Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By TOM STANKARD
Bessemer — Local gardening enthusiasts gathered at Washington Elementary School in Bessemer Wednesday evening for the inaugural Gardening 101 Club meeting.
Gail Maki-Dalbec, club organizer, said she organized the club because she felt inspired after attending a gardening workshop at Michigan Technical University and later received a $3,200 grant through the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative she’s using for funding.
During Wednesday’s meeting, the club learned about planting potatoes and how to make a potato baskets. Maki-Dalbec said gardening potatoes is fun and “not hard.
To make a potato basket, Sue Davey, club volunteer and former Master Gardener, said a gardner will need five heat-treated wood pallets, about 6 yards of landscape fabric, hinges, a gate latch, soil mix, seed potatoes and and several tools.
First, she said to lay out the pallets, alternating the direction of the slats. She said to then fasten the hinges to the top and bottom of the interior corners of the three sides, and then stand the pallets upright around the fifth pallet.
Then, Davey said to fasten the latch at the top of the unhinged side. Using a handsaw, she said to trim the tops of the two taller pallets.
Once that is done, Davey said to lay the hinged pallets out, and align the top of the landscape fabric about two feet down from the top of the pallets. Then, she said to roll the fabric the length of two pallets and then staple it down. Cut the fabric with about one-foot extra at the end. Davey said to repeat these steps for the second set of pallets. After that, she said to cover the bottom pallet with fabric and then stand the sides upright.
Once assembled, Davey said to fill the box with soil halfway up the liner and then plant the seeds about 3 inches deep and cover with soil. Place the potato pieces with eyes facing up about 1-foot apart and then cover with soil. Once the foliage reaches 6 inches in height, Davey said to add soil to about 4 inches high along the base of the plants. As the plants grow, she said to repeat the process every couple of weeks until an additional foot of soil has been added.
In the future, Maki-Dalbec said they’re going to make herb garden pallets and several bean and pea teepees.
