From the Gardens Registrar: Plant Exchange June 3; Comfrey; Voles;
Workday This Weekend
Hello Gardeners,
PLANT EXCHANGE JUNE 3 – On Sunday, June 3, starting at 10:00am,
we will have an informal plant exchange at the Eagle Heights Garden, at the
Arbor. If you have extra plants to share, or hope to pick up some plants you’re
missing, stop in. Please note that the plants people bring have not been raised
professionally, so keep an eye out for diseases. We’ll also have more free seeds
for summer crops – summer and winter squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, and melons.
COMFREY – Comfrey is another widespread weed in our
garden, and many gardeners struggle to get rid of it. If it’s taken over your
garden, the only way to get rid of it is to dig it up, over and over again,
until it’s finally all gone. It has big thick roots that go deep. But unlike
the wire grass and thistles, it’s actually an attractive and useful plant. It
will be blooming soon, with large beautiful blue/purple flowers. The plant is
sometimes grown as a decorative perennial, and has uses in herbal medicine. But
its greatest use for organic gardeners is as mulch and compost. Because the
leaves are high in nitrogen and potassium, and they break down very quickly,
you can cut them and use them as mulch around your plants. Or you can add them
to a compost pile. Here’s a link to the ever-useful Wikipedia, with a good
article on comfrey and a few pictures: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfrey
VOLES – One of the worst pests in our gardens is
the vole. Voles are small mouse-like animals also known as meadow mice or field
mice. They reproduce ferociously – one pair can produce as many as 100
offspring in a year. They eat insects and slugs, but unfortunately, they also
eat just about every kind of plant. Fortunately, they have many natural
predators, such as hawks, owls, and coyotes. One of the best ways to deter them is to not
give them habitat, by pulling your weeds and removing mulch from your garden.
They don’t like feeding on bare ground – they prefer to be able to hide in
vegetation. But many of us depend on mulch to protect our plants from weeds and
reduce watering. (I’m not giving up my mulch.) Here are some other ideas about
how to control them naturally: https://www.homeremedynation.com/how-to-get-rid-of-voles-in-your-garden/
WORKDAY THIS WEEKEND – We are tentatively planning a
workday for this Saturday morning, June 2, 9am – Noon, at Eagle Heights. There
will be two projects. Some gardeners will work to organize and control the weed
pile, which has spread out beyond its boundaries. Other gardeners will start
work on renovating a garden plot. I’ll send out the Doodle Poll link
separately.
Happy Gardening,
Kathryn