garden plan 2012

Two Sundays ago, a small group of us met to plan where we would plant for this year. Armed with guides to companion planting and knowledge of how we needed to rotate crops, we negotiated the locations of the various crops that we intended to grow. Following is the plan to which we agreed. It is subject to change as the year progresses.

planting update and garden map as of August 13

The attached map highlights changes that we have made in the last few weeks.

Departures

1. We have had to pull almost all of the kale and collards because of a flea beetle infestation.  The only kale from the first planting that was unaffected was a small patch in Bed 22. We left a few collards in the north end of Bed 11 and some kale in Bed 9; however, we'll probably pull all but the plants in Bed 22 next week.
2. We also pulled up almost all of the plants that had gone to seed, including radishes in Beds 12 and 14.
3. We recently harvested all of the beets in the western half of Bed 14 and half of the potatoes from Bed 10.
4. We pulled the pea plants from Bed 19 and resowed the bed half with New Zealand Spinach (a heat-tolerant variety) and half with broccoli. None of the broccoli seeds germinated, so the eastern half of the bed is free.

Arrivals

1. We planted a lot of cabbage. In Bed 9, we planted Copenhagen Market in the southern third and Red Acre in the northern third. In the middle of Bed 14, we planted a few Early Wakefields.
2. We also planted varieties of carrots. In Bed 12 (our traditional carrot bed), we planted Royal Chatenay in the southern third and Asian Kurota in the northern third. In the eastern end of Bed 14, we planted Tonda di Parigi, a variety that produces stubby, round carrots.

Circling the airport

1. Because nothing else really seems to grow in the shady end of Bed 19 but lettuce, we plan to plant lettuce there in the next couple of weeks.
2. We want to try to grow broccoli this year. We plan to replant Bed 10, and maybe Bed 11, with broccoli sometime near the beginning of September.
3. We'll need to plant fall crops soon to replace crops currently in Bed 17 (pole beans), 22 (blue potato), and 20 (summer squash and cucumber). 
4. Because we'll lose access to municipal water in late October or early November, we'll also need to plan for the green manure crops that will grow as ground cover in the winter.

The best-laid plans

A chilly, bright and blustery Easter Saturday, April 11th, saw an enthusiastic crew of Ginkgo volunteers making progress on a bunch of pre-planting tasks. Several beds were aerated with the huge soil lifting tool, and there was also much weeding and raking.

Looking forward to five consecutive weeks in which we will have big groups of volunteers, we also spent some time trying to identify projects big and small that we can engage people in before we're safely into the second half of May and the threat of frost has passed. Some immediate needs are wood chips to keep down the weeds along the paths (available free from the city, but on no particular schedule) and compost to improve the nutritive composition of our beds. We decided to take the recommendation of Kirsten Akre at Kilbourn Park and get a delivery of Organimix from Lake Street Landscape Supply. Unsure what 10 cubic yards might look like, we found a handy visual aid.

The thought of receiving a couple of deliveries by truck made us look at the sad hole in the ground that passes for our loading area. It's clear we need to to something drastic here, and we will probably have to start by seeking the services of a skilled professional. Other plans for the coming weeks include: installing a length of guttering along the back of the shed to feed a rainwater barrel; building and painting signs for the beds; stripping and sealing the beds in the front garden; planning and planting some native prairie plants out front; repairing and replacing some tools; rebuilding our compost bins, to a design as yet unselected; reinforcing the new potato bed; building some steps on the east side of the shed that don't require rock climbing skills; and levelling an area west of the shed for shady summer working (and maybe a pergola).

A look through 2008's garden log found that on April 12th we planted peas, broad beans, scallions, carrots, spinach. On April 19th, with the soil temperature in bed 15 at 58F, we planted radishes, onions, beets and potatoes. This year, it seemed way too cold to plant anything edible, and the soil temperature confirmed this, with measurements of 47F and 51F.