Blog 2 |

With the help of 25+ volunteers we are making progress on the preparation of garden beds and other planting areas. David Braden has done an excellent job overseeing the design and creation of the garden beds.

The pictures below provide an idea of how things are going, although more beds have been created since these pictures were taken.

We’ve also moved right along in planting vegetables for the Spring CSA harvest. So far we have planted carrots, garlic, onions and shallots. We hope to put more plants in the ground that will over-winter in the garden within the next few weeks.

We have also begun ground preparation for the backyard lot adjacent to the central lot. We hope to plant cover crops at the next CommonWork event.

If you’re looking for a way to be involved, join us every Saturday at CommonWork from 8am-11am at the central lot. For directions send an email to info@commonwealthurbanfarms.com.

CommonWork today was very satisfying work.

After we had processed 7 barrels of beer grains, done some work in the garden and worked on a time line for when we would need the compost ready, we went back to the compost piles with Lia and began turning the piles for the first time. We wanted to check on the progress of the piles because we’re wanting to start planting our first crops the first two weeks of October. Turns out the piles are composting, but not at the rate we had hoped, so we worked on turning and watering a section of the pile. This should greatly increase the rate of decomposition.

We all felt very satisfied after digging through and turning the piles for 45 minutes. There’s something about turning the compost, witnessing the progress, and instigating further progress that is a different quality of work than say digging in the soil to weed.

Come out and experience the joys of composting (or other garden preparation) with us every Sat. from 8-11am.

CommonWork is a new weekly workday on Saturdays from 8am-11am. CommonWork is a time for the CommonWealth community and neighbors to get their hands dirty for the preparation and maintenance of the CommonWealth gardens.

We had a blast working on the Ollie lot this week. Lia, Hannah, and Clem spent most of the time weeding and replanting in open spaces where the cover crop (Cowpeas) didn’t germinate.

The other project was maintenance of our ever expanding compost pile. David and Terry processed 4 barrels (1,400 lbs.) of spent beer grains (kindly donated by the folks at Coop Ale Works) and layered them with wood chips. We also watered the compost pile for the first time this summer.

It may sound ridiculous to water a pile of waste, but water is an essential ingredient in the composting process. For the little microbes in the pile to work at maximum efficiency any compost pile needs the proper mixture of green (Nitrogen) and brown (Carbon) matter and water. If there’s no water, the microbes die out and the decomposition process grinds to a halt.

We all had a great time. Hope to see you there next week!

Welcome to the new blog for CommonWealth Urban Farms! This will be a great way keep both community members and onlookers informed as we progress in this new venture.

So you might be asking yourself…what exactly does CommonWealth Urban Farms do?

Our vision is of a vibrant local food network in Oklahoma City, through which every person has access to real food while supporting the health of the environment and of the community.

Our mission is to grow food on vacant lots throughout Oklahoma City, to provide training and resources for a network of urban gardeners, to create jobs that contribute to individual and community health, to expand retail outlets for locally grown food, to turn local waste into compost, and to connect neighbors and neighborhoods so that our common waste and underutilized resources become our common wealth.

Peace of cake, right?

Not so fast. As our name implies, our end-goal is to benefit the common good, the community. To do so we rely on the strengths and resources of community members to pitch in and make things happen. The more involvement and support we receive from the community, the more we have to collectively give back to the community.

If you’re looking for a way to get involved, come to our weekly work party, CommonWork, Saturdays from 8am-11am.

We hope this blog will serve the purpose of connecting and keeping people connected to the work we are doing. Feel free to look around on the site for more ways to get involved!

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