Gardening At Franklin Park

When George and I returned from Pilgrimage last month I discovered that Metro Parks had offered me another garden plot. I waited a year for this second plot, and was delighted to see that it was adjacent to the one I already have. That makes for one large growing area, perfect for sprawling squash, corn and green beans.

We got busy and dug trenches, piling the soil into rectangular berms about eight inches high. Then, we filled in the berms with grass clippings, leaves and aged horse manure. This compost will rot over the summer in the trenches and provide an excellent mulch during August when water is at a premium.

I've laid out growing beds for potatoes, zucchini, corn, peas, beans, tomatoes (9 varieties), collards, kale, mustard greens, leeks, onions, shallots, beets and chard, lettuce and carrots, sweet fennel, mint and borage. Only one growing bed remains to be seeded - the basil and cilantro, and I'll do that this weekend. I had to wait for the soil to really warm up for those.

I average at least two hours a day at the garden, sometimes puttering over aesthetics and the layout of rows. Part of the pleasure is having a tidy garden, so I've also cleaned up the area along the fence, removing old compost and rocks (years' worth) and restoring the area with some dahlia beds. Some of the gardeners from last year are working their same plots.

But, new people arrive and give it a try (like Allie here), who hope they can work in a few peas, squash and tomatoes on a minimum amount of labor. It is always a little amusing to see new-combers learning the requirements of building good soil and tending plants. I tell many of them that building good soil is really a challenge. It means shredding organic material that is grown so that it can be used as compost rather than throwing all of it away.

In the autumn we have to relinquish our plots back to the city, but some gardeners do a winter cover crop. Kale and mustard winters-over very nicely, even if it is a little aged and weather-worn. Some plots are 'year-round', and the city doesn't till these in the spring. They belong to people who grow leeks and strawberries for an early spring crop. Otherwise, all plots are tilled over by the city and re-configured every spring.

Last weekend George and I paddled Alder Lake, looking for bean poles along the edge of the reservoir. As we paddled along, I pulled in about 20 poles, and place them in the canoe. Alder Lake was formed when a dam was built, creating a reservoir that has fluctuating water levels throughout the summer.

By summer's end stumps dot the shoreline.

This road was closed when the dam was built. It is a little amusing to see it heading into the water. We paddled around the corner, and had a picnic lunch in the canoe.