Bees!

Northwest Harvest recently raffled off some bees and guess who won.  Yep, our garden is now the new home of a small  colony of Mason Bees.  

"But wait," you might be thinking, "I know bees are good for pollination, but don't they make honey.  Are we set up for that?"  As it turns out, Mason Bees don't make honey.  I don't know enough to know why, perhaps they prefer raw sugar.  

Have you ever seen a bee house?
Apparently Mason Bees prefer lodges...
Ba-dat-bad....ding

"Okay", you might still be asking, "but I don't want to get stung."  Good news again,  though I can't promise you won't get stung by a bee, I can guarantee it won't be one of our bees as they don't sting.  

To recap.  

We got free bees that don't make honey and don't sting but are really good and pollination.  Yeah!   With so much to remember, perhaps someone should write a song...oh wait, Sherry's sister did just that.  The song doesn't yet have a title, so feel free to post your ideas.  Enjoy.   

Come and see the bees

At my little bitty church

They don't bite and they don't sting,

They just buzz around while we sing

Come and see the bees

Doing all their bee type work

They won't bite and they can't sting

We got them for that pollinating thing

Little bitty bees

Messing with the flowers and the trees

Making our garden oh sooooo good

Buzz, buzz buzz, Buzz, buzz buzz

Little bitty bees

Helping make our garden green

Plants grown high when they're

By our hiiiiiiiiiiiive

Umm, hmm hmmm,

Buzz, buzz buzz

We love our bees

They really please

Better than an ocean breeze

We love our bees

Seed Swap and Lemonade Swill Garden Season Kickoff

Join us for our first ever...

Seed Swap & 

Lemonade Swill 

Garden Season Kickoff

Sunday, April 9th at 4:00 

Stop by the garden (70th and Puget Sound) for a chance to...

Swap seeds

Share some lemonade, iced tea or even mix them together for an Arnold Palmer

Speaking of golfers, since the Masters will be on that day, we may even be serving pimento cheese sandwiches.

Speak with the gardeners

Sign up to join the garden (only $25 for a bed)

Sun...enjoy what promises to be a sunny day...yes, we promise it will be sunny.  If not, you can have some free lemonade.

We're Back!

To paraphrase the great Mark Twain, "rumors of the garden's demise have been greatly exaggerated."   Yes, there is a rezoning request.  No we don't know the results.  No matter the decision, JT and Motors NW have assured us we will be  able to garden (at least) for this season.

So, beds are filling up and seeds waiting to be planted.  If you would like a box we currently have 3 available to the first to pay.  Rental fee for the beds is $25 for a year.  Also, we hope to build three more boxes in May.  To get a box e-mail kwsikes@gmail.com and I'll give you instructions.

Freee Treees

Charrie scored some free fruit trees for the garden.  After extensive research and survey we have chosen the following varieties to plant:

Vandalay Cherry

According to Raintree Nursery: 
Gisela 3 is the most dwarfing of the Gisela rootstocks making a tree that grows to only 8 to 10 feet tall. It tends to make a broad tree excellent for a small area. Its small size and early heavy bearing are great attributes but because of this the tree needs good growing conditions to thrive.  It is very precocious prompting the tree to bear heavily at an early age. It may require fruit thinning to maintain fruit size and avoid overbearing and having the tree stop growing. Regular irrigation is needed. It is not recommended for the heaviest bearing cultivars like Sweetheart. It is recommended that dormant pruning on all dwarf cherry trees be done in late winter before bloom time which reduces the chance of bacterial canker infestations. 


2 in 1 Nectar Babe/Pix Zee Nectarine Tree

Also according to Raintree Nursery:
Enjoy two great tasting varieties on a genetically dwarf tree. The Nectar Babe nectarine has large sweet yellow freestone fruits and the Pix Zee peach has sweet flavorful beautiful orange-red freestone fruits with yellow flesh. Self fertile.


Illinois Everbearing Mulberry

This grafted tree is hardy to -30 deg.F. It sometimes starts producing the first year after planting and bears an abundance of sweet, highly flavored fruit, 1-1/2 inches long x 1/2 inch wide that look like elongated blackberries.

The fruit has a delicious distinctive flavor. The berries ripen continuously throughout July, August, and September, hence its name. The fruit is red and turns black when ripe.

Illinois Everbearing will grow to 35 feet tall but it is easily pruned and kept much smaller. Each is self-fertile.

InCredible Community Cookout

Thanks to all the friends, neighbors and folks who work at Motors Northwest for not only showing up for a burger and to see the garden but also for bringing stuff to share and donating to the garden.  Through your generosity we raised over $175.  Due to the generosity of the Grocery Outlet we were able to purchase the food for next to nothing.  Added to all this goodness are our two new sets of garden members who rented our two empty beds.  There was so much interest in renting beds that we had to create a waiting list.  Here's hoping we can get a few more beds built this summer.  Thanks again to all who came by and helped.

Community Cookout

The members of the

South Tacoma Community Garden

invite you to a

Community Cookout

& fundraiser

Saturday, June 27^th

11:00-1:00

At the corner of 70^th and Puget Sound

● Stop by for a hotdog or burger topped with garden grown lettuce

● Bring something to drink or something food to share

● The food is free but we'll be taking donations to help build an inoffensive fence and a community table

● Consider becoming a member of the garden by renting one of the two or three boxes we have left ($25/year)

Have questions?

Check out our website www.sotacgarden.blogspot.com

or e-mail Charrie or Ken at sotacgarden@gmail.com

Nine down and seven to go

These pictures fail to do justice both to the number of workers and turbulent weather.  The work party on Saturday, April 11th was a testament to communal perseverance.  Way to go garden team it already looks beautiful.

Though the rain fell

The workers persevered

And eight boxes were built and filled with dirt