Corn gluten - organic and good for inhibiting weed growth!

Our Board member, Jayne Huntley, would like to share this with you all.

http://ottawa.ca/en/residents/water-and-environment/lawn-and-garden/use-corn-gluten-meal-get-rid-weeds-0

Types of weeds affected:

• crabgrass (Digitaria ischaemum)
• dandelions (Taraxacum officinale)
• reduces the germination rate for curly dock, knotweed, lambs quarters, pigweed, and plantain.

Use corn gluten meal for:

• lawns
• flowerbeds
• bulb beds
• vegetable gardens

A 20 kg bag does one application for 4500 square feet so should do at least 2 years+ in a 20x30 garden. You need to apply every 6 weeks or so (about 3 times a season). It in stops seeds from germinating for up to 6 weeks so you should use it after your plants are up or where you are going to put already sprouted plants such as peppers and tomatoes. At a local garden centre it was $40, but they also had it at Costco I think, likely for less.

Jayne

Gardening Calendar - especially for new gardeners

If you are relatively new to gardening a relatively large garden, such as our annual plots (600 square feet), then the NAGA gardening calendar may help guide you and keep you on track. The calendar was created by our current NAGA Secretary, Helene Labbe. A big thanks to Helene for such a thorough and neat job.

While the general advice offered applies to any food garden (in Ottawa), the calendar is mostly relevant to the Annual Plots, since their productive time is restricted to between the NAGA spring and fall tilling.

The calendar is a 'pdf' document which is located at the top of the Gardening Tips page of the NAGA website.

Here is a direct link to the calendar:
NAGA Gardening Calendar

Print it out and stick on your fridge at home!

Happy gardening!

Stones - what to do with them, and what NOT to do with them

 

Finding stones is inevitable when gardening, particularly in the NAGA garden. You are free to remove stones, but please remember, when working in your garden to NOT put any stones outside of your plot border. Please place them on the large trays which are located by the compost bins throughout the garden.

 

Stones in your headlands (the border external to your plot) may be run over by the NAGA lawn tractor during grass cutting. The lawn tractor is an expensive asset of the Association which must be operational throughout the entire gardening season. Stone, such as shown below could seriously damage the cutting blades, and fragments of stones could fly out from the machine and injure one of our gardeners. We don't want that!

 

Here is a photo of stones there were placed in the grass near somebody's garden plot. Please, do not put any stones in the grass!

 

Plot Inspection #1 for 2013 is complete

To all NAGA gardeners:

Today, 19 June 2013, the NAGA garden was inspected by two members of the Board of Directors to identify any plots which are in violation of the rules of the garden, and to identify plots that will soon be in trouble with weeds. We also identified plots that appear to have little or no gardening occurring in them.

Gardeners will be notified and asked to take action to bring their plots within the rules. A follow-up inspection will take place in approximately two weeks.

Please note that there is a two-year waiting list to become a gardener in the NAGA garden. There is a big demand for these garden plots. Gardeners that cannot bring their plots within the rules, which each gardener signed in the spring, risk losing their membership so that people on the long waiting list can have a chance to grow a garden.

There are two main problems in the garden:

1. WEEDS. They are unsightly and propagate quickly, ruining the garden visually and in production of fruit and vegetable for others. There is an article posted to this blog recently highlighting some methods for weed control. Also, check the web, YouTube, and other sources for ideas on how to control weeds. Or, talk to a gardener near your plot that does not have a weed problem! We am sure they will offer you some good advice.

2. HEADLANDS. The borders, or outside edges, of the plots. This area is called the 'headland'. It extends about 1 to 2 feet beyond your staked boundaries onto the green grass area. Gardeners are responsible for keeping the weeds and grass trimmed on their headlands, and to also not allow any rocks or any other material to be kept or stored on the headlands. Removal of stones is important so that the expensive lawn tractor does not require expensive repairs from rock damage. Trimming of headland grass (and weeds) allows the lawn tractor operator to see any stones that may cause damage to the machine. Finally, you cannot store soil, or garden tools, or any other item outside of your plot boundaries.

