From the Gardens Registrar: More About the Seed Fair; How to Throw Things Away

Hello Gardeners,

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE SEED FAIR, BUT WERE AFRAID THAT THE REGISTRAR WAS TOO TIRED OF THE SUBJECT TO TELL YOU:  A reminder that the Seed Fair will be Saturday, April 7, from 9:30 – 11am, in the gym at the Eagle Heights Community Center. Get here early for the best selection.

We will have seeds for the following: beans, peas, kohlrabi, rutabagas, parsnips, turnips, spinach, kale, radish, beets, herbs, chard, Brussels sprouts, cucumbers, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, summer and winter squash, pumpkins, melons, tomatoes, and flowers, plus a few others. These seeds have all been donated to us by seed companies. We very much appreciate these donations.

In addition to free seeds, we will also be selling row cover – 25’ for $5. This light-weight fabric can protect your plants from cold, wind, insects, and diseases.  If you don’t want to buy it at the Seed Fair, we will offer it again. This will be cash only, and please bring exact change if possible.

We will also have two of our very experienced gardeners answering questions. Our garden co-chairs will be here to tell people about the garden committee. We have had a donation of plant pots and flats (for starting seeds) and those will be available for free.

Also, we will have a representative from the Sweet Potato Project, who will explain the project and sign people up for it. Here’s a quick summary: you can order free sweet potato plants (although a donation is appreciated), grow them in your garden, and then donate half of the harvest to a local food pantry. 

If you aren’t able to find all the seeds you want at our Seed Fair, there are places in the area to buy seeds. The Ace Hardware Store, near Hilldale, on Midvale Boulevard, is probably the closest source. There are also garden centers, such as Jung’s, which sell seeds and plants. If you are looking for Chinese or Korean vegetables, you may be able to find seeds at local Asian grocery stores. I would also recommend that you look at the Kitizawa Company catalogue, if you’re willing to order seeds by mail: https://www.kitazawaseed.com/

HOW TO THROW THINGS AWAY AT EAGLE HEIGHTS AND UNIVERSITY HOUSES GARDENS: If you’re throwing something out in our gardens, it’s important for you to put it in the correct place. Let’s start with the weed piles. The weed piles are for weeds and other vegetation you are discarding. Please shake off as much dirt as you can before you take the weeds to the pile. Once you’re there, please throw your weeds into the middle of the pile. You may throw over-ripe vegetables in the weed piles, but not kitchen compost. (However, you may have a compost pile or bin in your plot. The University also has food scrap collection sites all over campus. Here’s a link: https://sustainability.wisc.edu/composting/)

Sticks should be placed in stick barrels, where other people can take them for their plots, and not in the weed piles. Lastly, anything you are throwing away that is not vegetable matter or sticks should go in the dumpsters – that includes old fencing and row cover, food containers, broken furniture, paper, etc. You may throw old plant pots and trays into the dumpsters, but if they’re in good shape, please leave them on or near the share shelves for other people to use.

It is important to throw things away correctly, because the dumpsters don’t get emptied if they have plant material in them, and we have to pay to have our weeds hauled away if there’s too much other stuff in with the weeds.

Happy Gardening,

Kathryn