Welcome Weedin'

Day 4

I was able to spend the morning getting more information about winter growing in the Pacific Northwest. It seems that some veggies like Spinach, Kale, Carrots, and Beets do pretty well in the winter. A hoop house might be needed but I think it would be great if the Vets could still get out and garden in the winter when, in my opinion, you would need more cheering up with the clouds constantly looming. Maybe creating a hoop house could even be an activity that isn't super gardeny for those veterans whose thumbs are less than green.

I sketched a quick prototype for a winter bed with Carrots, Beets, Leaf Lettuce, Kale, Cabbage, Spinach, and Broccoli. The beds could be in the middle of the plot and then a cover crop would sit atop the rest of the garden doing it's Nitrogen-fixing magic.

This is about half the garden.

After lunch I decided to head up to the garden and take inventory of the veggies that had already been planted. After driving through the maze that is the Walla Walla VA, I finally found the garden on top of a hill next to the church. The sprinklers which looked like they had been set up on tripods were spraying water over half of the garden. The well-trained Whitman student in me was horrified and wanted to run to find the spigot and turn off the water. I didn't though, because I still felt like a guest. Instead I opened the gate and a cozy little sign greeted me. It got a smile out of me and I continued into the plot. I went around the rows writing down what was in the garden. At first I tried to dodge the sprinklers water but it was so hot I just welcomed the occasional sprinkles on my back. After jotting down the plants and drawing a quick sketch I took some pictures and began to inspect the plants a little more. I looked at the strawberries that grow along the edge of the fence. Some of them already had happy little blossoms among the leaves. Unfortunately, from what I've read, the first year of strawberry plants is not very productive at all. They look cute at least. I moved on to the cucumbers which all looked pretty good but had a few dead leaves and weeds which I cleaned out. While I was tidying up the dirt I heard some one shout a name and turned around.

Strawbabies

Two people were walking towards the garden. It was my supervisor at the VA and an employee she was showing the garden to. I introduced myself and she asked if I would like to meet her boss. She said she had come out to turn off the water that had been running since 10 that morning. My heart sunk a little bit. I'll talk to her about watering tomorrow when I go back during the time the veterans will be there. She took me around to her office and I learned a little more about who I would be working with.

The veterans are part of the only remaining in-patient program at the Walla Walla VA; the rehab program for drug and alcohol abuse. Interest in the garden was really high but has been lagging lately. Hopefully, I can promote it with fun activities in the garden! Composting can be fun right?

I went back to the garden after my short tour and returned to weeding. There were a ton! The sign was not kidding. But, it felt good to be outside and not under fluorescent lights. I weeded and pruned an entire row of tomatoes and realized I am going to have to make friends with those creepy looking spiders that hang out around the plants. You know the ones? With the REALLY long legs and big bulbous butts that are a greenish yellow. It makes me jumpy just thinking about it. But, I will make with peace with them by the end of the summer...maybe. After three hours I decided it was time to get back to the office. On my way back to the Ag Center I saw a sign that said the temperature was 96 degrees! Crazy! I hadn't really noticed how hot it was.

When I got back my supervisor had finally returned from all of his conferences and meetings. I asked him a few questions and he told me that I was basically going to make a "How To" about my position for who ever will be filling it when I leave. Which is exciting and scary at the same time. He didn't seem to care that the sprinklers were sprinkling in the middle of the day. This made me begin to wonder what his stance about food production was. Maybe he doesn't think organic gardening is right for this job. From what I have read the best and least expensive watering method for a garden is watering by hand. It promotes deeper roots that protects plants from droughts. We shall see.