There are some tools in the main shed with the combination lock that will allow you trim/cut your headlands (or please bring your own tools, they may be sharper). If you do not know the combination to the shed, please ask another gardener, or a member of the executive who will be pleased to give it to you.

A third, smaller, problem is:
3. NO GARDENING taking place. When you accept a plot in the NAGA garden you agree to try your best to actively garden. Several gardens appear to have been abandoned. If there is a reason for not being able to garden your plot, please contact the Board (see the main website at http://nepeanallotmentgarden.yolasite.com/) and let them know there is a problem. Maybe we can help, or offer some advice. We will try to help!

Craig Hamm
NAGA Director at Large

Seedling's donation

When: Tuesday, June 18, 2013
What time: 3-7 pm
Where: Greta's Organic Gardens, 399 River Road, K1V 1C9
Bring: boxes and bags to take the seedlings away

Greta, of Greta's Organic Seeds, is preparing to compost her seedlings and is offering them free to community garden members before she does so. She does this out of kindness, so please be sure to respect the process in which she would like to donate these seedlings to the community. 

Please, NO telephone calls to her (Greta) to reserve plants, and come prepared with boxes and bags to take the seedlings away - she does not supply trays/boxes/bags, etc. Plants will be given on a first come first served basis.

www.seeds-organic.com

Two of my favourite tools for weed control (what are yours?)

There are two important words in the title. The first important word is 'weed'. The second, and most important word, is 'control.'

Weeds for gardeners are a fact of life. As sure as the sun will rise in the east, a garden will have weeds. An ornamental garden will have very few weeds, or NO weeds, because the gardener(s) spend a lot of effort removing all the weeds. The Nepean Allotment Garden Association (NAGA) is not an ornamental garden, although there are several gardeners that do a fine job of bringing beautiful flowers and creating an ornamental oasis for us all to take enjoyment in - thank you for that!

What is a weed? What may be a weed to me, could be somebody else's dinner salad. Dandelions can be eaten, but most people like to control this plant so it doesn't get out of control. However, there are some common plants that appear in the garden that nobody will eat, or find ornamental, or that will have any utility, other than making your life a misery in the garden. Annual Sowthistle (Sonchus oleraceus) is a common weed that is unsightly and grows rapidly, for example.

Wikipedia has a page devoted to what defines a weed:

The word—commonly applied to unwanted plants in human-controlled settings, such as farm fields, gardens, lawns, and parks—carries no botanical classification value, since a plant that is a weed in one context is not a weed when growing where it is wanted.

When I started gardening in the NAGA plots, I was soon overwhelmed by weeds taking over my annual plot. It go so bad that I felt my time and effort was entirely consumed by removing weeds, as I could hardly tell the difference between where the food plants were among all the greenery of the weeds! Many days of caring for the food plants were lost simply to removing these darn weeds. That didn't feel like gardening! I was neglecting the good stuff to get rid of the bad stuff!

I finally decided to consult YouTube to see what experienced gardeners do to get rid of weeds without resorting to chemicals (which are not allowed in the garden, and now also illegal in Ontario). What I learned was that removing all the weeds from your garden is only a dream and a fairy tale. You will have weeds in your garden. It is impossible to 'get rid' of weeds (for more than a day at least). However, you can control them!

What is control? The thing you need to do is CONTROL YOUR WEEDS. CONTROL means that they never overwhelm you or your garden. CONTROL means that you can see what, and where, the food plants are. CONTROL means not having weeds everywhere, all the time. CONTROL means you will see weeds, but it will take you only a few minutes to deal with what you see. CONTROL means the 'NAGA weed inspectors' won't be making a note of who to call for getting their weeds under control (and potentially losing your plot!). It means not being discouraged every time you go to the garden!

Simply cutting weeds above the soil helps, but I don't find the end product very attractive, or very effective. The other thing I learned from some YouTube videos was the use of hoes, or even better, specialised tools that are meant for controlling weeds by CUTTING them BELOW THE SOIL. This was a 'Eureka moment' for me.

