Seeds, Sprouts and Blossom Dreams

What a day. Wonderful partly cloudy skies here in Silverton. Yesterday it wasn't the case. Volunteers helped construct our second raised bed garden at Silverton. The rain was coming in sideways but the crew was chipper. We had a coffee break to warm up and made some more plans for our garden. I am hoping to clear out a site for a thick maiz patch somewhere but need to wait for the weather to let up. It is not a good idea to work soil in the winter in general but especially not when its is soggy and saturated. Soil might not always seem like a fragile thing but imagine that you are holding a mini ecosystem. When you work the soil while it is saturated (especially the clay soil of the willamette) they form impenetrable clods of clay, dirt, and detritus. These clods dry out easily and suffocate young and delicate seedling roots. The best practice when preparing soil for planting is to be patient and grab the soil with your hands on a daily basis. Try to form a ball simply by squeezing soil in your palm. If it feels like clay and forms like playdough put it back down, grab some coffee, and dream some more about how your garden will grow. If when you are forming the soil feels dry and breaks when trying to form a ball, drop it and do a rain dance because you just need a bit more water for perfect soil prep. If when you grab the soil it feels like a sponge when you squeeze it and holds a ball but resists clodding jump and dance because it is time to plant. Typically around here you can start planting early spring and summer crops like peas, radish, and some spinach later in February. You could certainly wait until March for peas but sometimes the weather has different ideas and knowing your soils structure and capacity will make your decision more intuitive to your own microclimate...a very important thing for green thumb development. So we need to wait for anything and let our gardens sleep. Completing the second garden was great so our compost and soil will have some time to settle out and cool down before planting. We received some great seed donations the past week. A huge package came in from High Mowing Seeds out of Vermont. Another big package came from Territorial Seed Company out of Cottage Grove. Al's Garden Center donated 12 4in plant starts. American Center for Sustainability is finalizing their plant list and will be donating up to 1000 plant starts for us this year. We are having a propogation party in March and hand planting 75,000 seeds! Phew...I am sweating just thinking about that. Outside the garden in my mind is in full bloom. I see peas and green climbing the sky. I already had to do some weeding in our beds because they are healthy and warmer than surrounding air making germination a pleasure. I can't wait to get growing. Come back to see more of OCDC's garden. Have any thoughts on fun projects to do with families in the garden? Fun activities for kids in the garden? Make a post and let us know your thoughts on how to immerse children and families in gardening and cultivation. We want to hear from you.

Holiday Wish List: One Hill of Steaming Horse Manure???

Well it isn't what I would have put on my wishlist for the holidays, but any garden sure would enjoy some steamy horse poop. We give our gardens exactly what they need. Thanks to Carla and Mark from OCDC for all their hard work. What a day it was. The three of us trekked into Tualatin farm land searching for a stable owner who promised us a HILL of horse manure most of it composted. We got what we wanted. We headed to a miniature horse farm out of Tualatin (name omitted for privacy reasons) and found a stable of about 5o mini horses all of them so cute. On the walk to the horse pilings, they were neighing and swaying because they were just about to be fed. They were excited by us and us by them. Carla is familiar and comfortable around horses so she began petting them and talking to them too. There were a couple big doggies that were concerned with the outsider presence but more confused with why we were shoveling horse poo I am sure. Barking us along the path, the dogs were trying to herd us into the stable doors. The hill of poo itself was 50 square feet and about 20 feet high and eight years old easily the biggest oldest pile I have seen. It was steaming but not smelly at all...least not to me. I can't speak for the others. Mark Carla and I proceeded to take about 10 cart loads of this prized compost away and were encouraged to return for more "anytime you want". It was filled to the max with wriggling worms and cocoons. GOLD. Mark and I drove out the compost to the Silverton garden where we spread it around our garden areas and filled some in ground pots as well. Although it might be a little hot (the compost might be strong and burn the plants if it isn't composted enough) the compost spreading will keep these beds and in ground pots running great for several years eliminating the need for additional soil amendments. Most of the poop we selected was fully composted but there was a mix of ages in there. For now, it is nap time for the garden. It needs a break just like we just had. March we will start some plantings of peas, spinach, salads, and radish. We were generously given 100 seed packets from High Mowing Seeds out of Vermont. All organic seeds too! I am hoping to have some more seeds come from Territorial and some plant starts coming from the American Center for Sustainability in May. If planted in April and May, we should have a strong garden for summer and fall. Still looking for volunteers and hoping to get some work done soon. One more volunteer gained...Jen who worked as a firefighter out in Alaska the last few months will be assisting with some construction and maintenance out at Silverton and possibly Linden. Hoping to lead some organic gardening classes in the Spring so look here for when and where those will be. Like what you see here and want more? Have some questions about OCDC? Are you a parent, student, or volunteer that wants more info or involvement? Contact me at the central office extension 1087 and I will be happy to answer those questions for you. You can also contact me at ocdcgardens@gmail.com .