PAR Davies 5/1/13

TOTAL HARVEST TODAY 20 lbs.      TOTAL HARVEST TO DATE 236 lbs.

Hi Everyone,

We definitely had another very busy day. The dedicated workers were G.A., Jamie, John, Cathy, Anne, Susan, Suzanne, Melba, Ann Allen (new volunteer) and myself. We checked off a lot of things on the 'To Do' list, but there is still more waiting for the Saturday crew. (Update:  no work at the garden on Saturday - it's toooo wet!) The first thing we had to do was get the bugs off the broccoli and cabbage. We picked all we could and then sprayed. Yuk! But things look better now.

We ended up having a harvest, which I wasn't expecting, of radishes, Egyptian onions, Romaine and lots of our lovely herbs…dill, oregano, cilantro and parsley.

Cathy and Anne washing off the harvest in our new sink.
We are loving this sink.

A closer look

Bob H. had dropped off some extra Big Boy and Better Boy tomatoes and 16 bell peppers in addition to lots of beautiful basil. Thank you for thinking of us Bob, we planted everything. Suzanne and John planted the basil all over the garden wherever we had an empty spot. Suzanne planted the tomatoes. G.A. planted some paste tomatoes over behind the arched trellis, and the two Italian Tree tomatoes that Kay gave us were put in that area near the front fence. Can't wait to see what they do. Aunt Ida's pole beans are coming up but some had to be replanted because of critters digging. Ann prepared some potting soil to freshen up the three big pots and then planted those with Minnesota Midget melons. Susan fertilized the lasagna bed and planted with Dixie Speckled Butter Beans. G.A. 'hilled up' the potatoes, and they are looking fine.

John watering in the basil.

Melba planted some pole beans down the middle
of the cabbage.

Jamie got some of the soil up off the walkways and filled the holes in the cement blocks in Bed #5. He brought a metal shelf into the garden from behind the barn. We are going to use this as a demo bed eventually, to show how old shelves can be reused and repurposed into a raised bed. For anyone who wants some of these shelves, there are still plenty left. They are behind the barn, so just stop by and pick them up.

Shelves free for the taking

We have voles. It finally dawned on me after some of our Romaine started disappearing…yes, it was voles. Below is a link to an article talking about Eliot Coleman's trap that he says works in his high tunnels. He mentioned this in his winter gardening book, and I thought we could give it a try. G.A. has volunteered to make us some.

Link to Eliot's article

APPRECIATION!!!  We ladies were talking last week about how we appreciate the men doing the construction, plumbing and heavy lifting. We couldn't do it without you guys, and I thought you needed to know how glad we are that you do the things that we're physically unable to, things that are very necessary. Thank you from all of us.

And that's all the news from PAR Davies, where all the men are strong, all the women good looking and all the vegetables above average. 

Til later,

Dianne