All covered up and ready to plant!

compost tops cut cover crops

We finally got the garden beds completely covered with fresh yard-debris compost; the pathways were also topped off with new cedar chips. (it just looks yummy!)

Over the next couple weeks, these beds will compost down and settle to about 1/2 of their height right now.

A couple of the beds were seeded with 'Bulls Blood' beets and 'Black Seeded Simpson' lettuce.



fresh cedar chips for garden pathways



The next few weeks will find us planting 'Early Jersey Wakefield' cabbage, 'Boston Marrow' winter squash, 'Bloody Butcher' corn, 'Scarlet Runner' beans, 'Ozette' potatoes, multiplier onions, and a couple 'Large Red' tomato plants.

We are very excited to get growing this year! We have scaled back our plantings to these few choice varieties and with the addition of our new garden bed, we anticipate growing enough produce to donate to a local food bank or other charitable organization.

THANK YOU to our friends at CLACKAMAS LANDSCAPE SUPPLY for donating the compost and cedar chips for our garden!

Friends in the Garden

We love having guests in the garden and this year is no exception! We have had a couple groups visit already with many more scheduled for May & June. We invite you to visit the Pioneer Garden and take a look at what is "growing on" in our area!   (For groups, please contact the Visitor Center to schedule.)

Cover Crops are ready to be cut!



A layer of compost added on top of the cuttings

 Last week we cut down the cover crops and covered them with a bit of compost to "prime" these beds. (Really, we didn't have enuf compost so this is basically holding down the cuttings so they don't blow away!) This week we will be adding more compost and additional cedar chips to tidy up our garden pathways.

Cover crops should be sown in fall, and cut in spring when 3' tall (or about the time the clover starts to bloom). Lay the cut crop on top of the bed and cover with 4-6" of compost and let sit for 7-10 days. You can then direct seed/add transplants to the beds making sure that there is sufficient compost around the plant roots for growth.

Compost added to all the garden beds for happy veggies!

We didn't get nearly enough compost to adequately cover all the garden beds, but will add more this week to make sure all the existing soil and cover crops are completely covered.

We will also be putting down more cedar chips; we have a new pathway where our "pumpkin patch" is located, and will be adding more cedar ships to our existing garden pathways.