From the Gardens Registrar:  Plant Sale Sunday April 22; Compost and Row Cover Also For Sale; First Workday; Some Miscellaneous Notes; The Weather

Hello Gardeners,

COOL WEATHER PLANT SALE APRIL 22 – On Sunday, April 22, Scott Williams of Garden to Be will be selling plants at Eagle Heights, near the shed. The sale will be from 11am – 1pm. He is planning to bring: lettuces, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale (3 – 4 varieties), chard, cauliflower, parsley, sage, thyme, cabbage, and a few flowers. If the weather cooperates, he may also be able to bring some rhubarb plants and a few other perennials.

Scott’s plants are excellent quality, and his prices are extremely reasonable. You’re never going to find a cheaper and more convenient way to buy good plants for your garden. And the weather for Sunday looks very good – much warmer and sunny.

COMPOST AND ROW COVER – We also have some compost from the West Ag Center to sell. Plus we will again sell row cover, as we did at the Seed Fair. These items will be sold also from 11am – 1pm, in the open space north of our 500 rows. The row cover is $5 for a piece that’s 25’ by 7’. The price for a half-cart of compost will be $5. These are cash only, and please bring exact change, if at all possible.

FIRST WORKDAY OF THE SEASON – We will hold our first workday of the season this Sunday, from 1pm – 4pm. Meet at the Eagle Heights shed. The task will be clearing debris, including old irrigation pipe, from the wooded area next to Lake Mendota Drive. There may also be some brick-hauling, and, if you’re lucky, dumpster-cleaning. This workday might be most appropriate for fairly strong people.

Here’s the link to sign up: https://doodle.com/poll/unm7mcez622z9unf  And don’t forget to put your name on the sign-in sheet at the garden.

Remember – unless you paid the no-workday fee, or do other volunteer work for the garden, every plot must supply one person to work one three-hour workday during gardening season. If you can, sign up for this one, and get it over with for the season. Then when it’s hot and mosquitoey this summer, you can relax in the shade with a cold beverage while other people labor and sweat.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS: At Eagle Heights, the big blue stick barrels have moved to the area next to the shed. The Lakeshore Nature Preserve staff have cut quite a number of nice long sticks for us to use for fences and trellises. Please help yourself to these sticks, but do not take sticks directly from the Preserve.

A group of researchers from the University of Minnesota School for Environment and Sustainability have sent out a survey as part of a study to better understand why people participate in and support urban agriculture. The survey is short, anonymous, and confidential. If you’d like to fill it out, here’s a link: https://umich.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0TlE3fBOXFm6sTj.

If you bring plants to the gardens and don’t need the pots or trays any more, please don’t throw them in the dumpster - put them on the share shelf, so other people can use them.

THE WEATHER: T.S. Eliot said that April is the cruelest month. He must have been a gardener. But, according to the long-range forecast, after today, temperatures will gradually go up, and we will have normal Wisconsin spring weather. So, by the end of this week, it is finally going to be gardening season!

Happy Gardening,

Kathryn