Planning some new garden beds for this summer? Come get your hands dirty and get inspired. 

Hosted by our great friends, Track Street Growers.

Didnt make it to the event? Forgot to take notes?

Here are the notes from the event:

*Track Street Growers will be hosting a ‘start sale’ on Sunday May 14th from 11am

*Everyone who attended the workshop gets 10% off Gaia Green products at Le Marche-

I left a list there with everyone’s names.

*Greenslide Timber for Cedar boards for raised beds, Jim Graham 250-837-6749, 

greenslidecat@msn.com, 10% off boards under 6 ft.

-Everyone is going to start with different soil so it is good to notice what you are dealing with first. Track Street Growers (TSG) is dealing with Clay Soil which is good because it holds water and nutrients but it needs organic matter to ‘fluff it up’.

2 main ways TSG converts lawn to garden:

layer organic matter (turned over sod from another bed, leaves, compost, manure), put a soaker hose on top and cover with black cloth, plant something like squash or pumpkins that like a lot of compost first year in holes in cloth.  After the first season, spread the pile out and plant a different crop.

Cover the grass with black cloth (not plastic) in the fall.  This kills the plants but lets water in and lets life carry on below.  In spring, take off cloth and dig down just a few inches in squares and take off small chunks.  Make a pile out of the sod for style 1 above.  Use a broadfork/till to break up big chunks.  Add compost and amendments (e.g. Gaia Green all purpose 4, 4, 4 or another slow release organic granular soil amendment). If you want to use horse manure use black cloth to help with inevitable weeds.  

-Add edging if you are working against grass.

-If you are making a raised bed, do the wood (cedar) inside of your edging.

-Add Gaia Green power bloom for fruit just as plants are starting to fruit.

-6 mil poly plastic for hoop houses

-mulch leaves in lawnmower and put over your garlic in fall.  This will make it so you don’t have to weed, holds water in, and can be turned in for more organic matter after harvest.

-When you are doing the black cloth style-leave soaker hose on for an hour before putting on cloth so you can see where water goes and feel where to set the plants in.

-Diluters (hose in hose out) for adding organic nutrients when you have soaker hose system