pruning it back.
• Planted peas in the small garden along its fence. As noted above, the peas will help the nitrogen problem.
• Tried to coax the new chickens out….shy critters, so far!
• Cleaned off stakes so they were available to reuse to identify new rows planted.
• Set up seedling pots for future planting using 50/50 of potting soil and composted manure
Ahead for Tues:
More planting of onions, leeks and lettuce.