Dear Gardeners,
I was greeted this morning in the gardens by the cries of the red-tailed hawk offspring. Apparently, Mom and Dad are trying to get the young to hunt for themselves and they are begging to be fed. Quite a racket, but at least they are bringing the kids to hunt for rodents in the gardens. Those first tomatoes and peppers are coming in along with lots of squash and beans. I rejoice as I see gardeners walking out with their vegetables and loaded down with produce. The food pantry donations are picking up but please only donate on Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning by 8 a.m. or Friday evening/Saturday morning by 10 a.m. so that the vegetables will be in good shape when they are delivered.
This week we have two workdays at Eagle Heights to do the 100/200 row of plumbing replacements. We could really use your help in this project so that it goes as smoothly and quickly as possible and we get the water turned back on soon. This Thursday, July 31, we'll work to dig out the old water line from 5 pm to 8 pm. We'll be renting a trencher and digging in for the new line on Saturday (Will and Adam will do this) but on Sunday, August 3, we'll have a workday from 8 am to 11 am to replace the dirt and get the path back into shape in order to get the water back on late on Sunday. All of this is weather dependent but we are trying to do the shortest job we can. If the weather doesn't cooperate, we'll need to do it the following weekend.
Please be careful in the 100/200 path not to scatter the dirt around and handle the taps carefully. We hope to have the water on until late Friday although the pipes will be exposed. There won't be cart access during the process, but you should be able to get to the plots. Water should remain on in the rest of the gardens.
Some of you have discovered the lake weeds piled uphill of the leaf pile. These are smelly and disgusting, but great fertilizer. They are probably too strong to put directly on most plants and are quite an active soup (with a few dead minnows). Please be careful not to let children play in this and wash your hands carefully after using since it is fermenting and slimy. If you have an open spot in the gardens where something has come out (maybe the garlic or onions), you can pile up the lake weeds, cover with leaves and let them sit a while to dig in later.  This is a way to take the nutrients that are polluting the lake and use them to grow food instead.
Please also keep an eye out for bean beetles. We have had problems with these in the past but released some predators for them. We can do this again if there are widespread problems so please report if you see the fuzzy yellow larvae.  Pictures of what to look for here:
http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/mexican-bean-beetle
Crushing the eggs or larvae by hand is recommended and can be quite effective.
The gardens are studded with sunflowers in bloom now. It is great to see them poking up among the other plantings and the goldfinches are very busy eating at the seeds. They always remind me of cheery faces as I get to the plots.
Hoping for some rain (but not during the plumbing project).
Gretel, Garden Registrar