Community Garden

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Revision as of 16:37, 31 March 2010 by Benalene (Talk | contribs)

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Creator:
Alii
Status:
In Planning
Born On:
16:04, 03 March 2010 (CDT)
Last Updated:
16:37, 31 March 2010 (CDT)

Overview

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

Calendar

  • 4/10/10, 9am: Gardening w/ AliiCat & Spacefelix

Status

  • 3/31/10
  • Preaux has volunteered to pick up seeds from a coop near his home, we need a complete list of the seeds we would like him to grab by Friday (4/2/10)
    • Benalene intends to plant: Tomatoes, Onions, Marigold (Calendula), Carrot, Parsley, Rosemary, Mint. Maybe Nasturtium. It is a trap plant, it attracts the bad pests to itself, so the bad pests leave the other plants alone. You can also eat them. Might plant some around the outside of my plot.
      • Alii would like, Bell Pepper, Cayanne pepper, Butterneck and Yellow squash, and Mint seeds in the smallest available quantities.
    • Alii will test the PH of the soil and if appropriate pick up some horse poop to fertilize the garden plot with.
    • Alii intends to plant: Cucumbers (on a trellis on the western edge), Peppers, Butterneck and/or Yellow Squash, Mint, Rosemarry and maybe Lavender.
  • 3/30/10
    • Spacefelix checked on beneficial bugs that prey on pests and plants that attract them that are common in Alabama (permaculture-related method). 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
    • Craigslist posting has been made for horse manure.
    • Requested maize and Tepary Bean or Common Bean seed from Preauxphoto.
  • 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, permaculture-related method).
    • AliiCat and Spacefelix discussed what to plant. Decided on a variation of the Three Sisters (permaculture-related method) 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 and help with fundraising.
  • Gregabyte mentioned wanting to do Maker Salsa
  • 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

  • Need to figure out how to keep off unwanted pickers.
  • Preparation Steps
  1. Till the area.
  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
  • Preparation steps based on lasagna gardening method (Spacefelix):
  1. Lay down & wet cardboard or five layers of overlapping newspaper
  2. Layer on browns and then greens in ~1" layers
    • Browns - Fall leaves, shredded newspaper, peat and pine needles.
    • Greens - Vegetable scraps, garden trimmings, and grass clippings.
  3. Repeat steps one and two until you get a 2' tall layered bed.
    • For spring or summertime planting, you will want to add more soil-like materials (compost, peat, or topsoil) to each layer and finish it off with 3-4" of topsoil or compost. Otherwise for the fall, carry on.
  4. Plant and mulch when the time comes.
  1. Form 2'x2' mounds about 1' high.
  2. Plant several maize seeds close together in the center of each mound.
  3. When the maize grows to be 6" tall, plant the beans in a close ring around the corn and the squash in a ring on the outer edge of the beans.
    • For the experimental three sisters, the rings of beans and squash will respectively be alternated with ring segments of tomatoes and cucumbers. The innermost ring around the maize will be bell peppers. This will form three rings around the maize.
  • Planting & Building of a Beneficial Organisms Habitat (Spacefelix):
    • Look Into:
      • Have plants that attract bugs that prey on pest bugs, but what about pollinators? And bees and butterflies?
      • What beneficial birds and other animals do we want to attract to our garden? And how do we do it (birdhouse, plants, etc.)? And what of those we want to keep away?
    • Build:
      • Beneficial Bughouse <- Something to attract beneficial bugs; pest predators and pollinators.
      • Birdhouse & Birdfeeder (for the fall)
  • Build a Compost Tumbler or Compost Pile.

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:

Beneficial Bug Plants; Lasagna Preparation - Spacefelix Beneficial Bug Plants; Lasagna Preparation - Spacefelix Beneficial Bug Plants; Lasagna Preparation - Spacefelix Beneficial Bug Plants; Lasagna Preparation - Spacefelix
Traditional Three Sisters - Maize, Tepary Beans or Common Beans and Summer Squash; Lasagna Preparation - Spacefelix Traditional Three Sisters - Maize, Tepary Beans or Common Beans and Summer Squash; Lasagna Preparation - Spacefelix Traditional Three Sisters - Maize, Tepary Beans or Common Beans and Summer Squash; Lasagna Preparation - Spacefelix Experimental Three Sisters - Maize, Bell Peppers, Tepary Beans or Common Beans, Tomatoes, Squash, and Cucumbers; Lasagna Preparation - Spacefelix
Fallow Fallow Fallow Fallow
Fallow Fallow Fallow Fallow
Fallow Fallow Fallow Fallow
Fallow Fallow Fallow Fallow
Fallow Fallow Fallow Fallow
Fallow Fallow Fallow Fallow
Fallow Fallow Fallow Fallow
Fallow Fallow Fallow Fallow

Plant Info

Info on how much each plant that we are planting needs:

Light Water Soil Quality
Maize EPIC Medium-High EPIC
Beans EPIC I dunno What?
Squash Low  ???  ???
Bell Peppers  ???  ???  ???
Tomatoes  ???  ???  ???
Cucumbers  ???  ???  ???
Onions  ???  ???  ???

Available Materials

  • Small Shovel

Potential Materials

  • Horse manure - Craigslist posting has been made for horse manure.
  • Preauxphoto lives near a food coop that sells certified seeds. Can request seeds from him.
  • Tiller - NEED TO BORROW/RENT ONE
  • Need other common gardening tools.

Who wants to be involved?

Links

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