Update from Alan

By this date last year the PTG had logged 64.5 hours of volunteer time in the gardens! We had dug ditches, built flower beds and brought tubers out of storage. This year we have precisely four hours of time logged and only a bit of ditch dug. A couple of weeks ago Alan tried to cut an edging ditch along the north side of block
‘C’. The ground still had frost and the sod cut like hard ice-cream and in some places it was completely impenetrable. Since April 2 the frost had cleared but since then snow has made the ground frozen solid again. Long range forecast has temps below average and rain seven of the next 14 days. April is shaping up to be a real
challenge. Sources say we are at least 3 weeks behind. We won’t be able to move the remaining shrubs from outside the classroom windows. If we try moving the roots out of the beds now we will trample the tulip and narcissus bulbs that are already pushing through the ground. We will have to schedule shrubs for the fall. We have 160 tomato seedlings and more than 650 marigolds seedlings that will go into the ground. Approximately 1,300 plants. Alan's cautionary notes on limiting the use of non-renewable resources like peat and coir products, was reinforced by an item on the BBC "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6502239.stm is worth a look. Coincidentally, one of last years students sent the following link for the teachers consideration: http://www.peatmoss.com/. Per Alan, "What industry labels bog ‘restoration’ is nothing of the sort. The bog is gone, dug out and sold, all they have done is covered up the scar. The ability to retain and release water is lost and the sequestered carbon has been released into the atmosphere. It took ten-thousand years to accumulate the original peat and it will take another ten-thousand years if ever to effect a restoration."PTG seems to be making at least a small impact on community awareness. A few weeks ago Alan received an email asking if he did speaking engagements. The outcome is his first speaking date in years, the subject being the PTG concept and how it is evolving. On the 14th we'll take a look at plant material and tie up loose ends. If the weather is agreeable we’ll do a tour of the grounds.

Answer April 8???
b. are a source of carbon compounds

???In general, the higher a lawn is cut
a The deeper the roots will be
b The greater the damage of white grubs
c The more often it will need aerating

Day +2 flurries Winds 10km/h P.O.P.40%
Night -4 cloudy periods Winds 10km/h P.O.P.10%