Community Garden: Winter ice and planning the future

This week started out great.  Ice on the pond kept the geese out of the area and maybe they have flown south for a while.  You never know what they are going to do so I am not holding my breath. 

It was great for another reason also.

It seems that a Garden Nome named Susan snuck out there and pulled up all the tomato plants and put them in the compost pile and stacked up all the tomato cages.  I am telling you that it is so nice to see the ground clear where those plants were.  It really inspired me and I went out there and spread all the leaf mulch I had on Monday and will take another load out on Tuesday afternoon and spread it.

That still leaves a lot of wood mulch to spread around the beds.  We will probably need some more wood and leaf mulch to really do the job.  We are going to build some more tall raised beds for people that need to sit down to garden or use a walker or a wheel chair.  We will put bricks all around them so that access is easier.  All of these beds will be on the west end of the garden where the parking lot is located.

We are going to start planting in late winter or early spring to get the most out of the garden.  The summers are so hot and the insects and other pests are really bad and it is no fun working in the garden so whatever we plant will not have to be dealt with until late summer or early fall and then we will plant a fall garden and include some things that will do well in the winter and be ready to harvest in the early spring.  Can you imagine that?

We are already planning what is going to go in the garden a whole year from now!  If you have a garden you should think about doing the same thing.  Plan now and put things in your garden that will add nutrients back to the soil and take advantage of the entire year.  If it is a small garden it will take very little effort to use row covers in the winter and grow just about anything you want.  Don’t be afraid of cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, carrots and beets and all kinds of other good tasting vegetables.

The worst part of finding out all the things you can grow is that you want to do more and before you know it you have bought the house next door, torn it down and made the entire lot a garden.  Nothing wrong with that!  Why grow grass in the front yard?  Why not put in raised beds and grow vegetables and flowers and really take advantage of all the space.  When your expansion gets out of hand I am sure someone will tell you and you will ignore them and just keep on going.