Community Organic Garden

Well I finally got to the Motueka Community Organic garden yesterday. It reminded me of all the hard work that you must put in if you're developing a garden on bare land. They have laid out beautiffuly shaped garden beds including clover, horseshoe and mandala shapes. I think the pholosphy is that of no dig beds which take awhile to build up. There is a really good herb collection which was thriving in the hot weather. Unfortunatley the land is riddled with the pesky oxalis but they are tirelessly digging it up and mulching over it. It's a really easy place to find just nestled behind Toad Hall by the roundabout in Mot and I think their hours are 9-3 weekdays. They especially welcome new volenteers, perhaps people who have small sections or who are of no fixed abode or just wanting to learn some gardening skills. I like to donate any leftover seedlings to them because I hate seing plants go to waste. I imagine donations of organic manure or pea straw would be appreciated too. The garden is just new so they only have small amounts of produce for sale so far but at the moment you'd be able to get mesclun mix, zucchini, squash and maybe garlic and beans. There are quite a selection of plants available too. Ruth please post a comment if I've forgotton anything and Thank you so much for showing us round in that hot weather.
In the garden at the moment plant broccoli,cabbage, cauli, kohl rabi, celery, silverbeet,beetroot and lettuce. Water well to help them get established, I mulch with whatever is available ie grass clippings, pea straw or even wilted weeds. Seeds to sow are peas and beans if you like a bit of a gamble, alternativley you could sow covercrops onto bare patches, try peas, buckwheat or mustard,these will be dug into soil in late autumn. Think about the garlic beds and maybe pile them up with horse poo.