Mason street garden June 2013

Sunflower, tomato, basil and bean guild

Garden getting big!

View of the garden from my bedroom window!

In the third year, the garden seems to finally be growing like it should. With soil mended and perennials and annuals growing together, the garden is finally taking shape.

Small plants starting out in mid-june

Wood Chips at Chicken Wing

Finally got wood chips all over chicken wing. The UFC got a donation of around 4 yards of wood chips from an arborist company that dropped off the pile for us.

Wood chips are great in the garden for many reasons:

• Helps retain soil moisture, especially in dry sunny summer weather
• Helps protect soil from the sun, which can kill bacteria and fungi on contact
• Wood chips slowly breakdown and add organic matter and nutrients to the garden over time
• Helps prevent pooling of water and mud while watering
• Suppresses weeds from growing in paths
• Looks beautiful 

There are several disadvantages worth discussing:

• Provides a great moist habitat for slugs
• Depending on the type of wood chips, could pose some problems with the garden to look out for. for example, most of the wood chips delivered to Chicken Wing come from conifer trees. This will will be slightly more acidic than desired for a garden. Over time, PH levels back out, and the advantages of the added organic matter outweigh the acidity, but it could pose some short-term problems. 
• Wood chips, or any carbon source for that matter, can deplete nutrients in the short term. As wood chips begin to break down, the use up the nitrogen and other nutrients during the breakdown process, taking nutrients away from plants. While this is true, as the wood chips continue to break down, they will add even more nutrients over time by providing nutrients for the entire soil food web. Again, the problem with wood chips is a matter of timescale. In the longrun, more organic matter in a garden is aways a good thing.

Mason Street Garden May 2013

At Mason Street Garden, I am starting to see signs of better soil. While some plants are still having trouble, most plants are really looking pleased. By year 3 of adding as much organic material as I can find onto the beds, they are starting to look good!

It seems like some plants are loving the new soil: rhubarb, raspberries, strawberries, artichoke, sunchoke, potato, tomato, sunflower, onion

But some plants are not as excited: kale, broccoli, chard, beets, and most herbs

Not sure if this is due to soil or another factor, such as yearly weather or slugs.

Bird's Eye view of the garden. It's symmetry is
pleasing to the eye. I can't wait for the fruit to bear!