So Much To Be Done

So this has been quite an eventful week for little Lentol Garden. I opened the gates for three hours on Monday (Labor Day) and Wednesday. I spent most of Monday cleaning out the plastic shed and assessing our tool situation. Unfortunately, the situation is not so great. We have plenty of shovels and one hoe, but no rakes, no pitch fork, no cart, no buckets, no hand tools (like weeders, cultivators, etc.), and our wheel barrow is totally out of commission. I did, however, find a compost bin in the back lot on the Graham Street side and set it up on Monday with some brush and yard waste. I also brought some vermicompost with some red wigglers in to help get it started.

Wednesday was much more productive. I started by picking up all the trash and pulling a ton of weeds from the front beds. I also edged the granite walkway and started pulling the vines from all the front rose bushes (until I realized how silly that was with my wimpy gloves). I swept the front walk completely and pulled most weeds from between the granite cracks. And as I was winding this down, I realized that we didn't even have a decent brush pile! So many weeds with no where to put them! The composter is the obvious answer, but it's much too small for the large amount of "brown" material resultant from my weeding session. Also, I have a vision for that little composter: I think it would make a great worm composter and would allow garden volunteers a place to bring their kitchen scaps. A brush pile is the only answer! I staked out the perfect spot near the Graham Street entrance and shoveled several small piles of Sweet Gum Balls (the fruit of Liquidambar styraciflua or the American Sweet Gum) into one large pile. Now we have the makings of a large and potentially productive compost pile.

And that's that! I plan on returning today to continue the long road to recuperation for Lentol Garden! Just to keep my mind full of little goals, I've scribbled down some of the first few tasks that would greatly benefit the garden:

1. Weed all the front beds, detangle and prune the roses.
2. Edge all the granite
3. Repair the front bed boarders.
4. Make a wide trail from the front beds to the rear garden (Graham Street entrance) for carts to haul organic matter to the brush pile.

Until next time!