Williams Sustainable Garden Project: First Work Party of the Summer!

Monday, June 24, 2013

First Work Party of the Summer!

Hello all!

The plants are enjoying all this sun after what seemed like gallons of drenching rain, though now we gardeners are experiencing the mild frustrations that come with watering time. One of our projects for the summer is restoring our drip irrigation system, as it is in an only semi-functional state. With a great new system at Mt. Greylock high school to look to, I think that we can make ours perform as we would like it to. And hopefully in the meantime the rains will return, as this is always a much easier way to keep the plants, and the gardeners, happy!

This past Sunday, Josh and I hosted our first community work party of the summer. We had seven intrepid volunteers venture out, even in the still-hot sun of late afternoon! Everyone was eager to help, and we were able to accomplish much more than Josh and I could ever manage by ourselves in an hour. This is especially true right now as I had a mountain biking accident last week that has left me with a banged-up, sore knee. I have been hobbling around as best I can, but most garden tasks are impossible for me right now, so it was great to have the help of our peers on Sunday. Josh has been wonderful about doing the work of both of us, but it's always helpful to have more hands (and legs) available!

Our work party attendees helped us to wage war against the massive weeds that had overtaken the entire circle beds (see Alix with her spoils of war below) and to weed the overgrown garlic beds and cover them generously with straw mulch. The scapes are just starting to reach maturity, finishing their curly-Qs, and a number of us had a spicy taste-testing. We also pulled out the remaining chard plants from last season, giving us a nice view of the little babies that miraculously had sprung up underneath! All in all, it was a great gathering and I look forward to welcoming more new people to the garden as the summer continues!