Difference between revisions of "Community Garden"

Revision as of 17:29, 30 March 2010

Overview

We are planning to put a community garden up on the premises around the shop for members to grow plants.

Calendar

• 4/3/10, 9am: Gardening w/ AliiCat.

Current Garden Plans

8'x20' plot with 10, 8'x2' Rows. Currently, per Alii, with five people planting, everyone gets two rows. The plot is on east side of the west treeline on the property, towards the shop. Being used as follows: Each cell of the following table is a 2'x2' square on the plot starting from the Northwestern corner:

Status

• 3/30/10
  • Spacefelix checked on beneficial bugs that prey on pests and plants that attract them that are common in Alabama. Found the following:
    • Amaranth
    • Angelica
    • Bindweed
    • Common Mullein
    • Fernleaf Yarrow
    • Firethorn
    • Forsythia
    • Foxglove
    • Garden Cosmos
    • Lupin
    • Oxeye Daisy
    • Queen Anne's Lace
    • Statice/Sea Lavendar
    • Sunflowers
    • Tansey
• 3/27/10
  • We have checked with Alabama 1 call to determine where the utility lines are and plotted a proposed location for the garden by the trees on the south west side.
  • 8'x20' plot marked on East side of Western tree line (towards the shop). Gives 10, 8'x2' rows.
• 3/23/10
  • AliiCat had the property utility lines marked. Will be getting board approval to start the garden.
  • Cherryblossom mentioned the lasagna gardening method (a.k.a. sheet composting).
  • AliiCat and Spacefelix discussed what to plant. Decided on a variation of the Three Sisters using maize (popcorn!), bell peppers, climbing beans, tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers. Will also add plants and habitats that attract beneficial bugs (pollinators and pest predators) and a compost pile. If we produce enough from the garden, we can function as a CSA unit.
• 3/3/10
  • Have determined property lines that we must be within - Within the sidewalks of Brown Street (East Border) and Hall Avenue (South Border), from the North-South tree line to the Southwest of the shop to the western wall of the shop (West Border) and the northern wall of the shop (North Border).
  • Have decided to grow cucumbers.
    • How about some popcorn?

Future Actions/To Dos

• Look into permaculture development of the garden.
• Need to figure out where to plant.
  • Living Walls might be a possibility to fit a garden within our limited space
• Need to figure out how to keep off unwanted pickers.
• Preparation Steps

1. Till the area. I would like to do this Saturday March 20th (Does anyone have access to a tiller?)
   1. We need to borrow or rent a tiller.
2. Prepare the ground
   1. We need to fertilize the ground somehow, it has been suggested we till some dog food into it.
3. Plant
4. Weed

Materials

• Need seeds, materials and tools.

Who wants to be involved?

• Alii
• benalene
• cherryblossom
• Gregabyte
• Spacefelix
• Jimshoe

Links

• Permaculture Info
• permaculture.com
• Lasagna Gardening Method
• Attracting Beneficial Bugs
• Composting
• USDA Plant Database
• Xerces Society