By Isabella Falsetti and Angela Hoy

As the weather gets cooler and there is less to harvest, gardeners have been working hard to prepare the beds for winter, namely through composting and weeding.

During our Oct. 11 work party, we moved the contents of Bin 2 to Bin 3 as the both bins were in a similar state of decomposition, and they can mature over winter. We may turn Bin 1 into Bin 2 before we close down as there will be a lot more green material coming into the Collection Bay. This is the fourth time we have turned the bins during this work year!

An enthusiastic team removed 90% of the weeds from outside the Garden entrance; the aim is to repopulate this area with sedum and alyssum.

Even though it’s colder, we are still harvesting! Gardeners picked turnips, zucchini, radicchio, tomatoes, beets, and kale.

Last week at our Oct. 25 work party we continued with turning the compost. Compost Bin 1 was emptied into Bin 2 and interleaved with dry leaves and the apple pomace left over from Apple Day, which has sat for 3 weeks in an adjoining bin to allow it to break down a bit before incorporating into the main compost bin.

Gardeners also got to raking and clearing the paths. The fallen leaves make for great mulch to fertilize the garden beds!

This raised bed has been carefully turned and fertilized and is now ready for garlic planting!

Our next guided work party is Sunday, Nov. 5. Sign up to join a guided work party here. No experience necessary and all are welcome!