Thanks to our dedicated core team of volunteers we’ve been able to make progress on developing the new garden site and continue some planting.
What they’ve done so far: Planted spring crops of lettuce, peas, kale, and a few radishes, all successfully harvested for the Food Pantry. Lettuce has been replanted a couple of times, so we should continue to have some for the Food Pantry. We have one bed of tomatoes planted, and some tomatillo plants in the large pots.
We’ve built two new beds this spring (tomatoes in one). With the soil saved and protected with cover crops over last winter, we have had enough soil for the four beds now built, and possibly one more. Bed #4 was just completed and filled with soil, we should be able to plant it in early July, possibly with bush beans and peppers. We also gave away about 40 tomato seedlings to Food Pantry clients. Our efforts will continue through ththe challenging times of reopening business and social opportunities.
July will bring garlic harvest and curing. There should be enough to donate about 10 pounds to the Food Pantry, and save enough for replanting in the fall. We anticipate more lettuce and kale harvest in July & August.
Bed building and planting will continue too. We intend to build at least three more beds over the summer. Late summer and fall we will plant more greens, and then cover crops. Summer planting does depend on water availability though. Late summer is a good time to start a new compost bin. Also it is a good time to begin our planning for next season. I’m grateful that right now it looks like we will be in better shape next year than we were at the beginning of this year!
Harvesting follows protocols recommended by WSU, with harvesters wearing clean gloves and masks, using clean and sanitized tools, and harvested crops staying off the ground once picked. We set up a temporary hand wash station on harvest days.
Thanks to our dedicated core team of volunteers we’ve been able to make progress on developing the new garden site and continue some planting. When appropriate, we will welcome new volunteers in small numbers to help at the garden.