March 2012

March 1st

March marks two months of garden progress. 

1- We have rototilled more ground beds. Mowed lots of more grass. Weedwacked more fence line and rough areas. Made more compost. Added mulch to protect the various crops. 

2- First Harvest!!!!  -- radishes. Volunteers got to take home fresh, juicy, sweet radishes fresh right out of the ground. I can attest to the fact that they were yummy. What a vast improvement over supermarket radishes. This crop was our first test crop, so we don't expect much volume over the next weeks. But it proves we can grow delicious food here and so we shall sow more radishes. 

3- Onions survived being transplanted with no problems so far.

4- The first crop of sweet potatoes are growing well. The second crop is ready to plant into the beds. 

5- Hydroponics - We have had a lot of rain just recently. This has shown us that we need to get our hydroponic units under plastic roof protection. Therefore we are building two hoop houses to protect our plantings. 

6- Potatoes - The first crop planted hasn't poked its leaves above ground yet. This week we are planting the next crop, most likely All Blue and Caribe. 

7- Other crops- all have sprouted and so far, so good. Just in the seedling stages at this time. 

More volunteers are coming on board. Welcome Missy and Judith!!  Both are accomplished gardeners. Their help and expertise will be greatly appreciated. 

March 2nd

Today was a great work day. Lots of workers and lots of work accomplished. In just one session we got sooooo much done. 

1- Hoop house- We got the 20' x 10' hoop house almost completed today. Yikes! How wonderful. We still need to add the wire bracing and attach the poly film. Plus we would like to get some old carpeting to put on the ground, so we will keep an eye out for a donation (snag it before it ends up in the trash dumpster). We are so lucky to have a worker who has battery operated tools... drill, screwdriver, saw, all needed to build this house. We also built the first grow-bench and have it in place in the hoop house. 

2- Mamaki cuttings- We are going to try propagating mamaki via cuttings. Got our first trial planted today. 

3- Next crop bed- The next bed is raked, de-rocked, and made into bed rows. Next gardening day will see the onion sets and purple potatoes going into it. 

4- Radishes- Coming on like gangbusters. People got to take radishes home today although many of us ate our share right at the garden. 

5- More of the old irrigation piping got removed today, opening up areas for mowing, de-rocking, de-grassing, and eventually tilling. One volunteer worked diligently raking the next area scheduled for rototillering.

6-  We got the next compost bin started and about half filled. 

7- The gourd area got mulched part way. It is going to take a lot of mulch to do the whole job, but each trip to the garden will see more mulching material being delivered. 

8- One of our volunteers painted more of the pcv pipes for the hoop houses. We hope to make a second hoop house soon, and dream about a third when we can. 

9- New plant donations - We were surprised and pleased to see a box of plants and cuttings arrive at the garden today. Edible hibiscus, edible aloe, variegated citronella plant, and various perennial herbs. We staked out an area for the perennial herb garden and plan to start work on it next week. 

10- Potatoes- I am so thrilled to announce that the potatoes have sprouted. Having little green plants poking up through the soil is so incredibly rewarding. 

March 5th

1- Hoop House is ready for the poly film. We have all the bracing and ridgepole in place. Mac managed to find a rug for sale at a super reasonable price at the Kau Hospital Foundation rummage sale. He still needs more but it covers about half the floor. 

2- More area was cleared for rototillering. 

3- We had several herb plants, two geraniums, and two moringa trees donated to the garden this weekend. Wonderful nice additions. 

4- We discovered that the mamaki cuttings needed better protection from the late afternoon sun. The solution was to make some shade frames to place over the mamaki. 

5- More growing benches have been made for the hoop house and will be installed once we have the poly film in place. 

6- Radishes- The harvest goes on. We harvested another group that were ready today and it looks like we have one more picking left. 

7- Mulching the Gourds - This is going to take a lot of time, but we managed to get another section mulched. Oh yes, since the mulch is inoculated with IMO, we are applying a little sugar to the ground prior to laying down the mulch. We hope this gives the IMOs a little boast of a headstart since this ground needs some help getting up to speed. 

8- The next sweet potato bed has been de-rocked and rototilled. It is now ready to be planted. 

March 26th

Volunteers have been working like mad!

1- Hoop house: completed! Gabled ends for support. Poly film completely secured. Two growing tables. Carpet and cardboard flooring. We are already using it and have numerous flats seeded and individual plants in pots. (tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, various herbs) 

2- Leeks: the leek bed is planted. Over 400 baby leeks neatly tucked in rows. 

3- Sweet potatoes: Two more varieties are in the ground. And in the hoop house there are two more varieties growing slips. But these won't be ready to plant out for another week or two. 

4- Beets: baby beets are the size of small ping pong balls. We'll let the get a bit bigger before harvesting. 

5- Potatoes: We planted another bed with purple potatoes, and two others with a number of different varieties (yellow, pink, purple skinned whites, fingerlings, red skins). The earlier planting of white ones are doing great. We have mulched them twice now, making the mulch nice and deep to protect the baby potatoes.

6- Several of our mamaki cuttings seem to be surviving. We will leave them alone for a couple of weeks in hopes that they will push roots. 

7- The first taro bed is ready for planting. 

8- The first of the perennial herbs beds is ready for planting. We planted those herbs that were ready for the ground. 

9- The onions look strong and perky, both those that we grew from plants and from sets.

10- Hydroponic lettuce: half has been harvested so far.

11- Newly started seeds in the hoop house this week: various herbs, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, lettuce. Started out in the garden: potatoes, wing beans, gourds, peas, and beans. 

We have used all our biochar, compost, and mulch so we will need to take time to make more of the wonderful stuff. We never seem to have enough of any of it. it is in great demand!

March 30th

Well, March may be over, but the garden goes on!

We finish up March by planting taro, celery, and new herbs. Another pick up truck load of mulch was spread over the gourd patch. Looks like two more truckloads will finish it off. Volunteers applied more mulch to the sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. Another area got mowed down but still needs raking before it can be rototilled. And a 20' x 4' area got raked....this will be the area we plant Mexican oregano. The winged bean seeds are planted and the t-posts for the trellis are now in place. 

The hoop house use is expanding. More seedlings were transplanted into pots. The hydroponic tray has been moved inside and cleaned up for use. More seeds have been started. 

Looking around today and surveying what we have accomplished is satisfying. We are a small group of volunteers who come on the days that they can and miss the rest. We range from 62 years of age to 82. So for a bunch of silver haired old gardeners, we have come a long way, and are proud of it!

Today we harvested the thinnings from beets and kale. The beets themselves are starting to bulk up and we are looking forward to yummy beets.