Hi All,
Yup, you guessed it, lots more weeding done in the garden last week but that was not the only chore getting done so let’s talk about the other chores first!
The Greenhouse was cleaned out of all pots and flats so now everything we need for our future planting (which will be sooner rather than later) is organized in the Potting Shed. We also gave away the last of our tomato plants to a parent volunteer from the Free To Be Me daycare! We are so glad that they finally found a garden to go to!
For the Office the back patio was finished getting cleaned off so now we can use both doors which helps out allot on Friday afternoons when the West door is being hit with the setting sun! Each shift also took turns getting the garlic cleaned and bagged for our Fall plantings as well as getting the rest of it out to the pantries. We had the 2 Miss E’s out on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday to make sure that chore was completed, thank you girls:):)
The Orchard crew got busy pruning back the tops of the fruit trees. Looks like the first 2 rows in the North East corner of the Orchard was completed. They also continue helping out in the Berry Patch. The irrigation was worked on and some weeding was done to help the berries with unimpeded access to water. We also use the water from produce washing to give them a bit more. When we use the tub to soak lettuces we take a bucket or watering can, fill it up with the excess water and water the berries with it. Once that is done we also use that water for the potted plants being kept under the pop up next to the Office’s back patio.
Worm Are-the worms were fed leftover fruit and got a good watering on Wednesday. The 2 Miss E’s helped out with the feeding and KC (that was her last day in the garden:( we will miss her but she is going to be busy with school!) got the worms watered in! Kelly the day before fixed the lid to the worm bin for us! The left side was falling apart & he got right in there, found some bolts in the trailer and fixed it up!
Sheet mulching was happening! The rest of the driveway, all the way to the spigot on the East side of the Orchard continued on Tuesday and was completed on Saturday thanks to the efforts of Qaadira, Scott and the Enrique’s getting the volunteers out there to help! Looking good! The North side of the Little Hoop House was also completed. Sheet mulching was started between the Orchard and Big Hoop House so we will be looking to finish that along with getting the East side of the Big Hoop House completed this week!
Kaleidoscope! They had a small but mighty crew out on Thursday! The 4 person crew helped Kelly with getting the Church Garden sheet mulched. It looks so good over there! They did a great job running the wood chips out to Kelly so he can get them all spread out to create a walking path:) Shout out to the 2 Staff members who also helped out;) It is always a pleasure to have them out and this past month we had them out 2 weeks in a row AND we have them back out again this week for the 3rd week in a row!!! Go Kaleidoscope!
OK, now weeding…the Big Hoop House is in need of weeding help. Brenda, KS and the 2 Miss E’s Grandpa got to work on it last week and this week the North East corner is the last of what is needing to be weeded out! The front apron had the weeds sprayed with the vinegar solution again and it seems to be working well. K18 was weeded out along with other beds garden wide! The N beds are especially problematic!!! The Front Apron also got some weeding love and a big pile of weeds got dumper into the green bin. If ever the green bin is full and you need to leave the weeds in a pile on the outside please let one of the Garden Crew know. On Tuesdays when the garbage pick up is done we can work with the driver to get those weeds picked up as well.
The lizards are still popping up everywhere! If I don’t see them I at least have been hearing them scurrying across any cardboard that was laid out, lol!!! We have not seen the foxes in a while but that is normal. If you do see them please let us know. We are wanting to know if the Ivermectin we gave them is helping the mama with her mange. Oh, an owl pellet was found the week before so it looks like the owl is still occupying the owl box out back:)
You all also harvested 578.51lbs of produce to go in to the local food pantries!!!
Thank you all for continuing with us to get food out to our neighbors!
Take care
Lori