From the Gardens Registrar: What To Do With Your Seeds; Know Your
Boundaries; How This Place Works
Hello Gardeners,
SEEDS – Thank you to the more than two hundred
gardeners who came to our Seed Fair on Saturday. I hope you enjoyed yourself,
and got at least most of the seeds you were hoping for.
If you’re a new gardener, and you’re ready to move beyond enjoying
the pretty pictures on the seed packets, you may be saying to yourself: “Now
what am I supposed to do?”
Well, to begin with, sort your seeds into three piles. The first
pile is “seeds to start right away, in the house.” This includes tomatoes,
peppers, and eggplants. To plant these seeds, you will have best results if you
buy some seed-starting soil mixture – this is lighter than normal soil, and
your seedlings will grow better in it. (You can buy this at hardware stores and
garden centers.) If you don’t have regular plant pots, you can use plastic food
containers. Put some holes in the bottom for drainage. Get the soil thoroughly
wet, then put a few seeds on top, and sprinkle a little more soil over the
seeds. Place the pot in a warm, sunny window sill, and keep it moist (but not
soggy.) Once the seedlings come up, be sure to give them as much light as you
can.
Starting seeds in the house can be tricky. Here’s a link to a
website with more detailed instructions: https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/how-to-start-seeds/5062.html
The second category is seeds that get planted directly in the soil
in your plot. This includes peas, lettuce, radishes, kale, Swiss chard,
cabbage, broccoli, spinach, and root crops such as beets and carrots. If your
garden is still wet, you should continue to wait to plant. But you can
certainly try planting some lettuce and radishes until the soil is ready for
more serious work.
The third category is seeds to sow outside later, once the ground
has warmed up, and there’s no longer a chance of frost. This includes beans,
cucumbers, melons, and summer and winter squash.
If you didn’t get a chance to pick up Robin Mittenthal’s one-page planting
guide at the Seed Fair, here’s a link with much more detail than I’m providing:
KNOW YOUR BOUNDARIES – If you’re a new gardener, here’s the
first thing to do with your plot: figure
out your boundaries. Each plot has a metal sign in front of it with the plot
number. (If it’s a small plot, there is a metal piece under the number with A
and B on it at Eagle Heights, or N and S on it at University Houses.) There should
also be two yellow posts at the front of the plot – these mark the corners.
Your plot extends from one yellow marker to the other. BUT every gardener must
allow six inches on each side of the plot, including the back, for access.
Since your neighbor also must allow six inches, this means there is one foot of
empty space between each plot. This space is necessary for you and your
neighbors to be able to work, push carts, and connect hoses to water. You are
not allowed to plant anything in this space, and you should not have big plants
next to it that will grow into it or hang over it. If you put up a fence or
trellis, it CANNOT be placed on the boundary – it must be at least six inches
into your plot – 12 inches would be better.
HOW THIS PLACE WORKS – I’m the Registrar for the gardens.
I’m a very part-time employee, who assigns garden plots, answers questions, and
mediates disputes. I also send out a message once a week with miscellaneous and
occasionally bizarre information. We also have several part-time garden
workers. But the staff doesn’t run the Gardens – the gardeners do. We have a
garden committee that meets once a month (the second Wednesday of the month) to
discuss issues, problems, and projects.
Any gardener can attend these meetings. We
also have an email discussion group – any gardener can be on the discussion
list – just email me and ask me to add you. So please get involved!
Happy Gardening,
Kathryn
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