Disclaimer: Allow me to state up front that I have absolutely no financial, family, or other connection to Lee Valley Tools. Other than a fairly tidy, weed controlled garden, I have nothing gain from promoting the tools I am about to describe.  In this posting I am suggesting two Lee Valley garden tools that have worked very well for me. In fact, Lee Valley have several tools similar to the ones below, but I haven't tried them. You'll have to try them yourself if you think they suit your style, or budget, or need, better than my chosen tools. (Also, these recommendations are not from the Board of Directors, they are from me.)

Swoe is me. The first tool I recommend is called a Swoe. The Swoe sells for about $45. 'Swoe' rhymes with 'hoe', and it is almost like a hoe. I believe the 'sw' comes from 'sword', from Wilkinson Sword. Gardeners are frugal. So far, for the time and effort saved, I have found this tool well worth the money.

The picture below, from Lee Valley's catalog, shows the swoe being used. This tool has several good features. First, the kiln-dried ash handle is very long, you can stand upright while you do the job. This is good, especially as we age. Second, it has a diamond-shaped flat stainless steel blade. The stainless steel is nice as it is very tough, and does not rust. The blade is angled so that it is parallel to the ground when you use it. A slight up-and-down motion of the handle allows you to wedge the blade under the soil on the opposite side of the weed, and then you pull, blade under the soil, and cut the evil weed! The blade is sharp enough to cut weeds, but not sharp enough to cut your fingers. A back-and-forth motion allows you slide the blade UNDER the soil and cut many weeds per stroke. The cut weed falls onto the surface, and the cut remains below the soil, away from the life giving sunlight. If the weed hasn't gone to seed, you can let the weed stay on top, dry out, and go back into the soil. Don't take my word for it, though, there are some reviews here from another seller in the USA.

The swoe in action!

  



The swoe blade, close-up.

Japanese weeder. Because the swoe is a large tool, it can be unsuitable for removing weeds that are closer to your food crop. Lee Valley sell hand-sized tool, the Traditional Japanese Weeder which sells for about $21. I left one these behind in my garden once, and some thief quickly relieved me of it. I hope their garden is weed controlled, at least. The tool is so useful that I quickly bought another one to replace the stolen tool. Unlike the swoe, Lee Valley also sell this tool for left and right handed people! You can see this in he photo below (courtesy of L.V.). The blade on this tool only cuts when you pull the tool, and it is a lot sharper than the swoe. According to the Lee Valley webpage, it is "hand-forged, laminated 4-1/2" blade combines a hard carbon-steel face with a shock-absorbing softer steel back for increased durability."  With regular use, it has never rusted on me. I have recommend this tool to everyone I see with a weed problem. One gardener purchased one after a short loan, and she said it saved her garden. Her weeds had gotten out of control, and this tool saved the day. Just as a reminder, this tool operates as the swoe does, but cutting off weeds BELOW the surface.

 Left and Right handed!

 

 

The Traditional Japanese Weeder blade, close-up.

 
I have found these two tools to be the quickest, chemical free, method to CONTROL weeds. You will spend an eternity removing weeds. And as the soil in the NAGA garden contains a lot of clay, it can be nearly impossible to get the roots out of the soil.

Finally, unlike a regular hoe, when you use these tools, there is a minimal amount of soil which is moved around by the blade action. I have found there is no second step to move soil back to its original position as you get with a hoe, or a digger. These are efficient tools, and they have allowed me to quickly control the weeds and then let me get back to gardening the food crop. Isn't that what it's about?

These are my experiences and recommendations. There are over 100 gardeners in NAGA. Perhaps you have another method that works well, or better! PLEASE send us an email, and let us know what works well for you. We can share your ideas on this blog, and hopefully we can get the weed problem under CONTROL!

All submissions should be sent to: naga.ottawawebsite@gmail.com

Happy weeding,
Craig Hamm
NAGA member, Director-at-Large, learning gardener

Natural Pest Control Workshop - 10 June (Monday) 2013

Michele Heights Community Garden (located behind Tim Hortons near the Coliseum on Carling) is sponsoring a Natural Pest Control Workshop

Monday, June 10th, 6:30 pm
Michele Heights Community Centre
2955 Michele Drive (MAP)

Please see the attached for more details.
Contact micheleheightscommunitygardens@gmail.com if you have questions.

