Planting Day Confirmed

We’re on for the planting day this Saturday, May 2nd at 12pm (noon).  Projects for this week will be more plants in the vegetable garden and natives in the rest of the garden as well as assembling and placing a shade structure that has been graciously donated by the Earth Roots field School.  

It’s starting to get warmer so bring some water and sunscreen and as always any tool you may have.

For any newcomers here is a map to help you find the garden.

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May 2nd Trail Construction and Gardening

Hello all, I’m off to Joshua Tree for the weekend, but I wanted to give you the heads up that we are tentatively going to be having our next planting day one week from Saturday.  Our project for the day will be constructing a portion of the trail for the garden and planting the next phase of the three sisters.  Hopefully time allowing we can also set up a composter for people to begin to contribute too. 

I’ll update you all early next week once we nail down a few last details.  Have a great a weekend!

Planting Day – April 18th 9am

Just a quick update.  We will be having our next planting day the morning of April 18th at 9am.  As always dress for the weather and bring any tools you may have.  Directions to the garden are posted below in a google map. 

We’re excited to roll out a few new projects in the coming weeks and months including a trail, composting system, succulent fire protection planting, and garden pavilion.  More details to follow.  Stay tuned.

Dig In Day and Garden Meeting: 1pm, Saturday April 4th

Hello Dirt Firsters!  We will be having another Dig In Day this saturday at 1pm.  Since we’ve been out there last the corn has sprouted and the neighbor has installed their garden.

For our planting day we’re going to install a hose over to the vegetable patch, clean up some of the invasive weeds for fire control prior to the dry season, and have a garden meeting.

A lot has happened out there in the past few months with projects underway and new people dropping in.  Scott and I have so far been your organizers on this project, but in order to continue working out there at a good pace and lessen the load on both of us, we’re going to be breaking off projects for different individuals to spearhead within the group.  Initial projects include, but are not limited to:

• Community involvement and outreach
• Art in the landscape
• composting – which Jennifer has already taken on
• Fire prevention planting
• Garden pavilion
• Trails and paths

We will have a complete list out there and likely come up with some other ideas for projects/areas of interest that people want to take on.

Also, the seed that we had hoped to have for our last dig in day finally arrived and Scott tells me there is a ton of it…so we will likely be putting some more veggies in our garden.

Dig In Day Info:

When: Saturday, April 4th @ 1pm
What: Dig In Day and Dirt First Team Meeting
Who: Everyone welcome
RSVP: dirtfirst@me.com
Cost: Free
Where:  Scroll down for Google Map below

As always please bring any tools you might have and dress for the weather.  Hope to see you all there!

Let us know you’re coming

Our next planting day is just three days away so make sure you RSVP to dirtfirst@me.com so we can plan for our numbers. Thanks!

Rain Garden a Success!

Our rain garden mulching strategy is a success! On the site today we put a shovel in the ground where we had applied mulch and in another area where none had been placed. The mulched area: moist, spongy, and dark brown. The other spot: dry, chaulky, and light brown.

Dirt First Location Map

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Three Sisters

Just an update for next week’s Dig In, to be held on Saturday at 1pm.  We will be planting the vegetable garden.  We’re planting drought tolerant varieties of peppers, corn, squash, squash, tomatoes, and sunflowers.  Scott is ordering the seeds tonight from Native Seeds based in Arizona.  This weekend Scott and I will be renting a tiller and getting the beds ready to go. 

We will be planting using a Three Sister’s strategy for the Corn, Bean, and Squash.  The Hopi indians used this technique successfully, but it was used widely across North America.  

In late spring, we plant the corn and beans and squash. They’re not just plants- we call them the three sisters. We plant them together, three kinds of seeds in one hole. They want to be together with each other, just as we Indians want to be together with each other. So long as the three sisters are with us we know we will never starve. The Creator sends them to us each year. We celebrate them now. We thank Him for the gift He gives us today and every day.

- Chief Louis Farmer (Onondaga)

Sounds pretty cool, but for a more straightforward explanation of how it works, here’s a brief explanation from Renee’s Garden:

Corn provides a natural pole for bean vines to climb. Beans fix nitrogen on their roots, improving the overall fertility of the plot by providing nitrogen to the following years’ corn. Bean vines also help stabilize the corn plants, making them less vulnerable to blowing over in the wind. Shallow-rooted squash vines become a living mulch, shading emerging weeds and preventing soil moisture from evaporating, thereby improving the overall crops’ chances of survival in dry years. Spiny squash plants also help discourage predators from approaching the corn and beans. 

We’re really looking forward to testing this out in our garden and getting some veggies to eat this summer.  That’s it for tonight, but more to come soon.