Busy April

It certainly has been a busy April.

A storage shed has been purchased from the Bartlett HS Material Science program. The cost was very reasonable and the shed has been placed at the garden site. I wish to give a special thank you to Richard, Luke, and Rod for their help in positioning the shed after it’s delivery.

 We now have a place to store your tool donations to the garden. Tools that are donated do not have to be new. They can be used tools that your no longer need but are serviceable. Even if they need a little work like sharpening that can be handled easily.

Compost bins have been built and one of them is in the process of making compost as we speak. The construction was straight forward but it took time. The second one went much faster than the first. There are still a few finishing touches to be done on the second one contracted and then it too will be making compost.

 On the 16th of April I attended the Master Gardener Conference at UAA. The conference was very informative and enjoyable. I made a connection at the local Cooperative Extension Service that should be invaluable in making the garden the best it can possibly be. I look forward to working with Julie Riley to make this garden a going concern.

 Will be applying for a hydrant use permit this week so we can use water from the hydrant behind the church for garden and lawn maintenance. This will have the church some money since we won’t have to pay sewer charges for the water we use from the hydrant. I’m not sure how all of this will sort out but will know much more next week.

Seeds have been planted as well for cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, squash and a couple of experimental pepper varieties. Hopefully these things will be healthy enough to use in the garden in the middle of May. Sure hope the weather stays as nice as it has been so we can plant before Memorial Day. That will give things a major head start. A special thank you to everyone that has taken seed starts home to nurture along. Will ask for them back sometime during the middle of May so they can be planted in the garden.

Members of the Bartlett HS football team are scheduled to come over on the 7th of May to help with the heavy work in the garden. This is also the cleanup day for the church. So if you are interested there is plenty of work to be done either for the church or for the garden.

During the next two weeks we will be constructing 2x12 beds for some of the crops that will be planted. Most will go directly into the ground including potatoes, Kale, and most of the starts that have bend tended by various members of the congregation. We will also plant in the beds that were built last year. These have been reconstructed so the bottoms won’t come out of them this year. New soil will be put in the beds as well or we will highly amend the soil that was in them last year.

I also attended the Alaska Synod of the ELCA assembly on the 22nd and 23rd of April. There I set up a “booth” about he garden and sold bowls made from the trees that we harvested last summer and fall. I took over 100 bowls to the assembly and they were all gone before noon of the second day. That was a whooping $950 + for the garden which will help tremendously with the expenditures ahead.

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Another special thank you to Mary for her generous contribution to the purchase of compost and top soil for the garden. You are an angel.

See you in the garden.