Dundee Community Garden This Week

Hello Dundee Community Gardeners and Friends,

THANK YOU to everyone who came to our ice cream social today!  We had beautiful weather, great turn-out, and so much fun visiting with our members, neighbors, and friends!  Special thanks to those who helped scoop ice cream and make tomato cages.

MONDAY NIGHT HARVEST NIGHT/ WORK NIGHT / TOOL RACK & SIGN BOARD BUILDING NIGHT:  

We're having our weekly Monday night harvest night/work night tomorrow (June 13), and this Monday we're going to get those raspberry bushes dug up!  Please bring a shovel and clippers, if you have them, to help us with the digging!  We'll also be harvesting from our food pantry plot to donate to the residents at the Underwood Tower.  And for any of you with carpentry skills, you're invited to help carpenter Jim Saville, who is planning to build a sign board at the garden!  Bring a pair of work gloves!  We can use your help!

NEIGHBORHOOD FOOD SWAP EVERY MONDAY AT 7:   The weekly food swap continues every Monday evening at 7 pm, at the Dundee Community Garden.  Neighbors are invited to bring their surplus garden produce, baked goods, homemade jam, and more to trade with others.  We had a number of people bringing greens, rhubarb, and herbs last week!  Bring something to trade, and take home something new!

WEEDS, WEEDS, WEEDS:  Our flower beds are full of weeds!  Please use some of your volunteer hours to pull weeds!  And remember, weeds go in the compost bins in the back of the garden!  Not piled up in the grass between the plots!  Not lying against the back wall!  Please, use the compost bins! 

Gardening Tip of the Week: (courtesy of Master Gardener Rebecca Reagan)

June 20 is the last practical date for planting tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants!

If you have damage to your bean plant, it is probably from the bean beetle.  This insect is related to our ladybug (good insect), but instead of eating aphids, the bean beetle eats plants(bad insect).

This 1/4 inch, round insect is  yellowish  to copper with  black spots on its wing covers.  Its eggs are yellow and are laid in clusters on underside of the leaves.  The larva is about 1/3 inch long, yellowish to orange in color. The larva has  branched spines, giving them a somewhat fuzzy appearance.

First line of defense is handpicking: pick and drop the insect into some water with a little dishwashing soap.  Look for the eggs on the underside of the leaves and smash them.  Insecticidal soaps can be helpful., as can neem oil. Check labels to keep in compliance with our organic-use policy.

The beetle has several enemies which enjoy feeding on the eggs, larva, etc. Hopefully they will help with control.  

This insect can be an ongoing problem.  Control is needed, or the beetle will very likely cause quite a bit of injury to your plant.

COMMUNITY EVENTS:

Food Deserts and Public Policy Forum, Wed. June 15, 6-8 p.m. at UNO

What are food deserts? Why do they exist? And more importantly, what can be done about them? According to the US Centers for Disease Control, a food desert is an area that lacks access to affordable and healthy foods that make up a nutritious diet. Many believe that the presence of food deserts may be related to wide-ranging, preventable health problems in both rural and urban America.

On June 15, 2011, Senator Brenda Council will facilitate a panel that will focus on food deserts and their causes. Forum panelists include Rev. Stephanie Alschwede, Fritz Nordengren and Dr. Courtney Pinard, who will explore local and state policy approaches as well as community initiatives to effectively address food deserts.

More information at http://ppc.nebraska.edu/SorensenSeminar/FoodDesertsandPublicPolicy&year=2011

Beginning Vegetable Gardening Workshop/Demonstration Series, with UNL Master Gardeners.  The Master Gardeners are offering a series of free demonstration classes on beginning vegetable gardening May 7-June 18.  The final workshop on June 18 is "What to Harvest and When."  See attachment for details.

 

FOOD COMMUNITY INITIATIVE:  Neighborhood Fruit Registry:   If you own fruit trees or berry bushes whose harvest you are willing to share, or if you would like to pick fresh local fruit, register at www.neighborhoodfruit.com. The fruit owner notifies the registry when the fruit is ready to harvest. Volunteers are given a time and place to pick fruit. A share goes to the owner, and the rest is divided amongst the volunteers.

FOOD COMMUNITY INITIATIVE:  Yardsharing.  Neighbors who would like to garden but have no sun, and neighbors who have a sunny yard but do not garden, can pair up through the website, www.sharingbackyards.com. This website offers a secure way to connect landowner and gardener, along with tips on how to set up a mutually beneficial arrangement.