While working at the University of Guelph Urban Organic Farm I preformed various tasks including picking tomatillos, watering plants, organizing peppers for the market etc, but an activity that was most interesting for me was weeding. Weeding doesn’t sound too interesting and I wasn’t particularly excited for it but once we began, we got into a system and were determined to finish. There were about 5 of us working together to completely de-weed the area.
The first image shows how the area looked before, you couldn’t even see a pathway. There was a wide selection of weeds, debris, and dead plants that Martha told us was supposed to be taken care of in July. We used thick garden gloves to pull the prickly bushes (seen in the second image) and for the weeds that were too thick to pull, we used pitch forks and shovels to dig them out from the root. It is very important to make sure they were pulled out by the root so that the weed can be completely eliminated from the area and to prevent future growth. (The third image is the pitchfork next to the greenhouse) But, we had to be very careful with the sharp tools around the greenhouses because if they got punctured the whole structure would deflate.
We also came across some creepy crawlies in the bushes but Martha explained that many insects, especially spiders, are not only important but actually essential and beneficial to farms because they eat the mites and other unwanted pests in gardens. Kind of like a pesticide, but its a completely natural process! It took a few hours but we finally loaded the last 2 wheelbarrows with the weeds and brought it to the composting area, then admired how well we cleaned up the area (as seen in the fourth image).
We then moved onto the pinkish/purplish coloured red root pig weeds (As seen in the last image) that grew taller than me! they were much easier to pull out and were less time consuming. Overall, volunteering on the farm was very exciting and I learned so much from Martha about things from strategies on how to take care of your own garden at home to information about insects that are destructive/beneficial to the farm. After a day of working, Martha allowed us to take home some vegetables so I also was exposed to being able to eat what we helped cultivate. It was a great experience that I hope to be able to help take part in again!
By Emily Mogilnicki