Community Garden Workday for February (2020)

It was a bit nippy out there on Saturday,
when we got together for our monthly workday
at the Community Garden at Sally's Y in Denver.
Jackets donned, a handful of hearty souls 
got us closer to our goals for the upcoming spring season.

Before getting started with the tasks at hand,
I took a moment to check on our garlic bed
and a few more things growing through the winter.
The garlic was planted in fall
and will be donated to the local food bank.
Lookin' good!

Some of the beds contained winter crops like this gorgeous curly kale,

as well as cabbages.
There are over 30 beds for "rent" by folks
who, for some reason or another, can't grow elsewhere.
Some may have limited space or
live in a restrictive community.
These raised beds are theirs for the season
for a nominal fee.
This fundraiser supplies the garden with a revenue
for maintaining the garden and purchasing supplies.

This red kale was sampled and found to be quite sweet!
The colder temperatures have that affect on greens such as these.

It was good to see someone growing greens out there,
considering that I had very little success 
growing my own food at home this winter.

One of the main tasks on this workday
was to clear the walkways of mulch.
We will be replacing this bark mulch
with a gravel-like material,
with the goal being weed prevention.

Last week the first crew got a great start,
with the center aisle being nearly cleared
from one end of the garden to the other
and several interior rows.

The removed mulch was added to beds that were in need of topping off.
In this way, nothing goes to waste
and it should add some nutrients to the beds.
Here, one of our members added almost a full 2 inches to the planting area.

Most beds have irrigation intact,
so we merely placed the mulch underneath.
The drip irrigation has been in place a short time,
and we think we have finally worked out the kinks.

There will be plenty of mulch to add to other areas
on the outside of the fence.
Repurposing the materials will save the community garden money
and assist in sprucing it right up.

With upcoming planting for spring looming,

we look forward to having this huge task behind us.

The installation of the gravel will be a considerable project

and we will once again be asking for volunteers.

The end result will be worth all of our hard work,

and hopefully give us far fewer weeds to pull!

"What is a weed?
A plant whose virtues 
have never been discovered."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson