Friday 22 November 2019

2019 Garden Update

It's been a while so here's some garden updates. In September I got assigned a community garden plot that had been abandoned for 3 or 4 years. The weeds were 3 feet high and thriving. My garden neighbour said that last year she complained and they mowed it... once.



I went one day with some gloves, pruning sheers, and cardboard to start the no-dig garden process. It wasn't easy. The compost bin was upside down, the land had dips where rabbits or other small critters had dug in under the snow during previous winters, and a bunch of those three foot tall weeds were some sort of mint.

During the cleanup I found one lone ripe cherry tomato. I figured if it could survive this mess it would thrive with whatever I threw at it and saved it for next year. (It's currently in the freezer.)
Here's how everything looked once the weeds were cut down, the compost in the bin was used to fill in the holes, the bin was reassembled right side up and filled with the chopped weeds, and then wet cardboard was put down over the whole thing.




Just a few days later the weeds were already looking pale and sickly. It was a few days before I could get sawdust for the paths so it sat as just cardboard over the weeds for a while.

Beds and paths complete.
The sawdust was from a local community wood shop and
the compost had been provided for the community garden from municipal green-waste.



End of October. Tarped for the winter.

Mid November. Some ice puddles but over all looking good.

That's about it til I order seeds in January. I'll try to remember to post then.