Ladner Community Garden

Things are heating up at the garden and this is proving to be one of our best years yet. I think its that great soil we ordered from West Creek Farms. The plants are growing like crazy.  Thanks to all who signed up to water over the summer. It takes the load off of the directors who have been managing to water more than was expected. Now that our trees and shrubs are going in we have to make sure they gets enough water which is so essential during the first year of growth. Have you noticed the numbers on our composters? We are trying to start a management program so the composting is done properly. If you see a composter with a number on it , it corresponds to the allotment bed taking care of it. You can no longer just toss your trimmings just anywhere. We really want to make our own black gold. If you don't want to be part of the program, please use the large wooden composters. If you would like a composter, please contact a director.  Okay, I reall...

Our community garden is getting a new look. The messiness of the existing composting site was driving me crazy. Not only was it unlevel, often the composters were full to the brim. There is nothing worse than overflowing composters to attract visitors that we don't want to see. We also couldn't maintain the grass around the composters easily enough. That has all changed.  Last month, Jim built a base for the east composters. This base was necessary to ensure that the composters would not be sitting in water this winter. Yes, the drainage is horrid here so he added some fill and built it up.  Now Jim is working on the west side to do the same thing. All we need now is some more fill. He has moved all the existing composters and added three new wooden ones. These new composters have all been built from repurposed fencing. Thanks to those who donated fence boards for our project.  Jim also moved and turned all the compost that was inside the compost...

We have a new composter at the community garden. This one was made with wood that was donated to the garden. This is my favourite style of compost box as you can access the finished compost easily by slipping out the boards on the front of the box. So when you want to place your compostable material in the box, do NOT open it like this! This will put pressure on the hinges and possibly break the lid. Look closely at the right side of the box and you will see a string. It is attached to a thin piece of wood.This piece of wood is used to hold the lid open on the box. Lifting the piece of wood out of its resting place on the side, you will see it has a notched end.Fit the notches to the front of the box to hold it open. It should look like this when the opener is in place. Now it is safely held open so you can do your composting. You will also notice that we lined the box with hardware cloth. This is used on the inside of the compost box to keep any unwanted critters from deciding our com...