Please spread the word. Thanks.

The Power of Giving - A video of our garden from 2010

In the summer of 2010 Starbucks approached the United Way, Ottawa, about doing some community volunteering. Starbucks had 130 district managers who were visiting Ottawa for a community conference, and they wanted to volunteer in a local community project. The United Way put out the call for interested parties to suggest a community project. Meghann Darroch at The Nepean, Rideau and Osgoode Community Resource Centre answered the call and suggested that the volunteers spend part of a day helping out at our Nepean Allotment Garden Association. Please watch the video and find out how it went. You might see some familiar faces, too. It's a great showcase for our garden and community spirit.

Click and enjoy!
The Power of Giving - Video

Slabs of fun in the garden, and working in the trenches (June 2013)

 

While walking through the garden on June 1, I noticed that Perennial 203 has found some valuable treasure! Well, valuable if you find immovable concrete to be of value. Obviously some dedicated gardeners here. What will become of that slab?! Good luck, whatever you do.

 

As of June 2, progress has already been make on the 'great extraction of 2013', ready for hauling out by a chain and a truck:

Here we see Board member Angus Gray, our maintenance director, working hard with hand tools digging trenches for the water supply lines that will be used for the new raised boxes at the western end of the garden.  Not seen in the photo is our Chair, Mike Chebbo, who was also working hard on a warm day, digging and shovelling the ground for the water lines. That's dedication!

 



 

 

Help sort it out on Sunday!

 

Hi to all,

We need some helpers on this Sunday morning (2 June) to sort out our garbage pile between recyclable and non-recyclable items at 11 am or 2 pm in case of rain.

Please come in and help before you work on your garden. It will only take 15 to 20 minutes from your time.

Thanks,
Mike Chebbo
Chair
NAGA 

---------------------

UPDATED 2 June:

As a result of the cleanup on Sunday morning the garbage area has been cleaned up. About 6 people came to help out and it took about 30 minutes to achieve a great result. The barrels have now been labelled with instructions for what goes in each one: plastic and glass, metal, paper, and the unmarked one is for "garbage" (non-recyclables).

Please tie up sticks and wood into bundles. The City of Ottawa garbage collectors are not obligated to take so many loose items of sticks etc.

It is best, if possible for you, to bring your recycling and waste materials back home in your car/van and put into your domestic garbage/recycling. This will help keep the garbage area tidy. With over 150 gardeners, we need to work hard to keep the garbage from becoming a problem. Please encourage others to use these bins/barrels properly.

 

The clean garbage area. Each barrel/bin is for a specific type of material.

 

 

Garbage. It isn't compost.

Gardeners are reminded to NOT put any NON-compostable material into the COMPOST BINS! They are compost bins, not trash bins.

If you pack it in, pack it out, is what they tell the hikers and backpackers. After you are done with the plastic and Styrofoam containers from the garden centres, why not take that garbage back home and put it into your garbage and recycling? This will take a big load off the NAGA garbage area. Let's not turn our garden into a landfill.

Here is a recent example of what NOT to do:

Are you taking vacation this summer? Serious issues keeping you from your plot?

Gardening is rewarding, but it is a lot of work to keep a garden tidy. Weed control keeps the garden looking good for the community and is also a courtesy to adjacent plots; they don't want your weeds to propagate to their plot. But sometimes, life takes over, and you just can't get to the garden for a week or more, and the weeds will grow, and grow rapidly!

If you are going on vacation during the gardening months, please have somebody help you out during your absence. As a last resort please notify a Board member that you are going to be away for a period. In this case the Board may be able to enlist help to keep the weeds controlled while you are away. At least the 'weed patrol' will be aware why there may be a problem.

Unfortunately, if you find yourself dealing with a serious family issue, illness for example, and you cannot keep up with your garden plot while you deal with this, please look for help from a friend or other gardener to control the weeds in your plot. If that is not possible, as a last resort please let a member of the NAGA Board know. We do not want or need personal details. But we might be able to help you keep the weeds under control while you deal with much more serious issues.

To contact the Board, please email: nagagardens@gmail.com