Last work days of the semester!

Come to the UA Community Garden (1400 E. Mabel St) for the final two work days of the semester!

1) On Thursday 12/8/11, "Dead Day" for the university, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. we will be working on digging shallow trenches in preparation for irrigation, sifting compost and adding it to the garden beds, and possibly doing more path tamping. Take a break from studying and let off steam by doing some good garden work!

2) On Thursday 12/15/11, we will be doing an irrigation-focused work day, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. At 10 a.m. we will be beginning our work day with an "Irrigation Installation"workshop to go over how to install and maintain a drip irrigation system, and afterwards we will be installing the irrigation for all the garden beds.

Both workdays will conclude with a fun POTLUCK as usual, so bring some food to share if you wish.

We'll see you there!

November 19th Work Day

Greetings!

On the 19th of November we had our first Fall work day at the UA Community Garden. This may seem a bit late in the game, but we spent all semester setting up the management system and contracting someone to get the beds dug and backfilled and the mainlines of the irrigation installed. This means, yes, the beds are dug and the mainlines of irrigation are installed. We also got a beautiful turquoise shed built in which to store our tools (go check it out, it's lovely and hard to miss).

Anyways, this all means our work days are going to involve tamping pathways, dressing beds with compost from the UA Compost Cats, installing the drip tape and laterals of the irrigation, and building pallet compost bins. We'll be open for the public in the spring of 2012! Get excited. Because we are.

Back to the work day, we had a great turnout of folks and we really got a lot done! The dirt (and I call it dirt because it is terrible soil) that was dug out of the beds is really chunky with caliche, so we have to sift it before we use it to tamp down the paths.

Our giant pile of unsifted dirt we had to wheel to the garden area.

Nothing our fancy sifter couldn't handle.

We also had a big pile of soil (and I say soil because it is what was used to fill the beds, and is a mix of compost, sand, and soil) left over from the construction of the garden that was done by machinery. We used it to backfill some of the beds that were looking a little low.

I guess we forgot to take a "before" picture, but if you imagine a big pile where all that dark soil is, that's what we managed to move in a couple of hours. Three wheelbarrows and a group of motivated individuals will really get you a ways.

Anyways, there was a lot of tamping, shoveling, and wheelbarrow-ing, on top of some general merry making. I like to think most people that were present had a good time. They all did stay until noon, but I understand that could have been because of the promise of good food.

If there's one thing we're good at, it's feeding people that help us.

The UACG is really coming together! We're having another work day this Saturday, December 3rd, from 9 am to 1 pm. Come join us for more path building, back filling, and (hopefully) compost bin building. There will also be foooood! And you really shouldn't miss the development of the garden; it's pretty exciting to see.

Nowadays it even looks like a garden!


And gardens need to have people in them!

So come and join us sometime soon! If not this Saturday, then at least when we open in the spring. Go to our website (www.uasfs.com, under the Garden in the Desert tab) to fill out an interest form for a plot, to sign up for our list serv, and to check our calendar of events! And feel free to email us at sfsgitd@gmail.com with any questions.

Happy gardening, folks!

Sofia

Our Community Garden

Known as UA Community Garden, our plot at Highland and Mabel just north of the Highland Garage on the UA campus is no longer a vast lot of bare soil. Last week, we had our Meet&Greet where community members exchanged ideas and shared a delicious meal, and the excitement was building up waiting for the garden and imagining all the possibilities. The space is now showing signs of garden beds and community, and at the conclusion of a 6 hour work day we had successfully filled 8 beds with native soil (after sifting it), earthy compost from Tanque Verde Farms, and beautiful aged manure from Campo Urbano (in approximately a 3:2:1 ratio). 15 of our 18' x 3' community plots were excavated yesterday and we were given the task of filling them to create sunken beds. We are planning to dig and fill 47 beds (community and production) in our garden, but it will be a gradual process. It was wonderful for us all to share in the labor and work together in making our first mark upon this land that we are fortunate enough to use and will be able to transform into a beautiful community space where people can learn and connect and create and experiment and grow and grow food.

