"And Spring arose on the garden fair, Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere; And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast rose from the dreams of its wintry rest." - Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Sensitive Plant A beauty of a day in the Demo garden brought out 48 motivated gardeners including 5 interns and Marty. Rumors of bluebird eggs mixed with the sound of power tools and squeaky wheelbarrows. Compost was hauled and dumped and hoisted. Seeds and seedlings and seeds were sown. Way too much hairy bittercress and deadnettle was pulled (but not added to the compost bins). Structures were strung (and nailed and tied and shimmed and L-I-F-T-E-D). Berry-cuttings were pruned and passed around. Cover crops were admired while knee-high asparagus was plucked. Hoses were hauled and untangled then tangled again. Culinary herbs, and perennials were divided and reseeded-annuals were shared. Thank you for all this amazing garden transformation in just a few weeks. Joel gets a shout-out for his bamboo wizardry! Please check it out! Garden Reports: Children's Therapeutic Beds: Ellen Meyerson The children participated, enthusiastically this week for the first time. In previous weeks we had cleaned the beds and planted snap peas, arugula, spinach, chard, beets and radishes. This week we planted more lettuce, spinach, beets, radishes and planted the first row of bush beans. Compost Central: Kristy Hardy Yesterday was a beautiful day and both of the compost piles were cooking. Pile 1 was 120 degrees and had increased about 10 degrees from last week and pile 4 was 114 degrees which was a large increase from last week of being in the 70's. We turned pile 1 into 2, adding greens and browns from the piles and 4 to 3, doing the same. Ephram came a little before me and helped turn pile 1 and later Edith came and finished turning the pile. I turned pile 4 to 3. Grateful for the help of Ephram and Edith, who helped make it possible for both piles to be turned. Bill encouraged the other master gardeners and interns to not add weeds that had seeds to our piles and they were very good about that yesterday. The trashcans are now almost full. I didn't touch the bins that Susan started last week. So, with just a little help from a couple other people, the task of doing two piles is very do-able. It also was another beautiful day. Shade Garden: Carol Martin and Sue Schick We had good working session even tho it was raining when most of those present left home it had stopped raining at the garden at 9am & we had a productive time. We cleared Lamium out of one area to allow plants there to show & moved it to area that is just getting established an needed some bare ground coverage. Also continued working on hillside & discussing what additional plants we might want there, including some plants that prefer sunnier locations. We had a learning opportunity as we walked into the Paw-Paw patch to identify some of the "weeds" that look so similar. It was a great day, comfortable in morning & warming nicely by the time we left. The bluebells are beautiful! Every week there is something new! Therapeutic Horticulture Beds: Bob Loesche The TH beds have been thoroughly cleaned out, the weeds removed, and returning perennials moved around to maximize their growth this season. In Bed 1 the Larkspur and Artemesia are coming in nicely. In Bed 2 the Lavender is greening up, and the Achillea have returned robustly. In Bed 3, the Fennel is amazingly tall, while the Anise Hyssop and marigolds are also coming back, though more modestly. Surprisingly none of the Feverfew returned, so I donated three plants from my home. Herb and Fragrance Garden: Kathy Tsai The herb and fragrance team again spent part of the morning weeding. Afterward the area looked somewhat ready for new plantings. We did plant some new mints in the mint "vault", as well as a few items in the large containers that flank the gazebo: patchouli, curry, and chamomile. More plants will be added later, including eucalyptus, catnip, nasturtium, and more mints. The team also met for a planning session to determine what will be added to the rear garden area by the fence. We all agreed that plants with noticeable fragrance would fit the bill. Our weekly reports will report what we add to the garden area. Children's Therapeutic Horticulture: Ellen Meyerson The children participated, enthusiastically this week for the first time. In previous weeks we had cleaned the beds and planted snap peas, arugula, spinach, chard, beets and radishes. This week we planted more lettuce, spinach, beets, radishes and planted the first row of bush beans. 100 square foot garden: Linda Taveira The taxman had passed by and we didn't have to pretend to look shoddy any longer. We threw off our old clothes and got busy redecorating the garden. Dowdy welfare weeds were evicted. Chic flowers had been added to the corners. New and expensive (very) wood chips were procured to redefine the borders and outline the garden paths. The teepee pole was strung with fine silk to entice our delicate peas to start their ascent. The head of the decorating department (Hope) could no longer stand the hopelessly inadequate style of the row covers. The nets were totally redone into something more appropriate and pleasing with the help of her aspiring assistant (Susan). Regarding the rest of the garden, there were of course some laggards among the newly sprouted and these prime spaces were replenished with more worthy and rich seeds of lettuce, radishes, spinach and beets. After such a morning, everyone (plants) was treated to champagne (water). Small Fruits: Ram Narula and Gail Ifshin What We did We continued to weed the area around strawberries and kiwi fruit. The red/black currants area was also weeded. The broken bamboo enclosure was fixed and leaf mulched. We ordered a small Asian persimmon plant (Ichi Ki Kei Jiro- Japanese variety) from edible landscape and expect to be delivered to us at the GIEI event. It is a dwarf varies and would be planted at the spot vacated by the white currant. What we plan to so next week We plan to wood mulch all the pathways around the small fruit area, replace some of the missing tags. We need couple of intern to help us in removing the weeds from the paw paw patch. We need