Shari and I met with Edward and Mr. Rios. We landed on a plan for beds #4 and #10.
Like bed #8, but shorter — Rios will build a frame atop the beds. The new frames will be sturdy enough to hold the existing lids and open about 45 degrees. We will open the lids during the day so that pollinators can access the plants, and close them at night so that rats cannot.
There will be a wide door that opens to allow gardeners access the soil and plants. The police tape above shows about how high the frame will be. My sketch below means to illustrate the concept.
Mr. Rios retires at the end of this month; the hope is that he can finish these over this weekend and next. Bed #9 will be first. We will need to remove some soil from bed #4 to try to correct the bowing. (Edward thinks a brace can help stabilize the width). For more info about next steps needed, see the working task list. Thank you!
Thanks to Claire and Amy for starting this bed for cutting flowers — and an annotated image! Newly planted seeds aren’t marked on actual bed yet –we may make some markers tonight.
Also to-do: Staple hardware cloth into the bottom of bed #8; try to eliminate sharp edges; transplant some annual flowers into window boxes.
Status of raised garden bed lids as of Sun May 7th.
We Still Don’t Know Where Tall Plants Will Go
Until we meet with Edward and the supers later this week, we do not know which beds (if any) can accommodate climbing/tall plants that require staking. (We also don’t know WHEN modified lids will be available to us.)
Latest plan for now:
Bed #8 is open at top. The snap peas are in #8 and I propose that we plant cucumbers there soon. We might fit one tomato plant + one pepper plant, Judith suggests adding rat-repelling plants like onion around the edges.
Tomatoes will go in standalone containers — black square one, large round one near shed, 1-2 of the standalone pots can be elevated on tree stumps and placed where the metal bed was. (Great sunlight)
Consider Companion Planting Factors
Notes about what is where/ what cannot share a bed
#4 Corner Bed Near 195 Adams St: Kale, chives, parsley. (add arugula, lettuces?)
#5 Empty/no lid. Potato bag placed on atop hardware cloth (Probably room for 1-2 pots, NOTE: This has no lid and may not get one soon)
#6 Cutting Flowers Bed – No Food (lowest sides and most likely to be contaminated if/when lid is removed) Claire and Amy planted seeds + transplanted cosmos, marigolds, echinacea, salvia and others here) Markers to come.
#7 (Low sides/no cover, next 2 strawberry towers) Sunflowers, bachelor buttons (no food)
#8 (Coop-like contraption, open top) Snap peas, arugula, carrots, some flowers (consider in a few weeks, putting one tomato, one pepper plant here; moving arugula to #4).
#9 Empty for now, but soil is prepped; currently holding flats of flowers/herbs
#10 Empty, no soil. Holding flower/herb flats
Other notes:
Compost will be added to each bed when NYC Dept of Sanitation delivers pallet sometime this month
+Bottom of bed #8 must be attached to bed w staple gun (Need to get back from Mgt)
Look at the adorable door that Mr Rios created!!!! We’d asked for help with a temporary rat-resistant wrap around mesh, and he made something above and beyond!
Mesh around the frame is still to come.
Until we are done with the labor-intensive process of installing rat-resistant galvanized steel mesh into most of the beds, the garden isn’t kid friendly. Work should be complete soon.
Adult gardeners will be out from 5-630pm this evening working. We are still prepping the beds for all the flowers we have to transplant!
We are making very slow, almost steady progress with the garden. Undoing and recreating and reinforcing the 5 beds that were damaged by rats last year is taking a lot of time and effort. With Edward away on vacation, we’re even more stalled.
Thankfully, we were able to transplant some flowers earlier this week and hope to do more soon.
Wednesday Evenings in May, where gardeners answer workshopers’ questions about hardening off their seedlings will start on Wed May 10th. You can learn about the hardening off process and get advice customized to your plant starts.
You can see how we’ve done Wed Eves in May in the past. The goal is to get plants prepared to transplant by late May or early June — and to know what is viable and what is not for planning purposes.
In the meantime, if you need more potting soil for your plant starts pls let me know. My guys need an amendment — for sure.
I picked up the NatureBased order today: lavender, lemongrass, chives, cilantro, and bought some everbearing strawberries. Shari picked up bare root “sweet dessert” varieties from a giveaway — these need to go into soil ASAP.
This year’s swap is RAIN or SHINE. (In case of rain, we will be in the community room.)
Last year’s houseplant swap at CV’s Earth Day Fest was such a success, we have to do it again! If you know the drill, get rootin’.
New to the idea? Know this: It is free, fun, sustainable, and neighborly. Come and share cuttings with fellow residents!
You’ll see this description in the official Earth Day Fest flyer — pls note this isn’t a garden committee activity but rather part of the Recycling and Sustainability Committee’s flagship event. That said, gardeners, non-garders, all CV residents are welcome to participate. Last year we had more plant starts than would-be plant parents — don’t hesitate to come check it out if you are interested but can’t get together a lot of cuttings.
Houseplant Swap!
Bring a plant cutting, take a plant cutting. This swap is for residents looking to trade or give away healthy, pest-free cuttings or houseplant starts. Please no donations of unwanted plants or planters that need a new home. Bring your plant cuttings, preferably labeled, in a container that you do not need back, to the 230 Jay Street community room by 2pm. (You can drop off starting at 12noon, but the actual swap/trading is scheduled for 2pm)
At 4:30pm today — if it isn’t raining –we’ll be outside doing garden prep work: bleaching the beds (Amy and I finished cleaning them yesterday), cutting landscape fabric, pulling supplies like the good watering wand out of storage. Please join if you can!
Tomorrow, Sun, will be more of the same, @12 noon, possibly dumping soil into beds if there’s been progress. Thx!
To donate, you can leave checks, made out to CVOI, with CVEarthlab in the memo line, at the CV office. Or, you can arrange for a garden member to pick up an envelope from your doorman by sending a note to cvearthlab@gmail.com . We also accept donations via Venmo electronic payment service. To donate via Venmo app, use Shari’s Rueckl’s username: @misssha
Concord Village EarthLab 