By Michelle Soto
Meg and I thought we could use this rainy day to our advantage and show some photos of our muscle powered tools that we use to create the gardens. As we were planning and budgeting to create new gardens and revitalize more green spaces at Healcrest, we made a decision to not rent heavy gas powered machinery and to invest in quality earth moving tools that we can use for years to come.
We still use lawn mowers for grass cutting, but pretty much everything else up at the farm is a hand tool. This definitely increases the time and energy it takes to build a garden bed, but the finished products are high quality beds that will be around for years to come, completely free of knotweed roots, rocks, and anything else that might impede the growing process.
We’ve found that the beds that we built last year have needed a few wheelbarrows of compost of them and some leaf mulch in the aisles, but are free of invasive weeds. The hard pan clay that is just right under our top soil was turned with compost last year and has matured into a dark rich layer of soil, perfect for growing.
Planting into these beds will continue for a few more weeks! Official volunteer days are on Sundays from 11-4. We won’t make you jump on a broad fork for you can help some baby seedlings find a good home!
Michelle loves to use the little digging fork to turn earth
Meg attacks knotweed, clearing a new path through the woods
Michelle jumps on the broad fork, using all her body weight!
Meg is shifting soil with the brand new shifter that Suzy built or the farm
Healcrest Urban Farm 