to fence the blue berry are with a bamboo barrier. We will continue work on the small fruit pruning guidelines and eventually have laminated cards. Conservation Garden: Maria Wortman Spring is such a beautiful time in the Conservation Garden! Beneath the leafless winterberry shrubs, many native groundcovers make a lovely tapestry of color. Phlox stolinifera, “Home Fires’ is truly a standout. It’s a native with hot pink blossoms. It spreads vigorously by stolons, but it’s not a bully, as it reaches only 6 to 10 inches in height and is easy to control – but who would want to? The Iris crestata, dwarf crested iris only a few inches tall, is delicate-looking, but easy to grow. Its delicate purple blooms look great at the base of a tree or in a rock garden. Another groundcover with purple blossoms is Mazus reptans, creeping mazus, a very low-growing mat-forming perennial which is tucked between the rocks around the pond (native to Asia). In back of the pond, we installed a great little plant donated by Darlene. It’s the Bearberry, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi. It grows only about one foot tall and spreads to about 3 to 6 feet wide. This drought-tolerant native is sporting its pink-tinged white blossoms now, and will have brilliant red berries in the Fall. On the other side of the path, the pretty, white trilliums are blooming, and the Geranium maculatum, wild geranium, is sporting its delicate pink blooms. The spears of the huge Arisaema triphyllum are pushing up through the earth. We’re looking forward to seeing its dramatic, leaves unfold. It’s not a native, but it’s such a cool plant! Ponds: Darlene Nicholson and Rich Dieckhans "Ah Spring!' This about sums it up for this week. Butterfly Garden : Peggy Stanford Another beautiful day in our garden. Guess what we did to enjoy it? Pulled more weeds of course! We are also working on replacing our faded butterfly identification sign. Darlene provide us with a new print and we are working with J. Gill to find a better way to protect our sign from water damage... to be continued next week. Thanks to Darlene for the beautiful new print. Edibles: Mary Anne Normile Today's activities were centered on continuing spring planting and getting labels in place in anticipation of the April 29 Grow It Eat It open house. --Planted two rows of 'Provider' bush beans between the collards. Soil temperature measured 58 degrees, which is cool for most beans, but this variety will germinate in cooler soil. --Worked with LeeAnne to just about catch up on labeling! LeeAnne has a great system worked out for having a supply of labels for frequently-planted varieties that is making it easier to keep labeling up to date in the vegetable garden. --Finished planting the first large raised bed with leeks 'King Richard,' beets 'Touchstone Gold' and 'Bull's Blood,' and parsley 'Italian Giant.' --Filled the second large raised bed with mixture of topsoil and LeafGro and planted lettuce 'Buttercrunch' and 'Monte Carlo' (a romaine-type lettuce), mustard 'Garnet Giant' and 'Purple Osaka,' and Tah Tsoi, and covered with row cover. --Filled the second small (39" square) raised bed and planted spring brassicas--kale and red cabbage--and covered with row cover. This bed will be succession planted in the summer to plants--okra and cowpeas--that will appreciate the hot and dry conditions in this south-facing raised bed. --Planted a section of the second salad table with lettuces 'Oakleaf,' 'Little Gem,' 'Divina,' and romaine 'Parris Island.' Special Projects: The Carols There was much activity in the Growing veggies Special Projects section this week. Many hands make light work...or at least effective work, if not light. Ada, Bill, Donna, Ellina, Edith and the Carols were able to finish most construction and plant in four methods, Rain Drain garden (or Gutter Garden ), Keyhole Garden, Straw Bales and Pallet verticals., that do not require a piece of landed garden soil. The Rain Drain garden was hung onto the Straw Bales crate effectively with hand made wire hooks. TBS (To be seen) what emerges from this already planted addition. Discussion continues about the receptacles/containers used for these "not-in-the-ground" methods and the importance of finding food safe materials whether it is metal, plastic or wood, such as using heat treated versus the rejected pressure treated wood crates and pallets. The Special Projects area has been a construction site with much use of hammers, tape measures, staple guns, saws and drills for kits, adjusting crates to fit bales, making pockets and creating A frame structures. We found that the pallet pockets resulted in a much lighter garden than the full pocket version. Recruiting "Truck Man" for his added value of brains (well...) and in this case brawn, the VERY heavy full pallet was lifted and mostly secured in place this week. Many design consults were part of this weeks activity. And we did in fact plant! The bales saw Marigolds and Adirondack Blue potatoes move in with the strawberries. The Keyholes were nicely filled with planted beet, carrot, and radish seeds, and added parsley, some salad greens, and dill. A floating row cover (with a fashion statement beautiful green wedding tulle) was placed over the mustard greens and kale. Pansies and marigolds were added to each bed for a touch of blooming color. And the pallets saw the various lettuce and radish seeds actually germinate with only one Friday watering! (watering is part of this experiment) Other pallet plants include strawberries, violas and pansies, bok chois, mustards and parsley. A few 30 day snap peas seeds were planted to twine up the pallet sides. Waiting to see if the nasturtiums germinate. We shall see. Closing Comments: Lily, Bill and Susan
We learned that the Agricultural History Farm Park, a county park, is an amazing resource of hundreds of acres, and wonderful home to our Derwood Demonstration Garden. And that this is a great place for garden tours and a picnic. Or even big events like the April 29 Open House. But mostly, we enjoy learning by doing. Thank you for all the great energy and enthusiasm you bring each week.
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AuthorOur weekly reports are a joint effort of all garden leads
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