Was at the PTG a little late today. 9:10 to 12:10
Planted 120 annuals in the corner garden, planted 32 tall marigolds, and Moeen planted 32 tall marigolds. Moeen dug the holes and I planted approx. 30 canna lilies. Alan and Moeen loaded the van on a couple of trips with mulch and covered the new plantings, Alan collected water from the main building and I watered everything in by hand. Alan was pleased with the results and the corner garden
is pretty much done.

Update from Alan

As it turned out, there was no frost in the garden last week, it only got down to +3, so the hours it took to cover everything with straw were for nothing - not to mention the time it took next day for Margaret to get the straw off again. I know that the weather could have been much worse over the past ten days, but having both three degrees and thirty degrees in the same week in June is not helpful for getting gardens ready for summer.
For the Record: as of last night we had accumulated 500.5 volunteer hours in the gardens this season. That puts us about on par with last year. While 500 hours is many times the gardening effort that organizations much larger than PTG can manage in a whole year, the input is not evenly distributed. Libardo (07 class) has contributed 25 hours, Dick (04) 26 hrs, Margaret - who I promised wouldn’t have to do anything but help with the paperwork - almost fifty hours and the redoubtable Moeen (05) more than 80 hours. It is disappointing that almost half of this year’s class have, so far, done nothing to meet their 14 hour commitment.
In the display gardens, Margaret finished off the vee bed under the main sign and the whole area was again watered. The sand for the new shrub border in the wedding garden is all in place and, once again, we’re waiting for the tractor - this time to bring in the cattle compost. All the border dahlias have been planted in the beds surrounding the main building and mulching the bare soil with straw has begun. The big corner bed (Heart Lake/Old School Rd.) has again been cleared of weeds and it is now ready for planting. Getting the plants started in that bed is going to be a challenge. The ground is already dry and there is no rain forecast between now and at least the end of the month. The bed is too far away to lay hose so any water will have to be hauled in buckets and applied by hand.
In the nursery garden, a second 30' long support structure has been built and all but half-a-dozen of the tomatoes have been planted. Tony donated some cucumber seedlings and they were planted on one of the sloping sides. It will be interesting to see if those fruit will dangle conveniently for easy picking. The final few tomato plants should be planted in the next few days. A good deal of time has gone into earthing up the potatoes. The first Colorado beetles and their eggs have now appeared on the plants so beetle picking is going to start being a major occupation. (Why is it that the people most vociferous about not using insecticides are the ones least likely to volunteer for this job!)
This is the first year we have grown radishes and they seem to love the raised beds. The first crop has all been distributed and the second flush is now ready. In the 3 sisters plot, the second planting of corn is just showing through and so are the scarlet runner beans. In block B, the bush beans and the chard are up but there is not yet any sign of the ‘bread seed’ poppies. With luck we’ll get the third planting of corn in and all the remaining squash and other cucurbits planted over the next few days.
There is some big do on over the weekend so we likely won’t get anything done in the display areas but there is plenty to be done in the nursery area. I’ll be available 9 to 12am and 2 to 4pm Saturday and Sunday and all of next week. As usual, bring the basic tool kit - spade, shovel and border fork if you have them - and please try to let me know that you are coming.

Day +20 Sunny UV9 Winds SE5km/h P.O.P.0%
Night +8 a few clouds Winds SW10km/h P.O.P.20%