WPIRG

2009 Summary

People and Weather

The spring this year got off to a late start, and we had early rain
and late frosts. This meant that many crops got off to a bad start.
Most of the warm-weather plants did not take off until a late heat
wave in late August and early September.

We attempted to have gardening days on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday
afternoons. Of these days, Wednesdays had the best turnout. Several
gardeners came at other times, which was good but led to some
difficulties in communication. Of special note are the many residents
of the Columbia Lake Townhouses who generously dropped off kitchen
scraps for our composter. In addition, we managed a few deliveries of
compost from Food Services, although once again we did not sustain
this for the entire season.

Greenhouse

New this year were some arrangements Stephanie made with the
Biology greenhouses on South Campus. Lynn the greenhouse manager
kindly allowed the garden to keep their seedlings in the greenhouse,
so we had a planting party. We were very grateful to the
greenhouse staff for accomodating us.

Crops

Two of the most exciting 2009 crops were raspberries and
asparagus. Raspberry plants from 2008 fruited very late in the season
– there were raspberries in mid-October. In the spring, two
independent groups of gardeners planted asparagus — one crop from
seed, and the other from asparagus roots. Neither crop came up until
well after asparagus season (the end of June), but both crops thrived.
If they survive the winter there is a good chance they will establish
themselves for many years to come.

Other surprises for 2009 included corn (which grew pretty well but got
decimated by raccoons at harvest time), and okra, which did poorly
until the fencing protected it. Then it thrived. We also had multiple
crops of delicious spicy lettuces, some Asian cabbage that nobody was
able to identify, and (for the first year in a while) a small but
successful crop of spinach. We also successfully grew a few cucumbers
and two bunches of celery.

We grew two types of carrots: regular ones and adorable
spherical ones that did well in our soil.

We were overwhelmed by purple-topped turnips, which proved to be one
of our most successful crops. Basil also did well, partially because
we planted lots and lots of it. The basil stayed delicious until the
frosts hit.

Our brussel sprout plants grew beautifully, but the brussel sprouts
were tiny. Maybe we needed to thin them, or maybe they needed more
nitrogen in the soil.

The gooseberries were another mixed success. They fruited bountifully,
but somebody (who shall go unnamed because he is writing this summary)
picked them a few weeks too early (July 12). Next year, we should wait until
they are red before picking them.

We grew two patches of chard, both of which were fairly successful.
Our potato patch also did fairly well.

Our squashes were troubled this year. Many of our initial squash
seedlings died. The replacements did fairly well, but because most of
the squash plants were outside the fencing they got eaten.

As usual, members of the onion family did well this year. Garlic and
leeks were successful, and chives thrived to the point where they are
becoming a garden nuisance.

Because the weather stayed mild until late August, crops that like hot
weather (eggplants, peppers, and zucchinis) took a while to hit their
stride. However, they produced reasonably well this season.

Tomatoes proved to be a disappointment. We planted them too densely,
we did not stake them in time, and they got blight. There was a small
crop of cherry tomatoes, but most of the larger tomatoes failed.

This is the second year we have suffered blight in a row, and we made
the mistake of composted some blighted plants. It may be advisable to skip
tomatoes entirely next year. This year we continued to get several volunteer
tomato plants, and this will probably happen in 2010 as well.

Fencing, Pests and Weeds

We made some good progress towards building a permanent fence this
year. After getting clearances from the local hydro and cable
companies, we dug in 3-foot chickenwire around the garden perimeter.
Unfortunately we did not have enough fencing to finish the entire
garden, so work remains for next year. In addition to patching up the
missing section we also need to put fencing behind the composter.

Critters munched many of the seedlings we started in the greenhouse,
including most of our brassicas. They also made short work of beets
and peas — neither of which established themselves this year.

The fence helped keep critters off our okra, cabbages and kale. It did
not deter deer or mice.

Soil, Compost, Woodchips and Wood

Early in the season some gardeners had our soil tested for nitrogen.
The nitrogen levels were reported as low. Other than adding compost,
we did not do much about this.

We again ordered a tonne of compost from the region of Waterloo, which
we spread over the beds.

We also ordered additional woodchips, which proved to be a mistake. We
experienced conflict within the group whether to spread the woodchips
on the paths (making the beds smaller) or whether to get rid of
woodchips entirely (keeping pests down some other way). Future
gardening generations may want to reconsider getting woodchips.

Another source of drama concerned raised beds. One gardener kindly
donated some lumber which we were going to use to raise the beds
(which would help keep out woodchips). Unfortunately, most of the
lumber was pressure treated, and after some (sometimes heated)
discussion we opted not to use those planks in the garden.