Although we’ve had a colder than average winter in DC, we have been busy planning garden improvements and gearing up for the upcoming growing season. The Bruce Monroe Community Garden has already hosted two work days this season—and they were about as opposite as you could imagine: frozen snow-covered ground in January and short-sleeves in February. In both cases we made some great headway on our garden upkeep list and we are positioned for a great growing season.
In January, we cleared out any remaining plants from plots, began repairing and reinforcing many of the raised beds with metal brackets, and organized our tool shed. We also began spreading 20 tons of rock dust across the plots to add minerals back to the soil. It was a cold day, but we had some hardcore volunteers come out!
Gardeners work up a sweat clearing brush from snowy plots.
Metal brackets are added to the plots that are now in their fourth season to help lengthen their lifespan.
In February, we finished adding the rock dust to all the plots, completed repairs on the plots, and began breaking down some of the larger composted items from last season to help speed with decomposition this spring. We also labeled all the plots so it is clear which plots are “Private”—that is, rented by gardeners—and which plots are “Shared”—those that are gardened communally with produce that can be shared amongst gardeners and the wider community.
Gardeners spread rock dust on the plots and label plots as Private and Shared.
Gardeners spread rock dust to re-mineralize the soil.
Volunteers work on our compost bins to chop up some of the larger plant matter into smaller pieces so it breaks down faster.
Our next garden work day will be March 15—and it is also our 2014 Season Kick-off. In addition to a host of maintenance activities we have planned for volunteers, we will also have a Kids Kick-off event, a workshop on planting for our region with a seed swap, and an orientation for new gardeners. We hope you can join us!.
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