Mulch and Weed, Mulch and Weed

This week was a maintenance week. It rained often so it was mostly too wet to plant or transplant. We did get some more beans planted and tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, and eggplant transplanted but that was at the end of the week. Some of us worked on this Saturday because it looks to be wet this next week as well. Our arugula is coming in nicely so it had to be thinned. I have never had arugula before but I decided to try it as we picked it out. It tastes like a peppery, peanut-like spinach which is better then that might sound. Lots of our seeds are not doing as well however, and we think it might be because the seed we used is just older. Seeds become 10% less effective each year and we needed to get rid of some.

The weeds have done very well with this rain so weeding and mulching were very important this week. We couldn't get all of the weeds without messing up the soaked ground but it will be happening as soon as we can. When we are not outside due to rain, we are reading up on what we are growing, ways to prevent pests and diseases, and preserving the produce we have harvested. If you go out to our gardens you could pick our lettuce, strawberries, herbs, and swiss chard. You will know what to pick since we have made excellent signs to tell you what is what.

Our chickens have lasted longer then last year. You can celebrate that fact alone. The three hens are laying eggs, eating our scraps, weeds, and any frogs we might find and turning them into delicious eggs. They can no longer escape because they have had their wings clipped. This was a fascinating experience as our neighbor James ran through the process with us. This does not hurt the chickens and they can not jump out. It is similar to getting your fingernails cut. We tried making a water feeder for them out of 2 litter bottles but they could not figure it out.

Last bit of good and sad news. Good news is that our rhubarb and blackberry bush that had been tilled under a few weeks ago have started making a comeback! It amazes me how vigorous some things are. Now the sad news. Not all things are quite as vigorous. We had been given a 3 week old rabbit to raise by facilities. Without their mother, rabbits have only a 10% chance of living. Even with all the care given to Bernard (we named him that) could not survive.

Garden Manager Zach Arington