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Sunday, August 29, 2010

Cottonwood Community Garden: August Work Party



The last Sunday of nearly every month, anyone with a plot in the gardens is asked to come out to a Work Party. Keeping the gardens up and running requires a lot of time and effort and everyone needs to lend a hand.

I volunteered for kiwi duty. Unfortunately only myself and one other person were able to make it today. Both of us are new to kiwi care and unsure of the required maintenance. We ended up just going around removing weeds, young raspberry bushes/locust trees, and trimming off the dozens of branches reaching over the side of the trellis. We decided not to touch the ones growing vertically over the trellis. Some will be trained for next year and others removed. It seemed safer than risking damage to the plant. There are two varieties and the fruit won't be ready until October/November.




A young mouse also payed us a visit near one of the compost bins. It seemed really timid but instead of running like a normal mouse it just froze. Perfect for a photo! This photo is a bit low quality but the pose is great.


Now for another Vancouver surprise, the giant slugs. This one even comes with an orange racing strip! The coffee cup is an extra large for comparison.

8 comments:

  1. I'm nearly positive that I would have passed out if that slug got in my path! Uuuugggggggg, gag.

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  2. Wait until you see your first banana slug.

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  3. I didn't know that Kiwi fruit grows on creepers. We had an infestation of giant African snails which are bigger than the slugs.Horrible!

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  4. Orange racing stripes are all the rage in the slug community :)BC has the most fashionable slugs around! It's good of you to go out for the clean up days. Seems worth doing just for the chance to learn about new plants! I hope you get a few of those Kiwi this fall!

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  5. Those slugs scare me. That could do major damage down south! Good luck with that one!

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  6. @Julie, I'm sure you would have been alright. I thought you had a nursing background? This should be nothing compared to that. ;)

    @Thoms, Googled banana slug. They are in fact large and in charge.

    @LotusLeaf, They sure do. There are two species in the gardens. The vines actually look quite different.

    @Laura, lol, I hope I get some kiwis too.

    @Compost in my shoe, Something has been munching on my Brugmansia and I'm thinking they might be the culprit.

    @Stevie, Bring on your biggest BC!

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  7. You might like this cool time lapse video shot in an urban community garden in Toronto http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13×4lySlXW4. Take a look and see how Kia is driving change.

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Thanks for contributing!