Dear Gardeners,
This weekend is Memorial Day, a holiday that often marks the start of summer gardening season. Although we've had some cool nights, there hasn't been frost and I see many tomato, pepper and eggplants going in. Now is a good time to plant beans, cucumbers and squash and the weeds have really liked the recent rains. Plenty to do in the gardens but keep an eye out for the hummingbirds that have arrived to buzz around the flowers.
We have a program that will start in June called Share the Bounty that encourages gardeners to plant some extra produce to donate to the local food pantry. There is great need at the pantries for fresh produce and we'll be collecting vegetables that you want to donate on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the summer. The coordinators for this have a few open delivery dates if you would like to drive the donations to the pantry. Please let me know if you want to contribute in that way. More on this in early June when we are ready to start and the vegetables start coming in.
Do you like working with flowers and ornamental plants? We have some common plantings that could use a couple of additional volunteers for the arbor area at Eagle Heights. Please let me know if you would like to work on the flower beds near the picnic tables. Thanks to Niels for the awning that has been put up to make the arbor a shady place to sit.
With the weeds growing fast, we'll be working on the mowing of paths and still have problems with items left in the paths. In order to mow, we'll be moving sticks and hoses back into plots as best we can, but please put these items inside your plots so we don't inadvertently place them on seeded areas or small plants.
We will also be starting up the jury process fairly soon. We do have plots that get abandoned without notification and we try to catch those by having a jury of your fellow gardeners come around to look for exceptionally weedy plots. We also want to catch the weeds before they seed and create problems for all the neighbors. If the jury marks your plot, you have two weeks to work on the weed situation and can get help (in exchange for an extra workday) if you need it. We aren't trying to throw people out of the gardens but we need to control weeds and discover abandoned plots before they impact everyone else. There is a write-up about the process here
http://www.eagleheightsgardens.org/policies/jury.shtml
Luckily, the rain has made pulling weeds somewhat easier. A thick layer of leaves can help keep the weeds from returning and has the added benefit of mulch to keep the soil loose and moist for your plants. The flea beetles are feasting on the arugula and radishes and only a barrier such as row cover seems to help that.
This has been glorious weather working in the gardens and the mosquitoes aren't here yet so I hope you can enjoy the weekend and get some gardening time in. Plan a picnic in the gardens or just stroll through to see how everyone else is doing and enjoy the flowers.
Gretel, Garden Registrar