Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Water at 3 ft

I dug a hole yesterday to look at our soil profile. I struck a pretty good stream of water only 3 feet down. Unfortunately, the soil does not wick that water up to the surface very well, not that we need it this year. But water that close to the surface means that shallow wells will work well in our gardens. This afternoon I plan to install a shallow well with a hand pump. When I have it working, I will post a diagram and parts list for how to do it.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Organic Gardening Classes at the Farm

On Monday, July 18th at 7 PM and again on Saturday, July 23 at 1 PM, Master Gardener Doris Olivers will be teaching short, practical gardening classes at the Red Barn Community Farm. The sessions will cover crop rotation, plant spacing, uses of mulch, wind protection, watering and a general walk-around of the garden plots. If you're new to gardening, you won't want to miss these classes.

The Saturday, July 23 class will follow a work party (10am-1pm) at the Food Bank Farm portion of the garden. We will be planting more beans, carrots and perhaps a few bedding plants. We will also be weeding. If you haven't noticed, a lot of weeds are appearing in our newly tilled farm. Within a month, those weeds will be knee high if we don't get them now.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Green Drinks July 13, 5-7 pm

Snohomish County has an informal organization known as Green Drinks. It's not really about drinking, but it does contain the conviviality of "going for a drink after work." It is a meeting of environmentally conscious and social justice people to network, bring each other up to date on activities, etc. On Wednesday, July 13, Green Drinks will be held at the Red Barn Community Farm. All gardeners are invited to meet, mingle and make friends. Featured will be our new demonstration plot that is being planted with weekend. You will also be able to see several methods for dealing with the need for water at the farm. We're expecting a big crowd and parking will be limited so please carpool.