Simple Garden Gets a Major Haircut

At our last Community Garden night, Tuesday the 14th, we dug in (literally) and pulled almost all the weeds from our Simple Garden plot. As many of you know, this plot is located on St. Kate's campus behind St. Mary residence hall and was started by a St. Kate's student as her senior honor's project. Over the years, the garden has been maintained by students, staff, faculty, and community members of St. Kate's. This year, those of us in connection with gardening energy at St. Kate's and Celeste's Dream decided a collaboration was the way to go to revitalize the Simple Garden plot, which was moving towards being a weed sanctuary. 

Thanks to the energetic troupe of gardeners that came this past Tuesday, we were able to make great headway on the plot, pulling everything from creeping charlie to flowering thistles to baby oaks. It was a hard night, indeed, but cool temps and a nice breeze kept bugs and foreheads drenched in sweat at bay. 

The following day, Wednesday the 15th, Pete Nipp, St. Kate's horticulturalist, graciously tilled the now weed-free sections of our garden. Except for the perennial herb section, most of the plot is tilled and ready to be planted. 

Speaking of plants, we have an exciting plan for our new space. Planting a nitrogen-fixing ground cover like red clover is a great way to get something useful growing in a section of the garden so that weeds cannot make a start. Late season crops like kale, chard, and beets will be planted along with annual and perennial-native flowers that will add beauty and invite beneficial insects to visit our space. 

If you are one of our gardeners and have some suggestions for the new plot, please leave them as comments or email us at celeste@csjstpaul.org

See you next Tuesday from 6-8 pm! We will meet first at the greenhouse behind the Carondelet Center and then disperse to the different plots. 

Peace, 

Esther