Hi, Folks!
We till each spring because with 40+ years of weed seeds in the ground, the
garden would be unmanageable without it. We hire a professional who comes
in with his industrial-size rototiller and does the job in under an
hour. The funds come from a local grant.
The garden is not tilled until I say the ground is ready -- this can be
anywhere from the 2nd week of March until the last week of April, depending
on that spring's rain (adds days) and wind (removes days) and if folks miss
early crops for that year, I hear about it. However, it's also an
opportunity to educate people about soil structure (plow too early and the
soil structure is destroyed for the year) and the fact that they can plant
traditional early spring plants again in the late summer/early fall -- so
one's peas may only be delayed, rather than eliminated for that year.
We now have composters in each plot to encourage in-season composting and
encourage sheet composting through the fall and winter so that the
rototiller in the spring can turn everything under and improve the
soil. Those who compost have a lot better soil than those who don't, but
if we left the plots as-is, the foxtail, barnyard grass, lambquarters and
ragweed would take over. Some people learn and some don't care (and leave
the garden), so if your plots are of a decent size (ours are 25 foot square
and larger), it's better to till once a year than have an unsightly weed
problem for the neighbors to complain about you for.
Dorene Pasekoff, Coordinator
St. John's United Church of Christ Organic Community Garden
A mission of
St. John's United Church of Christ, 315 Gay Street, Phoenixville, PA 19460
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