Garden Revival

This week one of our newest volunteers Rylie came out to the Sanctuary to bring our garden beds back to life! During her orientation, Rylie noticed the beds were growing weeds so she reached out to us to ask if she could clean them up and plant some veggies for the chimps. Needless to say, we were thrilled she wanted to take this on!

Rylie worked with Diana to figure out what to plant. They wanted to come up with veggies that the chimps love to eat but also knew it was getting late in the season to start planting so had to pick items that were quick to mature. She took some impressive before and after photos for today’s blog.

In Bed 1, Rylie decided to put in 4 tomato plants (Missy’s favorite!). The bed already had lavender, lemon balm, catnip, and oregano growing in it – all of which are tomato companion plants. These herbs help to repel all sorts of pests that damage tomato plants. For example, catnip repels rodents and oregano deters aphids. Pollinators, such as bees, are attracted to both lemon balm and lavender. Pollinators help to promote healthy growth of tomato plants. Lemon balm is also known to enhance the flavor of the actual tomatoes! Pretty cool, right?

Before:

After:

In Bed 2, marigolds, potatoes, red onions, beets, and carrots were planted. This bed in particular had very dense soil. Root vegetables can help loosen up dense soil with their deep tap roots. Some veggies, like carrots and beets, are better at this than others. Marigolds were chosen for this bed because they serve as a companion plant to all 4 of these veggies, helping to repel pests, attract beneficial insects, and fight disease.

Before:

After:

In Bed 3, baby watermelons, sunflowers and sweet peppers were planted. Sunflowers are companion plants for both watermelon and peppers, helping to protect and enhance the crops. The soil in this bed was also quite compact so Rylie is hoping the deep roots of the sunflowers will help break it up. Peppers and watermelon inherently do well together because one grows up and one sprawls out. They are both sun lovers so these growth habits give each a chance to soak up all the sun they need to thrive.

Before:

After:

For all the beds, Rylie amended the existing soil with a pH balanced garden soil. For each plant or seed or set, she added earth worm castings to the hole before placing the plant/seed/set in. Earth worm castings are the end product of a worm’s digestion and they are extremely beneficial to the soil. Castings are rich in nutrients in a form that plants can easily digest. They also help soil retain water and can improve soil tilth over time. A whole lot of magic in such tiny granules.

A HUGE thank you to Rylie for tackling all the gardening! We can’t wait to see these fruits and veggies grow throughout the summer and of course, it will such an awesome day when we can feed our chimps some home grown produce!

Bonus! Jamie had intern Ilmi put on a pair of her white studded fashion boots for a walk around Young’s Hill today:

If you’re living locally and wish to volunteer at the sanctuary, just like Rylie and Ilmi, check out our website to learn more about our volunteer program!