Happy 2017 everyone! Despite being extremely shy this year,
spring has finally arrived and that means it’s time to get back in the Cambie Square Communal Garden. We have
lots of fresh faces and are excited to get our hands in the soil and
start growing food for the Mount Pleasant Community!
We are running the garden this year basically as it’s been
run in the past – everyone working together. We’re new, though, so a few things
may change – bear with us. As a core group, we’ll establish the overall garden
plan and make sure essential tasks are getting done – and for the rest, we need
your help! We’ll be bringing back the Sunday morning work parties – starting this Sunday, May 7th –
and welcome everyone from the community to come out, share the work, and then
share some of the harvest (veggies permitting – give ‘em time to grow)!
To get ready for our
work parties, last week we got our hands dirty prepping the soil and getting
some early-season crops in the ground.
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| Greg digging, Kate planting - and some beautiful mesclun mix in a gardener's hand |
We learned that last year, the first two beds were getting
overgrown with raspberries – stealing valuable water and nutrients from the
plants that were trying to grow there. So, with a sieve and some muscle, we dug
out as many roots as we could. While we were at it, we tried to clean up some
of the mint that was starting to take over the herb bed. Both of these plants,
while delicious and wonderful producers in the garden, can cause problems by
taking over the space of other crops - so we have to make sure to control them!
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| Greg and Michelle clearing raspberry roots - and the long mint rhizomes pulled from the herb bed! |
And with that, we’re excited to get going on this season!
If you’re interested to come out and help on Sunday, May 7th, please send
us an email at cambiesqvol@gmail.com!
See you there!
PS. Here’s a little glimpse of arugula babies just peeking out of the soil 😊