It’s happening: spring gardening
February 20th, 2009
One of the first signs...spring fennel
1Sorrel in the sun
This week there have been a group of seagulls hanging out in the neighborhood. What do you call a group of seagulls? Probably just a flock. There are usually seagulls here and there in the Overlook neighborhood since we’re so close to the river but there have been more than usual this week and they were sunning on our neighbor’s roof for an hour or so yesterday morning. The gulls coupled with all the purple and yellow crocuses popping out in our yard and around the neighborhood and the sunny 50s weather mean one amazing thing…
It’s time to till. I signed up yesterday to volunteer at the Oregon Food Bank’s Eastside Learning Garden for a few hours in a couple weeks. They need volunteers year-round to help sow, weed, water, and harvest fruits and vegetables for hunger-relief agencies around Portland. There’s also an OFB Learning Garden in Hillsboro.
This fall I took the first-of-its-kind, 10-week-long Organic Gardening Certification Program — a partnership between OSU Extension Service, Oregon Tilth, Metro, PSU and East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District. During the 10 week organic equivalent of the Master Gardening Program we learned all about plant biology, taxonomy, vermiculture, cover cropping, and more. As a part of the course you agree to a 30-hour volunteer practicum. I’m participating in Dig In! to kick that off. I’m also planning to volunteer with Portland Fruit Tree Project and Growing Gardens.
But I want to start my garden volunteering early this season because there’s going to be a lot happening in my own garden this summer. I did a lot of sheet mulching this winter and now have more space than ever for annual vegetables. The mound below isn’t a burial site it’s the front yard parking strip sheet mulch patch where I plan to grow tomatoes this summer. I covered it with burlap sacks from a local coffee roaster. A month or so ago one of the burlap sacks was taken — hopefully it’s a rough pillow now…
1Hard and softneck garlic getting taller
Dirt lasagna