What's Happening in the Garden
We had a very successful Spring 2022 season. Our Spring beds were full of colorful lettuce, kale and chard. Those same beds were planted with a quick growing cover crop and are now in production again. We now have 21 beds planted with cool crops such as carrots, onions, broccoli, kale, lettuce, spinach and chard.
Our initial beds are now ten years old and we have learned the hard way that the orignal gopher wire has completely disintegrated. In 2022 we initiated a project to re-line all of the beds with 1/2 inch galvanized steel wire cloth. It is heavy work, but our volunteers are up to the task! We completed our 16 Spring beds before this year's planting and will tackle our 16 remaining older beds in the Spring of 2023.
We are very excited to have a new owl box on site! After struggling with rodents for many years, we are trying to attract natural predators to our garden. Our owl box was constructed by Amador Owl Box Co. We thank Austin Ford, the owner's son, for helping us learn about the box and for donating his time to help us put it in place. The box was strategically palced with a Southwestern exposure in hopes of attracting a pair of barn owls or screech owls prior to the spring mating season. What owl wouldn't find this attractive box a perfect place to nest?
Unfortunately, our Summer beds struggled a bit this year. Like all Bay Area gardeners, we faced excessive heat, overly active critters and a noticeably reduced bee population. We will continue to review our organic practices, reflect on what we may have tried differently and learn what we can so that we consistently improve our production.
We did have a group of volunteers pick these beauties early and let them ripen safely on the counter away from hungry pests. Success!