Hillside Corn Field

Greetings and Salutations! Over this past weekend we had our first gardening workshop of the 2023 growing season on Saturday April 1st. . We went over how to start seeds, transplanting, soil health, and rainwater harvesting. The workshop portion of the gathering centered around creating swales on the hillside for our future planting of mostly corn, and possibly squash, beans, and melons too. Participants created swales, on contour with the land which will help slow down water, keep it on the land, and utilize it for watering plants and to assist in the recharge of our region's aquifer. This planting in the cove will be dry farmed and will mostly rely on precipitation for its needs. However, if we have to, we will haul water to the top and irrigate plants. Future plans for this site will be expanding the swales throughout the Cove all the way around the Center. Planting of dry farmed crops will take place at the end of May or early June. We are determining which day will be our summer planting day so stay tuned. For more information on swales and their benefits, look up "Brad Lancaster" on YouTube.