Kitchen Garden Notes - October 17

Last Thursday, Marcelo, Blanca and Gabriela planted garlic with Suzi Novak, so we hope it will grow in the spring! This Saturday, Marcelo, Mark P, Blanca, and Gabriela were at the garden. There was little to harvest and we expect that not much will survive the low temperatures over the weekend. We began removing some of the plants from the shared plots. Mark P bought a weed whacker for the garden and brought it on Sunday to do some trimming outside of the fence. He also cut herbs from the labyrinth garden.

It's time to start putting the garden to bed! All gardeners are asked to take down their plants no later than October 31, so we can add new soil and nutrients to the raised beds over the next two or three weeks. In our last gardening class, Suzi recommended chopping and leaving any plant residues in place, including weeds (i.e., leave roots in the soil, cut above-ground plant tissue and leave on the soil). This helps maintain soil structure, preserve the living organisms in the soil and contribute to build organic matter and nutrients. As a general rule, it's best to disturb the soil as little as possible. Check out the summary of the class on our web page for more details.