Political Commentary

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

From the Gardens Registrar: Check Your Plot Assignment!; When Will the Water Be On?; Workday at University Houses Gardens Saturday April 13; Seeds vs. Plants


Hello Gardeners,

PLOT ASSIGNMENTS – The plot assignments have finally been posted on our website. I apologize for the delay. Here’s the link:                              http://eagleheightsgardens.org/gardeners/2019-plot-assignments/  If you’re a new gardener, please check the assignment listing, and make very sure you are gardening in the correct plot. So far, there have been at least two gardeners who have started working in the wrong plots. We may have given out a few wrong plot numbers at the Seed Fair – if we did, it’s our fault, and not yours. But please check, and email me if you have any questions. Also, if you took tomato cages from Plot 208, please return them immediately – these were not abandoned.

WHEN WILL THE WATER BE ON? – I don’t know. Next question? On Monday, the temperature was in the 70s. Today, it is snowing. In other words, it is April in Wisconsin. We will not turn the water on until it is warm enough that we can be sure the pipes will not freeze and burst. This is completely weather dependent. It will be at least another two weeks – maybe longer. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out.

WORKDAY AT UNIVERSITY HOUSES GARDENS – We will have our first workday of the season this Saturday, April 13, from 9am to Noon, at University Houses Gardens. The tasks will be installing the hose reels for the water system, and also working on a retaining wall for the end of the B row. If you have a plot at the end of the B row, you may have noticed piles of cinderblocks on your plot. We plan to use these blocks to improve the path. The sooner we get a good number of workday volunteers to work on this project, the sooner we can get these blocks installed and out of gardeners’ way.  I especially urge UH gardeners to volunteer for this project, because you’ll be able to see the results every time you’re in the garden. Dress warm, bring gloves, and don’t forget to put your name and plot number on the sign-in sheet. Here’s the link to sign up: https://doodle.com/poll/4b3qahz2tqwyzfv3   (University Houses Gardens is at the end of Haight Road – if you can find Bernie’s Place Childcare Center, at 39 University Houses, the gardens are next to that.)

SEEDS VS PLANTS – If you’re a new gardener, you may be wondering which vegetables to start from seed, and which to buy plants for. Basically, if you’ve got more time than money, seeds are always much cheaper than plants. (If you don’t have either time or money, join the crowd.) But if you plant seeds, it will take some time for them to grow, and things can easily go wrong. If you plant plants, you’ll spend much more money, but you’ll get faster and probably more reliable results.

Some vegetables (and fruits) are always started from plants. Strawberry seeds exist (we don’t have any), but they’re hard to find. Most people start with strawberry plants, which you can get at garden stores. Potatoes are always planted from pieces of potatoes – not from seeds. Rhubarb and berries are always started from plants. Asparagus and rosemary are more often grown from plants than from seed. Onions can be started from seed, if you start them inside in February – otherwise you can buy plants or “sets”, which are tiny onions that will grow quickly into green onions or bulb onions.

By the way, if you’re not finding seeds for all of the vegetables you want to plant, there are many reputable seed companies you can order from on-line, including the companies that donate seeds to us: Renee’s Garden, Seed Savers, Seedway, Berlin, E & R, and Baker Creek. Garden stores and some hardware stores have seeds, too. For Asian vegetables, some of the Asian groceries on Park Street sell seeds for those, and you can also try Kitizawa, a California company that specializes in Asian vegetables. https://www.kitazawaseed.com/

Happy Gardening (or Snowman-Making),

Kathryn

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