Garden Update - November
Spring flowers putting on a show
Ready, set….it’s tomato planting time!
The past couple of months has seen us germinating, tending and readying the spring-summer crops for planting in the garden. The greenhouse is busting at the seams with tomatoes, pumpkins, basil, capsicum, zucchinis, cucumbers and lots of flowers for the pollinators. And if the upcoming weather forecast can be trusted then our Thursday drop in garden sessions, 9.30-11am term time at the Gungaderra Community Garden, are about to become busy with planting, planting and more planting.
We’ve also been readying the soil in expectation. Cutting weeds off at the base, leaving roots in situ to feed the soil life and the weedy foliage, sans seeds, chopped and used as mulch on the soil surface. Aerating where needed, adding compost, vermicompost, worm tea and all the goodies to prepare for hungry warm weather fruiting crops.
In other fun garden news we’ve welcomed a new garden-crew member at Canberra Environment Centre - Bianca . Bianca will be getting her hands in the soil and bringing a lot of experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to our garden sessions. Read more about Bianca here.
The food forest has come to life in such a short time. Bare rooted trees and currant bushes have leafed out, green manure crop has popped up from the soil and it’s giving hints of the kind of space it will evolve into - so exciting. The weeds have also been popping up, which is common in the early stages of a food forest as nature rushes to cover the bare soil we created with our digging, mulching and planting. Once the perennial plantings become more established and the canopy of the tree layer fills out these will decrease over time - which is definitely a bonus feature of a food forest.
How are things growing in your garden? Did you take a risk and pop in any tomatoes yet or are you, like us, waiting for official tomato planting day?
Don’t have a patch of your own to garden or would like to garden in community with others? Come join us in the garden drop-in sessions - Thursday mornings 9.30-11am - we’d love to see you there.
Happy gardening!