*We will post again here when another community work day is happening, so check back! Also, if you have given into the epidemic of facebook, look for us there (as Garden in the Desert) for events and pictures!*

pictures (top to bottom): 1. the excavated beds 2. pouring compost 3. hardworking sifters 4. more sifting! 5. GITD about to fall asleep in an unfilled plot at the end of a long day :)

UACG Groundbreaking!

Fellow gardeners and community members! The time has finally arrived for our UA Community Garden Groundbreaking event. Please join us on Saturday, April 23, any time from 9 am to 3 pm and get your hands dirty building the community garden we have all been looking forward to.

We’re going to be sifting soil and mixing compost into the legion of gardening beds that will be available for community use. This will require a lot of hard work from a lot of people, so we could really use all the help we can get. Invite friends and spread the word for the start of this exciting new community resource. There will be plenty of water and some food provided, but make sure you bring your own water bottle, sun-friendly clothes, and work gloves (if you have them).

Hope to see you there!

The Garden in the Desert Team

UACG Meet & Greet!

Tucson Gardeners,

Garden in the Desert, a student team affiliated with Students for Sustainability and ASUA, is proud to present theUA Community Garden. This garden will produce food grown by students, for students.

Not only will you be able to grow you own food at this garden, you'll be able to buy food that we grow organically. Local, organic food food grown on campus!

We invite you to join us for our Meet and Greet Social on Saturday, April 16. The event will be held at the future garden location where you can provide your input and share your vision for the up and coming project. Delicious food will be provided so bring a plate to join in the feast. Please bring a plate, cup and silverware (we'll have extras if needed.)

Where: SE corner of Mabel and Highland: Map

When: Saturday, April 16, 4pm

What: An opportunity to share your ideas about the new garden

Facebook Event

Hope to see you all there!

Arizona Daily Wildcat Article

"We aren't really a committee anymore, we're a community," Caleb Weaver

Check out the article in the Daily Wildcat about our garden.http://wildcat.arizona.edu/news/garden-grows-community-1.1855451

Garden work-weekend - preparation for the winter

Preparing for the Winter

The weekend of December 4^th and 5^th, 2010 we had one of our biggest garden work days at One Tree Garden, comparable to our first garden work day a little more than a year ago. Team members, Student for Sustainability members, friends, grad students, etc… all came out to help prepare One Tree Garden for the winter.

 

We had two full days of digging as we worked compost into our sunken beds, stabilized the western sunken beds, removed our hay bale raised bed, dug out and created waffle beds on the east side (a Zuni pueblo desert gardening technique), and harvested arugula, amaranth, and basil. All the soil that we removed was used to make passive rainwater harvesting berms surrounding the Udall Center.

The berms are a step forward in creating the Sonoran vegetation area up front. The berms will also help minimize the severe erosion that happens on the steep slope on the west side of the Udall Center and reduce the amount of flooding that happens on Euclid Ave. during heavy rains.

Although we will miss our hay bale bed we decided that after experimenting with a raised bed it is not the preferable technique in the Sonoron desert, we found that the bed dried out much quicker than the sunken beds and therefore required more water. After a year the hay bales were also starting to break down and didn’t look too good.

For this winter break, since most of the team members were not around, we decided to leave the garden fallow and let the soil sleep under a warm blanket of hay. We added compost, donated from Civano Nursery, to all of the beds so that they’ll be ready for planting when we return. The beds were covered in with hay from the old raised bed to retain moisture and keep weeds from growing.

 

I was silly in fearing that we would not finish in time to tidy up the garden and remove the piles of soil from the sidewalk before the Udall Center staff walked in Monday morning. Everyone worked so hard that we finished with no worries (because we are amazing!). I do admit though that I was sore afterward…for a week.

Looks like everyone enjoyed themselves, and there were even some visitors interested in our garden. It was a great weekend!

And now…

our One Tree Garden sleeps….

-andré luiz

Super Garden Volunteer Weekend!

