From the Garden Registrar: A Quote from Aldo Leopold, Composting on Your Plot, How to Freeze Tomatoes, and Attack of the Giant Zucchini

Hello Gardeners,

ALDO LEOPOLD, who was a professor at the University of Wisconsin, and one of the founders of the University Arboretum, wrote in his book, A Sand County Almanac, published in 1949,

“We abuse land because we see it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”

Although Leopold was not writing here about garden plots, this quote nevertheless describes the fundamental relationships in a community garden. We have relationships with our fellow-gardeners, with the vegetables we plant, with the plants we think of as weeds, with the animals that live in the garden, and with the soil in our plots. Our gardens were founded in the 1960’s – think of how many people have gardened in your plot before you. Think of how many people will (hopefully) garden in the same plot long after you are gone. We’re only here for a few years, but the land was here long before us and will be here long after us. Please take good care of your plot. 

COMPOSTING ON YOUR PLOT – If you get tired of hauling weeds to the weed pile (where you throw them into the middle of the weed pile, please, instead of dumping them on the edge), you might want to consider composting on your plot, as a number of experienced gardeners do. You can of course buy a compost bin or construct your own. But you can also use a heavy-duty black plastic bag to make compost in a spare corner of your plot. Here is some information on how to do that: http://www.plasticplace.com/blog/how-to-make-compost-in-a-garbage-bag

HOW TO FREEZE TOMATOES – Put your extra tomatoes in a plastic freezer bag or container and then put it in the freezer. That’s it. (Washing and drying your tomatoes first is not a bad idea.)  Freezing tomatoes is the fastest, easiest way to preserve them. You may be tired of looking at them now, but you’ll really appreciate them on a cold night in January, when you can use them to make soup, stew, casseroles, or sauce. If you want to peel them before you cook them, just hold each frozen tomato under running water, and you can slip the peel right off. 

ATTACK OF THE GIANT ZUCCHINI – More ideas for dealing with too many summer squash: http://ediblemadison.com/articles/view/attack-of-the-giant-zukes/c/full/

WORKDAYS – We are planning workdays this weekend at Eagle Heights on both Saturday and Sunday, 8am – 11am. The task will be working in public spaces, pulling out thistles and bindweed. Please bring gloves if you have them.

If you sign up for Saturday and it rains (which is the current forecast), that workday will be cancelled, but you’re welcome to come to work Sunday instead.

Saturday link: http://doodle.com/poll/zwm5msr3tu98qg4z

Sunday link: http://doodle.com/poll/z62ac33sna2nn2zc

Happy gardening, everyone.

Kathryn