From the Gardens Registrar: The Weather; Birds in Our Gardens; Garden Netting; Are You Going Away with No Word of Farewell?; Reminder – Workday at Eagle Heights, Thursday, August 23
Hello Gardeners,
THE WEATHER - Two days after the record-breaking rain we
experienced on Monday, there is still standing water in several plots in the
600 row. Many of the plots in both gardens are soggy, and gravel roads were damaged.
High winds also knocked over tall plants. If you are not a native Wisconsinite,
please let me reassure you – this is not normal weather. Is it global climate
change? Hmm, could be…Unfortunately, more rain is forecast for Friday. Our soil
is heavy in clay, and plots will continue to be soggy for some time, especially
if it keeps raining and storming.
FALL BIRD MIGRATION – Eagle Heights Gardens are part of
the UW Lakeshore Nature Preserve, which is home to as many as 255 bird species.
Many of these birds can be found nesting in our gardens in the summer
(sometimes in the middle of a gardener’s prize vegetables.) Among the bigger
birds, we have a family of red-tailed hawks that raises young every year, a
sandhill crane family which has two colts (that is, chicks) this year, and of
course, numerous turkeys. Although it’s
still summer, several bird species are already starting their fall migration,
and starting to head south. Hummingbirds are some of the first to leave. By late August, the warblers will be heading
south, and many of them will stop in the gardens on their way. So keep an eye
out. https://lakeshorepreserve.wisc.edu/birds-of-the-lakeshore-nature-preserve/
GARDEN NETTING – A few weeks ago, one of our sandhill cranes
was injured when it got tangled up in some garden netting. Two brave gardeners
helped to free it, and it seems to have recovered from its injuries. A lot of
gardeners use netting for growing climbing vegetables, such as beans, peas, and
cucumbers. If you have netting in your plot, and you have plants climbing it,
that’s fine. But if you have netting just sitting empty in your plot, please
take it down until you’re actually going to use it again. Although it’s
unlikely that there will be another such incident, we can minimize the risk to
our birds.
ARE YOU LEAVING US? – If your time in Madison has come to
an end and you are leaving town for your next adventure, please let me know that
you are through with your garden. I can assign it to a new gardener. Or even if
you’re not going away, if you’re no longer interested in gardening, let me know.
If you have a friend who wants to take over your garden, I can transfer your
plot to them. But please let me know. Thank you. And good luck with
whatever you’re going to do next.
Happy Gardening,
Kathryn
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