Gardening at Nickelsville

Tuesday, June 9, my new gardening friend Crystal and I paced off a square of ground out at Nickelsville, a homeless encampment planning to become a sustainable eco-village. The 20' by 36' space is going to be an organic garden, built lasagna-style from the ground up.

The first stage will be laying down cardboard and newspaper to smother the grass and weeds, start them decaying into compost, and attract whatever earthworms live in the vicinity. I left a bucket to begin collecting compostables, which will be spread between layers of peat moss, until a bed at least a foot thick is built up by the end of summer. Then we'll spread a final layer of finished compost and topsoil, and be ready to plant fall/winter crops.

Using cardboard, newspaper, and compostable garbage in building the garden will also help the Nickelsville garbage bill!

We need many donations to help build the garden:

• Cardboard
• Newspaper
• Peat moss
• Compost
• Compost bin
• Worm bin
• Worms
• Rain barrel(s)
• Seep hose(s)

The most important thing right now is a rain barrel. We want the garden to be an addition to the lives of the Nickelodeons -- not a competitor for water.

The health department has told the Nickelodeons not to discard waste water in the bushes. Once we have some loam built up, however, we can have a gray-water rain barrel that feeds water into the soil (up to 720 gallons a week). Anyone experienced in using gray-water in home gardens is welcome to advise!

Yes, we're still going!

A lot of plants died in our unusually cold winter, including some perennials. It took me awhile to get the spirit up to start again this year -- but I did!

Early in May, our favorite frat (Sigma Beta Rho) came by and spread the compost I'd made over the winter, and on Mother's Day I began planting anew in the garden. I will post current photos eventually!

Current plants:

• Tomato: One each Sweet Million, Sweet 100, Early Girl, Oregon Spring -- and a dozen volunteers coming up from the compost, being slowly thinned out. :)
• One hill of zucchini -- planted more, along with cucumbers, but rats dug all the rest up!
  
• A forest of red orache (aka mountain spinach) sown from the seeds I saved off the one plant grown last year. I sowed them thickly because I didn't think I'd kept the seeds well -- then most of them sprouted! I'm slowly thinning them.
  
• A forest of catnip from last year.
• The rhubarb from last year.
• One kale from last year, grown big and wild and gone to seed: almost ready to pick off and replant the seeds.
• Volunteers from last year's plants: magenta spreen, borage, red russian kale, something that may be squash.
  
• A couple of french marigolds (had more, dug up by rats).
  
• 5 Easy Wave petunias, won in a contest! Were 6, one killed by rats; one other little hero has been dug up 3 times, replanted and keeps bouncing back!
  
• I planted some beans and guess what dug them up?
  

Herbs surviving from last year:

• The rosemary bush -- and it finally bloomed this spring!
• Most of the lavender -- I thought I'd lost my favorite, the gray lady, but she's coming back.
  
• The garden sage -- and it is blooming! It's not supposed to bloom -- but I love it. :)
• The golden sage.
• Oregano, both green and gold; blending beautifully!
  
• Spearmint --- of course! :D
• One of the three thyme bushes -- blooming nicely.
• Chives.
• Parsley.
  

Flowers surviving:

• My grape hyacinths were blooming again, but some vandal dumped their container. :( I have salvaged the bulbs and will replant this fall.
  
• One of the miniature roses had survived, was beginning to thrive -- then was stolen. :(
• One of the three chrysanthemums is coming back, but hasn't bloomed yet this year.
• Hoochy Mama (the heuchera) has survived! and is "blooming" (the leaves of the heuchera are much more impressive than the blooms).
• The catmint is blooming bountifully!
  

About half of the strawberries survived, and a new half-dozen came up in the veggie bed. The first crop of the year is starting to ripen.