We're having a big work weekend getting One Tree Garden ready for planting next semester! Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm we'll be working, but if you can only show up for a few hours each day, that'd be fine. We'd love your help and there's plenty to do, so please stop by!

Wear comfortable clothes to work in and a water bottle, and we'll be sure to feed you for lunch :)

Thanks, you marvelous person, you!

***********

Date: Sat Dec 4 - Sun Dec 5

Time: 10 am - 5 pm

Place: One Tree Garden at the Udall Center (Euclid Ave and First St)

Cascabel and Cranes

Last Friday, 12 UA students piled into two vehicles and drove east of Tucson. The goal of the trip was to see how people outside of Tucson live sustainable lives and to gain inspiration from their examples.

The first destination for the eight members of Garden in the Desert, along with 4 other outdoor/permaculture enthusiasts, was Cascabel, Arizona. Cascabel rests within the San Pedro Valley east of Tucson along important biological corridors.

Above, André listens while David and Pearl explain their ingenious outdoor pantry.

David Omick and Pearl Mast live in a 128 square foot home within the Cascabel community. They decided to live a simple life, in terms of amenities, not enjoyment or passion. They welcomed us into their home with warmth and hospitality to show us how they live. Enough nice things cannot be said about David and Pearl.

David and Pearl built their house to maximize the amount of time they spend outside enjoying nature, hence the small indoor space. They have created some ingenious innovations to increase simplicity and reduce their impact on the environment.

To the right, Laura watches a solar oven bake an apple pie at around 400ºF. More can be found about their innovations at www.omick.net

What impressed me the most about David and Pearl was their respect for nature. Every decision and innovation was tackled with their ecological impact in mind. Not only did they live in a house made of reclaimed materials, they used water pumped from a solar pump. In order to become intimate with the amount of water used daily, they lift every drop of water they use.

All wastes are reused. Above, Pearl shows Annie some seedlings growing in a humanure garden. Human wastes are composted into workable soil full of nutrients that veggies love.

After a wonderful morning at David and Pearl's, we loaded up and headed to southwestern New Mexico. There we met with Guy McPherson, a champion of the idea that economic and industrial collapse will occur due to peak oil in the not-too-distant future. More of Guy's ideas can be found at guymcpherson.com. He built his house to also be off the grid, but with durability rather than environmental sustainability as his main focus.

Guy welcomed us to his home to enjoy his beautiful surroundings and some lovely company. Guy's house is larger and more technologically advanced than David and Pearl's house. It contains durable yet efficient electronic and appliances. He has secured himself many sources of food and water for a future without oil.

Guy has found himself a community that is based on a gorgeous piece of land. We were able to spend time exploring his property. We found the following birds along a perennial river, adjacent to his property: Belted Kingfishers, Peregrine Falcons, Bufflehead Ducks, Killdeer, and a healthy population of Sandhill Cranes.

I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the two properties in a 24-hour period. The homes were an inspiration to a student who is interested in living off the land. As my professor and mentor stated, the two off-grid structures may appear very similar to an outsider, but a closer look will reveal much different purpose. The homes are in stark contrast to each other - one was built for the celebration of nature, the other built for the celebration of man.

November Planting Day

Last weekend, a handsome group of adventuresome gardeners woke up early to go plant some seedlings in the large sunken bed of One Tree Garden.

We planted some leguminous O'odham peas, snap peas, garbanzo beans; as well as lettuce and broccoli. The space around the plants was covered with chopped up corn stalk pieces as mulch to keep the soil temperature regulated and retain moisture.

As for the rest of the garden, the tepary beans are growing nicely, the sunflowers are still flowering, and the amaranth (over 8 feet tall!!) is ready to harvest!

When all is said and done for our summer crops, we are going to be having an all-hands-on-deck work weekend ***December 4th and 5th*** to dismantle the decomposing straw-bale raised bed and construct a series of sunken beds in its place. Everyone is encouraged to come by, grab a shovel, eat some delicious treats, and help us make our garden a beautiful winter veggie paradise!

In the meantime, our young, healthy plants are still anxiously awaiting their move...

