Dundee Community Garden This Week

Hello Dundee Community Gardeners and friends,

HARVEST NIGHT EVERY MONDAY: Just a reminder that our weekly harvest nights continue on Mondays at 7 p.m.  We'll be harvesting for the food pantry, as well as doing some weeding and other chores.  If a Monday night harvest night gets rained out, it will be postponed until Tuesday.

WATERMELON FEED AND SCARECROW MAKING PARTY THIS SUNDAY,  July 25, 3-5 p.m.   

We'll have watermelon for $1, and we'll be making scarecrows to decorate the garden!  Please come join the fun!

EXTRA PRODUCE: If you have extra/excess produce in your plot that you would like to donate to Together's food pantry, please feel free to put your veggies in with our donations.  

OUT OF TOWN:  Also, if you'll be out of town or just too busy to get to the garden at some point in the summer, let us know if we have permission to harvest from your plot for the food pantry.  If you have extra produce, the food pantry could use sure use it!

BOARD MEETING ON WED, JULY 21, 7 p.m.  at Dundee Presbyterian Church in the dining room (lower level). On the agenda: finalizing plans for the watermelon/ scarecrow activity, making plans for Dundee Day in August (do we want to be in the parade??!!) etc.  Board meetings are open to all members.

VOLUNTEER HOURS: Remember to sign in your volunteer hours in the notebook when you help at a harvest night!  Each garden member is expected to contribute eight hours working in the community plots over the course of the gardening season.

INTERESTING WEBSITES:  These websites come from garden member Adam Krtek and may be of interest to gardeners: 

http://lifehacker.com/5585074/garden-pest-detective-sleuths-what-pests-or-diseases-are-killing-your-plants

http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/how-to-dry-fresh-herbs.html

Thanks, Adam!

See you at the garden,

Mary

Dundee Community Garden This Week

Hello Dundee Community Gardeners and friends,

HARVEST NIGHT TONIGHT: Just a reminder that our weekly harvest night will be tonight, Monday at 7 p.m.  We'll be harvesting for the food pantry. We picked 32# of veggies last week to donate!  (Hopefully it will stop raining well before then!)

EXTRA PRODUCE: If you have extra/excess produce in your plot that you would like to donate to Together's food pantry, please feel free to put your veggies in with our donations.  

OUT OF TOWN:  Also, if you'll be out of town or just too busy to get to the garden at some point in the summer, let us know if we have permission to harvest from your plot for the food pantry.  There are several over-size zucchini in the garden that really need to get picked.  If you don't want them, the food pantry could use them!

VOLUNTEER HOURS: Remember to sign in your volunteer hours in the notebook when you help at a harvest night!

WATERMELON FEED:  July 25, 3-5 p.m.  Dundee Community Garden Watermelon Feed and Scarecrow Making Party.

See you at the garden,

Mary

Dundee Community Garden This Week

Hello Dundee Community Gardeners and Friends,

Happy Fourth of July!

HARVEST NIGHT: We'll be having our next regular harvest night on Monday July 5, at 7 p.m.  Last Monday we picked 14 pounds of beets, chard, kale, collards and lettuce (as well as one summer squash) from the community beds for Together Inc.'s food pantry.  Please remember that Monday nights are a good time to get in some of your 8 hours of volunteer time-- weeding or picking produce or watering or whatever needs to be done!  Record your hours in the red notebook.

SPRAWLING CROPS: Some of your tomatoes, squash, potatoes, etc. are working their way outside of your 4'x10' plots.  Please rein them in!  Consider the lawn mowers!

THANKS: Thanks to Vince Huebert for helping so many of us make very sturdy tomato cages out of rebar.  There's still a small amount of rebar left, so we could make another cage or two on Monday for those of you who would like to make one.  ($5 for cost of rebar.)

BRACELET: One of our members lost a cloisonne bangle bracelet in the garden last night.  If you find it, please let me know! 

SAVE THE DATE:  July 25, 3-5 p.m.  Dundee Community Garden Watermelon Feed and Scarecrow Making Party.

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I'm repeating the gardening tips from a couple weeks ago, as they still apply:

Rebecca's Tips  for the Garden:

For a continuous harvest, cut large outer leaves of leafy greens (such as lettuce, spinach, chard, collards, kale, etc.) and let the inner leaves continue to grow. This way, you harvest just what you need for a single serving and the rest stays fresh in the garden.

Now is the time to cage or stake  tomatoes.  Good support keeps the vines growing vertically instead of sprawling all over the ground. Plants not only take up less space, but are less susceptible to pests and diseases.  Tomato plants can become quite large, so plan on adequate support.

Mulching is extremely beneficial for your  garden. It traps moisture in the soil, so you don't have to water as often.  In addition, it  suppresses weeds---you won't have to  weed as often (that sounds good to me).  For tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, it is especially helpful.   The mulch will cut down on common problems (diseases) associated with this group of plants.   Grass clippings are usually easy to use and are probably the easiest to obtain.    In addition to being good for the plants, grass clippings can be  good for the soil, since they add organic matter as they slowly decompose.

Vining crops, such as cucumbers, melons, and vining squash will need support to keep them out of the mowing areas.  These crops can be quite large and will take up quite a bit of ground.  Getting them off the ground and onto a support will cut down on diseases and save space. 

Happy gardening,

Mary