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.
Be sure to subscribe
using the blank on the right under the picture.You will receive an email
asking you to verify your subscription. Once you verify you will
automatically receive notification when the blog has been updated.
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.