Sunday Fall Work Day

Oh man, oh man, did we have a great work day this past Sunday (October 24). Winter's coming along slowly but surely, which means we have to start getting the beds ready for the seedlings we have growing at Amy and Andre's! Also, the front end of the garden has been lacking attention, so we finally fleshed out the burms so that we can plant some lovely desert plants out there. Nothing says "come look at our awesome garden!" like a jojoba bush (but mostly because it's so much fun to say "jojoba")

The corn needed chopping down in the sunken bed:


Then we aerated the soil using an ancient technique of hopping on your shovel and giving it a wiggle:


We were going to bundle the corn stalks together for a fall festive feel, but they kept falling over with the wind. We ended up using them as mulch for our freshly aerated bed in order to keep in moisture and prevent wind erosion until the new seedlings go in.

We finished the burms out front. The idea is that water will pour down from the roof, onto the ground, then collect in the area where the plants will go before flowing down toward the street. We also tried to make them a bit symmetrical to keep the area pleasing to the eye:

Well now, isn't that pleasing to the eye?

All this really wasn't too much work, and we did it over the span of a few (very chill) hours, so it was a nice way to spend a Sunday. We also had pizza and bagels and tea, because everything is better with pizza and bagels and tea.

Thanks to all the wonderful people that we managed to bamboozle into helping out! We appreciate all the help we can get. And you there, reading this post! Feel free to join us next time, yeah?

How can you say "no" to these earnest faces?

All in all, our garden is looking marvelous, and I can't wait to get the winter crops in.

Our (Lunar) Planting extravaganza!

This last Monday night, a group of us got together for a winter crops planting party at Amy and André's house. Old friends, new friends and even a puppy! Despite mosquito attacks, it was a fan-tastic evening that ended with a deliciously warm bonfire.

Like any good garden work gathering, there was a ton of delicious food contributed by everyone. We ate, and ate, and ate some more, and just before the sun started to set we got to work planting seeds. Caleb and Corey set up the planters with some potting soil, Crop Chief André worked from his list to tell us what needed to be planted, and everyone got to plant seeds - from Native Seed SEARCH, Westwind Seeds (both Tucson local companies with desert adapted plants), seed collected last winter from crops in Amy and André's home garden, and Botanical Interests (organic but not local).

It's looking like our One Tree Garden at Udallwill have a fantastic winter garden: carrots, peas, snow peas, lima beans, pak choi, garbanzos, quinoa, turnips, radishes, beets, lettuce, chard, kohlrabi, chives, leeks, chual, broccoli, anise, catnip, chamomile, thyme, cilantro.

We chose to have our planting party on Oct. 4 because of where it fell in relation to the moon phases. Planting, and gardening, by the moon is a really powerful science of which we are only just beginning to experiment with. A few of us heard Tucson organic farmer Kim Fox explain about it briefly when GITD went to her workshop last spring.

According to John Jeavon's How to Grow More Vegetables*, short germinating seeds (most veggies and herbs) should be planted 2-3 days before the new moon. The new moon creates the strongest lunar forces (for example, ocean high tides would be at the highest point during the new moon). By planting several days earlier, the seeds have had the chance to absorb water and swell. The new moon creates a sort of mini tide out of the water within the seed itself, allowing the seed coat to burst and the baby plants to pop up soon after!

Similarly, we will transplant to One Tree Garden about three weeks later, after the full moon, because the moonlight will be decreasing and the lunar gravity will be decreasing also. The decreasing light causes less leaf growth while the weakening lunar pull allows for more root growth. Good root growth is necessary to transplant so the plant can survive the shock of moving and establish a good root system in it's permanent home.

For now, we will just have to wait and see what our seeds do....

*Information on lunar planting from:

Jeavons, John. How to Grow More Vegetables: And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine : a Primer on the Life-Giving Grow Biointensive Method of Sustainable Horticulture. Berkeley, Calif: Ten Speed Press, 2006. Print

Groundbreaking

Fall 2009
Groundbreaking Party!

"In the Spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." - Margaret Atwood