By Allanah Ceasar | Program Director
Spring and Summer of 2023 had it's fair share of challenges, but we have some awesome wins to celebrate as well. These past two seasons we've been able to give more garden tours explaining to the youth how community members from individuals to corporations make a community garden successful. We did a gardening and carpentry workshop with a daycare in the community and was able to share in the joy of seeing them create and grow. We've also had more community members volunteer at the garden making the work "a little lighter". Without commitment to the vision of a more food sovereign community, we wouldn't have made it this far. They worked for weeks in the scorching sun to ensure we are prepared to grow again in this next season.
We experienced a heavy rain after preparing the soil for planting which choked out much of the seeds in some areas we started early on. The soil hadn't had enough biomass added to withstand the three digit temperatures and became hard. Howevery, the hydroponics system produced hundres of strong tomato seedlings that lasted through the summer heat! We were able to incorporate cinnamon basil, calendula, and borage throughout "tomato alley" to manage the pest and produce a beautiful crop.
After experiencing the pattern of extreme weather conditions, we've decided to quit "trying" to transition and make the investment to get to a point of climate resiliency. We spent the remaining summer days building permanent beds throughout half of the property and plan to continue until the site is complete. We've made some adjustments to our compost production setup to create continuity in maintenance and reduce handling. We transitioned from a multibin system that needs to be augered weekly to a static aerated system that allows oxygen to move through the pile evenly. The vermiculture set up has been expanded to six times it's original size which should yield more castings and is designed to use a less invasive harvesting method. These are minor adjustments but they go a long way in scaling a market garden.
Thank you for your continued support and look forward to sharing more soon!
By Joseph Ceasar | Executive Director
By Joseph Ceasar | Executive Director
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