On Saturday I headed down to Historic Stewart Farm to do a bit of gardening. I started volunteering there in late Spring last year so I didn't get to see the whole season. This year I'll get to see the plants from the very beginning of the season to the end. I went down early on Saturday because our lead gardener had noted that the season was started pretty early this year and it was time to get the leaves off of the plants or they wouldn't have as good a chance to get started. I think I'm the youngest person on the team by about 20 years so I don't mind doing some of the heavier lifting tasks.
I started at around 7:30a and by 10a I had about 80% of the beds cleared. It was quiet fun to slowly rake the leaves back and see all the new perennials showing through. I can recognize many of the plants when they are in full bloom but it's harder to recognize them when they are just coming up. This will give me a chance to see the whole life cycle. The leaves kept the weeds down nicely so with a few exceptions, it was mostly just perennials popping their heads up. Last year they had planted several of them from seed and placed the base for annual trays over them to keep the bunnies out. I will have to try that since my last seeds got eaten.
I kept the leaves on the vegetable garden beds. It's warm out but I think we need to wait a few weeks before doing any major planting there.
The farm was home to the Stewarts in the late 1800's and has been a historic site for a few decades. There are only a few gardeners left from the original group of volunteers so hopefully we can get some younger volunteers to pass on the knowledge. It's a lot more than just planting seeds and watching things grow. Each of the perennials is an heirloom variety and we try to save the seeds each year to sell them in April. Lots of knowledge to gain and lot's of fun.
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