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Task List Table for Old Homestead Community Garden

updated 14 Nov 2009

Task List Table

Jobs to do Possible solution(s) Materials needed Comments Contact Person
Build bamboo structure for Runner Beans Bamboo from around the back of the shed, ties (eg strips of old sheets or t-shirts) The bed for this is the thin one part of the East bed (the one that doesn't have the onions in it). Runner beans grow really tall so use the longest bamboo there is. Possibly two structures running side-by-side along the bed so you don't have to lean over unproductive soil to get to the runner beans(?) Heidi/ Anne
Collect Bamboo Done - Bamboo is around the back of the shed. Heidi
Make a big hot compost heap Kikuyu and cow manure Made on 22/23 and 29/30. Wow. Trimmed on 5/9/09. One side was cut back on 19/9/09, piled on top and covered with more grass clippings and cow manure. See Diary 23/8/09 for details ofhow we did it. Anne
Move concrete blocks at bottom of North bed Carry to another spot Brawn Access to the North bed will be much better if we can move the concrete blocks from beside the shed. The dark grey ones need to be kept as spare for the property's front retaining wall. We could stack them on another side of the shed? Heidi
Deciding on crops and purchasing seeds, etc. Add your ideas and put your name beside what you would like.

Potatoes - Heidi, Walter, Jenny, Ellen (special interest in space saving "tyre"-stacked grown potatoes)

Squash / Pumpkins - Heidi, Walter, Jenny

Corn - Heidi, Walter, Jenny, Ellen

Beans as part of corn/squash/beans guild -Heidi, Jenny (don't understand the guild thing but keen on beans:->)

Asparagus - (Heidi - I don't think we should be scared of this one taking a few years to bear. If we lost the use of this lovely land, we could alwayas transfer the asparagus plants and the time would've been worthwhile.)

Globe Artichokes - (Ditto - Heidi)

Kumara - Heidi, Jenny, Ellen

Carrots -Heidi, Walter, Jenny

peppers - jo, Walter, Ellen

beetroot -jo, Heidi (I think I can safely say Jo and Heidi are both really wanting this one because we need to learn to grow this one better!)

banana palms - down the back?? - Jo, Heidi, Jenny, Ellen. (I saw a big lot at the side of the countdown car park - one was cut off and had a bunch of bananas which are now lost, so they do fruit. I am sure that the car dealer wouldn't mind if we as for some pups?!) Heidi - excellent - anyone available on Sunday 6th to collect?

Flowers for insects - Walter, Heidi, Jenny, Ellen (phacelia, marigolds, zinnias,) Heidi has marigold and phacelia seeds.

wild space with rocks for skinks and other crawlies - :) Heidi (Jenny says, hmmmm, slugs & snails could hide there too? Heidi - but maybe could be found there too?) yeah, I have some volcanic rocks I want to get rid of! Cool, Ellen. What Ellen can't source ain't worth having! :)

red onions-Anne, Jenny, Ellen

tomatoes-Anne

sunflowers-Anne

pepinos- Walter (These would be good behind shed as part of ground cover there, as long as they get enough sun to ripen. - Heidi)

Golden Queen Peach - Heidi (I have managed to grow some from seed! If we can put one of these in as an espalier along the fence, way down by the garden, it'd be lovely!)
Edging for the beds

tyres

Clay cement

(eg TT Kaitaia)

 

 

Anne may be able to access some clay from Mt Albert for clay cement edging, so please give thought to this type of edging. Heidi and Logan have a concrete mixer. We need to think carefully about a long-term addition like this.

Sara doesn't like clay cement edging because it tends to dry the soil out and is so permanent. (I hope this is ok for me to add here, Sara.)

Adrian from Kelmarna says he likes having "no edging" best. He said weed bulbs like oxalis and onion weed tend to hide under edging, and the soft approach looks nicest.

Heidi: Soft edges would work well if the paths stay mulched, with the mulch being removed once it has composted down a bit, and put on the garden beds.

 

 
Creating paths

 

 

DONE with cardboard and mulch over the grass. YAY Well done to Walter, Anne and Sara.

