Friday, October 24, 2008

Well, How did it go?

The Parking Space garden was a limited success.

I say that because of several reasons:

1) It did not receive consistent care. I severely injured myself shortly after starting the Parking Space Garden. So the Farmer-in-chief was absent during some critical periods.
2) It got inconsistent watering because of poor coordination among the people who were tending it.
3) We had a very cool June which affected all gardeners in the Pacific NorthWest.
4) There was some inconsistency in the construction of the Grow Boxes. In the rush to get the garden going, several did not get fertilizer and at lease two did not have drain holes which resulted in invisible water-logged roots.
5) We didn't have adequate height of the bean support fence. This reduced been production.

There were some definite positives:

1) The greenhouse worked very well. Inside temps approached 100 degrees F on sunny days. The semi-tropicals loved this. Also, no rain fell on the tomatoes. That is good. Tomatoe leaves don't like cold rain.
2) The height of the greenhouse and the tomato support system were just right.

I would definitely do this again. Would I do it as part of a community project? It may have been useful as a demonstration. It did not produce enough food to make a significant impact on the church community. Also, the farmer lived too far away to be able to care for the garden adequately. Next year, I will do this in my own yard.

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