Thursday, March 24, 2011

New Ideas: Land Use; Design Proposals

I have much good news, and some new ideas! First, let's address the business aspect.

Land Use for Gardeners at the AACIL 

After a good conversation with our CEO, Jim Magyar, AACIL gardeners have been granted the full use of a whole lotta land. Check out my rough diagram of that land area below.


I'd estimate that we're working with about 50' x 100' of land. (Of course, Don could probably better estimate.)

What we can do with that land: pretty much anything, so long as it's basically nice to look at. That includes  roto-tilling sections and practicing traditional row-and-furrow gardening, building raised beds, building walkways, etc.

This means that the sky is the limit in terms of our possibilities for garden design. 

Garden Design: Jim's Recommendations

Jim and I discussed the walkway proposals that we as a group have been working on -- the wooden walkway built from reclaimed pallets and the upturned-carpet walkway. Jim heard my ideas out, but seemed very interested in seeing us use wolmanized boards for walkways. Here's a rough drawing of his proposal:

The wolmanized wood boards would be laid on the leveled ground between these plots and around their perimeter. The boards would be secured in place by wood stakes. 

It looks likely that we would find a way to cover the cost of all building materials for this plan, if we were to pursue it. 

Like I said, however, we have a huge land area to work with. Even if we did install all these plots and the walkway system as represented in the drawing above, we would only be using 36' x 36' of our approx. 50' x 100' of gardening space. 

My New Idea: Straw Bale Gardening


After you've read that, tell me you don't want to try it! I know I sure do.

The straw bale method is perfect for accessibility purposes and it doesn't require much soil or weeding as the plants grow. Moreover, it's cheap: We could get straw bales for $2 apiece. That means we could have about  100 square feet of raised, accessible growing space for $40. The bales wouldn't last for more than two seasons, but the decomposed straw they leave behind would only work to build up our soil. We would need to have these bales within the next 10 days - 2 weeks so that they would be properly prepared in time for spring planting. 

I propose, then, that we buy 20 bales to use as accessible gardening space. If we do so, we would not need to build any additional lumber-based, wheelchair accessible plots this season.

What does everyone think of these proposals?

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Seed Starting for Spring Plant Sale

First of all, a big thank you to all our amazing gardeners who've offered their time and space to help us start seeds for our Spring Plant Sale! We couldn't make it happen without you.

At our Monday (3/21) meeting, we talked about seeds starting methods. Here are some things to consider:

1. For larger seeds, you can pre-germinate them in bags to speed up the germination process. A helpful gardening forum called Gardening Web has a great tutorial for this method: http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/seed/2003044315027348.html

2. Following a few important steps for seed starting can make all the difference in your germination success. The following websites offer solid advice on the subject:
http://www.yates.com.au/propagation/tips/successful-seed-raising/
http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2010/03/starting-seeds-indoors.html

Remember that we're growing these plants for sale, and that the success of our sale directly influences our ability to expand our garden plots and program. So please, try to do the following three things to the best of your ability:

  • Be sure to start your seeds as soon as you can this week so that they have time to mature adequately before the May 7 sale date.
  • Do a little research about your seeds' germination requirements before starting them. Searching through Google using terms like "Calendula germination problems," or "how to start Hyssop from seed" can provide you with a lot of great information. 
  • Update everyone regularly about your successes or concerns as you start your seeds by making posts right here on this blog. (Not sure how to make posts? Just click here or email cherri@aacil.org.) If you have any suspicion that your seeds are not properly germinating, please let me know as soon as you possibly can. 
Thanks again for being the amazing gardeners that you are! I'm so excited to read your seed starting updates.

cold box

Howdy all,

I did it, and now I am blogging. This is very new to me. I went shopping today, and got some more seeds for our garden. Also I found a wheelbarrow. It has two large thin wheels, and it dumps very easily. I put this on my wish list, with my wife. LOL

I am almost done building our first cold box. I had to get two more boards, because I miss cut the other one. OOPS LOL

Don

Monday, March 21, 2011

Welcome to AACIL Gardening on the Web!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to our new home for AACIL Gardeners on the web. Here, you can keep everyone updated about your spring seed starting, your ideas for gardening projects, helpful gardening tips you've found on the web, and anything else you'd like to share!

After our March 21 Gardener Meeting, you'll receive an invitation to be a contributing author on our AACIL Gardening blog. Once you accept the invitation, you can start posting on our blog. To make a new post, just follow these steps:

1. If you haven't already done so, accept my invitation to become an author for AACIL Gardening by following the instructions in your email from Blogger. (If you don't have a Google account, just follow the instructions provided in the dialogue box.)
2. Once you've created a Google Account, you'll be signed into Blogger. Now click on the button that reads "New Post," which is just below and to the left of the words "AACIL Gardening".
3. Type your post into the composition box. Here, you can write text, but you can also post photos by clicking on the "Insert image" icon in the toolbar at the top of the composition box.
4. When you're ready to post, click "Publish Post" at the bottom of the composition box.
5. Hooray! You've made your post.

Have questions? Just email cherri@aacil.org.

Happy posting!