Friday, November 28, 2014

Thankful for RWCEG Garden Bed Re-build and Winter Greens!

Thank you to the RWCEG community for support of the recent garden bed re-build and wicking system project! Although not quite done, bed-1 at RWCEG is now functional for growing winter greens! About three weeks ago, the wicking system passed functional testing, and revitalized soil was finally added. Once the square-foot markers were added, my kids started planting on November 9th.  Since then, the garden appears to have survived a few freezing nights, and the nearly 5 inches of rain recently received. Per readings from the "monitoring tube", the wicking system appears to be water tight and yet draining off excess rain water properly. We had our first salad green harvest on Thanksgiving Day, so we truly have something to be thankful for!

What's next?  Although the bed is functional to grow plants, a few construction details remain. The back trellis needs to be rebuilt, and a few block-holes need to be back filled. The arch tubes were recently installed to hold up plastic sheeting to effectively create a green house on very cold days. A full document detailing construction history has yet to be created.

Happy Thanksgiving RWCEG! Enjoy the pictures below.

-Glenn Starnes


 Revitalized Soil being added to garden bed by RWCEG helpers (Many others not shown also helped).

                Gina and Evan planting in newly re-built bed-1 at RWCEG.

Arch tubes and plastic sheeting turn bed into a Green House on cold days.

Monitoring tube measures water level of wicking reservoir.


                               Evan checking on garden and harvesting for Thanksgiving.