Vernal Equinox 2017 at RWCEG

Happy Vernal Equinox RWCEG! I hope all have been enjoying the recent Spring weather. The recent crops planted in Bed 1 are presently thriving. If you haven't been to the Garden for a while, I hope you stop by in the near future to check things out. Below are a couple of pictures I took this week.
As usual, I will be at the garden at our current Community Time: Sundays 4-5pm. I hope you can join me so you can learn more details about what is growing. My kids and I will likely be planting tomatoes, peppers, and fennel this weekend.

(Click on the pictures to enlarge)

What's growing: varieties of lettuce, spinach, chard, onions, snap dragons, violas, and a large patch of potatoes (All-Blues, Red Lasoda, Yukon Gold, Desiree, Kennebec, and La Ratte)

In the back of the garden bed, peas are growing up the trellis. A couple of pumpkin sprouts have also materialized.

Growing Potatoes and More from MorningChores

I recently received an email from a representative of MorningChores.com. She came across our Community website and wanted to share information about growing potatoes from a morningchores.com blog entry. I read the article and found it very interesting. It covers potato varieties, growing tips, harvesting tips, pest mitigation tips, and finally a lot of potato based recipes. Refer to the link below for the article. Morning Chores also covers many other DIY and "self-sufficient living" topics.

The potato article:
 https://morningchores.com/growing-potatoes/

Morning Chores home page:
  https://morningchores.com/

Keyhole Garden Designs

I recently had an interesting discussion with Mary M. about the rebuild effort for Bed 2 at RWCEG. During our discussion, she told me about an innovative garden design known as a "keyhole garden". In short, a keyhole garden in a raised garden bed with a circular shape. In the center of the garden bed is mesh tube or basket in which compostable matter is periodically dumped. There is usually a notch in the bed shape to allow easier access to the compost basket. The idea is that as the compostable materials decompose, rich nutrients will leak out of the compost basket and spread throughout the garden bed for the plants. Below are simple diagrams and links to videos and articles for such designs. I am not sure yet whether this is a good design idea for RWCEG Bed 2, but I think it is a clever idea that many can make use of in their backyards; especially if you are good about composting!

http://www.hgtv.com/outdoors/gardens/garden-styles-and-types/keyhole-gardening-tips

A good place to see Keyhole gardens is on UTUBE…just UTUBE it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNT9-6RggNE    Texas Country Reporter   Utube

https://www.niftyhomestead.com/blog/keyhole-garden/    made with stone

http://www.gardeningchannel.com/how-to-make-a-keyhole-garden/   made with cinder blocks

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/3726/