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Plot 5: a new urban Community garden

Ac Baker

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posted 2 months ago

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The new composting bay is commissioned: before and after. The black plastic is recovered, so keeps out excessive rain plus helps to heat up the contents for hot composting.

We should be able to fill this bay within two months at the current rate!

2026-05-Double-width-composting-bay.jpg

Double-width pallet composting bay, held together by corner brackets & screws.

2026-06-Composting-bay-covered.jpg

Composting bay covered in recovered black plastic

--
"Whitewashed Hope: A Message from 10+ Indigenous Leaders and Organizations"
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/whitewashed-hope-message-10-indigenous-leaders-and-organizations

Ac Baker

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posted 2 months ago

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We got the word out a little further today, and it was fun too.

We had a little article in a couple of local magazines recently. This intrigued a couple of neighbours, who got together about half-a-dozen people who wanted a visit.

So I did the tour today, with some context about how we're 'cloding the loop' for local veg & fruit growing & sharing, plus some history, plant chat, Q&A etc. Lots of fun, and really good initial feedback too.

Better still, our visitors went & enthused to their friends. So I may be doing another run of the tour in a couple of weeks time.

Best of all, a couple of the visitors are interested in finding out about getting actively involved. Fingers crossed!

--
"Whitewashed Hope: A Message from 10+ Indigenous Leaders and Organizations"
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/whitewashed-hope-message-10-indigenous-leaders-and-organizations

Riona Abhainn

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Location: Milwaukie Oregon, USA zone 8b

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posted 2 months ago

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Good news AC.

Celtic/fantasy/folk/shanty singing at Renaissance faires, fantasy festivals, and other events in OR and WA, USA.
RionaTheSinger on youtube.
Pop-up garden/vintage+ yard stand owner.

Ac Baker

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posted 2 months ago

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We've had another good week. Decent rain, mostly overnights, with warm drier days. Most of the potatoes are doing well (first & second earlies, and main crop). The various tomatoes are coming along: I think we have about six varieties all donated plants. But the latter need more feeding I think, so I've tried mulching with freshly cut nettles.

The Carlin peas & broad beans are doing well too, apart from the introduced grey squirrels eating the beans!

But! We have a severe heatwave starting tomorrow by our standards, with most of the days next week in the low to mid 30s C. Not good for cool climate crops such as potatoes. Sigh.

2026-06-Carlin-peas-broad-beans.jpg

Carlin peas in flower, light pink & dark burgundy, with broad beans behind, beans ripening in their pods.

--
"Whitewashed Hope: A Message from 10+ Indigenous Leaders and Organizations"
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/whitewashed-hope-message-10-indigenous-leaders-and-organizations

Ac Baker

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posted 1 month ago

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A lot of people in this part of the world are struggling. The heatwave is due to ease on Saturday, thankfully.

We've been managed to water the tomatoes and pumpkins every day, and they're looking pretty good.

We're getting a lot of donated 'past their best' vegetables and fruits from the local greengrocer, because it's so hot and they're not lasting. But I'm pleased to say that some of the produce is still usable straight away by an experienced kitchen expert. So the Mutual Aid kitchen have had some spinach greens, some cauliflower, some aubergines, some courgettes on top of the redistributed produce the central food project have been able to supply. There's never enough variety of vegetables otherwise! (The rest goes for compost for later in the year).

Signing off to cool my head .. !!

--
"Whitewashed Hope: A Message from 10+ Indigenous Leaders and Organizations"
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/whitewashed-hope-message-10-indigenous-leaders-and-organizations

Ac Baker

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posted 2 weeks ago

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We've been struggling with prolonged drought. Barely a few percent of average rainfall for July, so a punishing programme of watering due to consistently above average temperatures & sunshine too. Today was only a bit of a relief on the temperature, a temperate 20 C but wind to dry things out instead

We have a few runner beans set & growing, and a few tomatoes, but none of the squashes have set any fruit yet for us. The carrots are doing OK in the trough on the bench above root fly height. The red yacón is growing slowly. The brassicas are doing OK, with some hearting up in the cabbages. The ground is far too hard for us to dig up the potatoes yet.

But in any case, there's no way we can compete in terms of weight, calories or even micronutrients produced, with the weekly quantity of food we're rescuing & getting donated from the local mini-supermarket.

But that's OK. Community members are getting more & better food, relationships are building, and we're learning more about what contributed to local food security and what we can grow in our changing climate.

--
"Whitewashed Hope: A Message from 10+ Indigenous Leaders and Organizations"
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/whitewashed-hope-message-10-indigenous-leaders-and-organizations

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