We did it!
This Saturday, a group of gardeners with all levels of experience came together for a transformation. We removed over 200 square feet of tomatoes, tomatillos and peppers, added nutrients back into the soil and planted root veggies, brassicas and greens. These plants will feed the community around Roots Zero Waste Market this fall and winter season.
This week’s blog is a photo essay of the day. I hope it brings you as much satisfaction as it brought me to see how much we could accomplish as a group in just a few hours. It’s amazing how much we’re capable of when we come together for a common goal.
This is what we started with …
The summer planting had been successful, don’t you think?! We spent a good amount of time pruning back all of those indeterminate tomatoes down to the soil level, heaping them in piles for compost and gleaning as much fruit off of them as possible. All the while we acknowledged the bounty these plants provided during our hottest time of year.
As you can see, there was quite a bit of produce still on the plants! Participants took home as much as they wanted, and the rest we left in boxes for the community to take as they wanted.
The removal of the plants was definitely the hardest part of the process, but we chipped away at it bit by bit and had fun all the way.
Once the mammoth plants were out, we set to amending the soil. It had eroded quite a bit in the beds, which are new this year, so we topped them up with about one cubic yard of organic compost from nearby North End Organic Nursery.
Is there anything more satisfying than clean, rich compost?!
Next, we walked through all the different ways to plant, from seeds to plugs to starts. We discussed water, plant spacing and my philosophy for intensive planting. The beds might look a bit empty now, but there are seeds working away below that soil!
The participants set about planting their own beds, and I loved seeing how everyone expressed their own personality and creativity in the way they sowed seeds and moved soil aside for the small plugs.
Planting is my favorite part. It’s obviously Andrea’s, too! :)
Once the planting was complete, we turned the water back on and took in the rich dark soil and hopeful little green plants, reflecting on what we accomplished. We were a small but mighty group, and we were able to turn over 200 square feet of gardening space in less than three hours on one of the warmest October days we’ve ever had.
The owners of Roots, Lea and Zach, treated us to some amazing treats for our effort! While we talked, we drank iced tea and ate our fill of fresh bruschetta, peanut butter cookies, the fattest dates I’ve ever seen and kiwi berries. I potted up some plants for the participants to take home to their gardens and we chatted hopefully about what the next season would bring.
I hope that all of you are looking at your gardens this week with hope for what’s to come. I know this world is a strange, scary place right now, but we can control a small slice of it just by planting seeds. If you’ve got some raised beds in Boise that need tending, I hope you’ll give me a call. Together we can remove what’s spent and plant something new.
** I just want to thank Alexa Lampasona (@ActiveTastyLife) for taking these pictures, North End Organic Nursery for their naturally grown plants and compost, the Roots Zero Waste Market family for their work in the community and the participants of this workshop: Mackenzie, Andrea, Adrian, Laura, Hannah R., Hannah E., Danica, Alexa, Leah, Zach and Sam. Always, my gratitude to the Garden Coach Society and Nicole Johnsey Burke, and my amazing family. You all give me hope for the future. **