Sara has suggested also covering the other paths to make it look beautiful. Heidi likes "form to follow function" and unless there would be a function to covering concrete over, would prefer to leave it as concrete, As the mulch would compost down, mulch-covered concrete would eventually grow weeds, whereas concrete wouldn't. However, it would look lovely, and might be nicer on bare feet in the summer (which is a function too!) What do others think?
Getting rid of rubbish Done. Yay. Ellen
Clearing new bed along Western fence DONE YAY Well done Keith
Talking with stump grinders

update 22.07.09: I phoned about 10 stump grinders and arborists from the Central leader classfieds. Many said they would consider to dump a load when they are in the area but nobody committed to a specific time and day.

Russell from the professional arboricultural company Tree Fellas dropped off the mulch from a rotten Puriri Tree removed from the Old Homestead grounds. Thanks to Ellen, Russell and to Walter who ensured we did get the mulch because they were about to drive away!

 Ellen
Talking with chimney sweeps

I'm not sure about how to ensure the quality of the soot. Given we only need a small amount of lime. I'm happy to donate it. (Is wood ash from fires similar, Anne? Can we just ask people with wood fires who only use untreated wood and who we trust to give us their ash? - Heidi) This is a link to a site which suggests application of 1kg ash to 3m x 3m bed. This is not much! Keith: I think we need to find out more before go ahead with this.

I can provide ash from untreated wood from my fireplace at home. I have 1 big bucketful at the moment I don't know what to do with - Jenny

Anne
Talking with lawn mower contractors Ally's neighbour is now doing this, Yay. Also, the Old Homestead have stopped their garden bag and will put their lawn mowings on our pile.
worm farm

How can we use food scraps which are available from cafes without increasing the risk of rodents. A well-designed worm farm might be fantastic. Can anyone be multiplying up a worm population so we can start with a large population once we get a farm organised? Where should we locate it? Up the top makes good ergonomic sense, but it would have to be a sturdy design to resist the forces which might be unintentionally imposed if a load of mulch hits it up there. Not plastic, I'd imagine.

What about the bathtub as a worm farm idea New Lynn Sust. Living Centre is running a course about? Might be suitable(I know nothing about worm farms myself)? - Jenny

Heidi: Organic World have offered a steel bathtup! Cool, huh? We would need to have a very strong support frame as it will need to be raised above the ground.
Improving soil texture All beds need more organic matter, best applied as mulch from the top. Keith will look into getting gypsum.
Planting green manure crops / carbon crops We have planted broad beans in the South and North beds, at about 10 cm spacing. In the East and West beds we have planted mustard. Heidi
Establishing rain water collection 200 litre drums, new guttering, diversion pipes, hoses, petrol-driven pump.

The two sheds have about 35 m2 of roof area. As a medium-term plan, we could put in 200 litre drums; say 4 below the sheds and 2 or 3 at the top of the gardens somewhere. Then once a week or fortnight, we could pump from the lower drums to the upper drums.

Long term I think we could look at some slim line tanks along the driveway (beside the South-West) wall of the church. Maybe more like 2-3 thousand litres @ 2-3 thousand dollars. The plumbing would be fairly simple and with this quantity of water we would have water for around a month of summer. Maybe this could be an EIF funded project.

 Anne
Seats

What do you think about putting a seat on the corner of each bed right in the middle of the garden, so four people can sit, talk, dream and enjoy the garden? I wonder if we can use the concret blocks that are there?

Yes I like this idea - says Anne.

I like this idea too - Jenny

 Heidi
Windbreak hedge As a short-term windbreak, Heidi has planted jerusalem artichokes in the top half a metre of the South bed. Next year - tagasaste? See forum. Heidi
Rocks for skinks Somewhere we needs some habitat for skinks. In the border flower garden and down in the messy area would be good for now, but in the beds themselves also would be great long-term. Heidi / Walter
Propagating fruit trees and plants

Bananas, grapes, passionfruit, casimiroas, cherimoyas, pepinos, sugar cane, what else would we like? What do you or your friends have which could be propagated?

I'd love to have a passionfruit extravaganza (being that I've had bad luck getting them going in my home garden) + bananas would be good but this is just my preference of course. :-) Jenny

 Heidi
Tidying up back of shed Smother the weeds and plant watermelon Cardboard, grass clippings, other quickly-decomposing mulch Save the cleavers and nasturtium and any other useful plants. blanket cover with cardboard from bicycle shops, then cover with grass clippings and other mulch. You could take your lawnmower and cut local verges.

Anne

Jenny

Heidi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If there's not enough room  or you want to discuss anything further, start a topic in the Pt Chevalier Forum.

 

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