From the Gardens Registrar: TREE AND BRUSH CLEARING AT EAGLE HEIGHTS; LET ME KNOW IF YOU’RE NOT RENEWING; WHERE DO OUR GARDEN NEIGHBORS GO IN THE FALL?; WORKDAY SUNDAY AT EAGLE HEIGHTS

Hello Gardeners,

TREE AND BRUSH CLEARING – The Hooper Corporation will be clearing that narrow brushy area between Lake Mendota Drive and the EH Gardens access path, starting next week. A crew will be using a forestry mower to knock down the trees and shrubs. This work is being done on behalf of Madison Gas and Electric, which has power lines overhead. A few of the larger trees will be left, but all of the ash trees will be cut down. Most of this area is just a mess, so clearing is overdue. However, the work will be noisy, and occasionally access to some garden areas may be affected. We don’t know how long the project will take. The overhead electric lines will eventually be buried. Once the area is cleared, this is going to be a big change for us, because there will be very little vegetation between us and the road.

IF YOU’RE NOT RENEWING IN 2019, PLEASE LET ME KNOW – I would appreciate hearing from gardeners who do not plan to garden next year – it will help me when I start assigning plots to new gardeners next February. Please send me an email. Thanks.

WHERE DO THE OTHER GARDEN RESIDENTS GO IN THE FALL? – We share our gardens, willingly and unwillingly, with quite a large number of animals – birds, toads, insects, and mammals such as voles, rabbits, coyotes, and other voles. Where do they go in the fall and winter? The hummingbirds have gone south for the season – to Mexico or Panama eventually. The robins may go south, too – possibly as far as Texas or Florida. But some robins stay in Madison in the winter – they gather in flocks and move to wooded areas, such as the UW Arboretum. Goldfinches and chickadees stay through the winter, and the hawks probably will too. The sandhill cranes have gone – first they go to hang out in large groups with other cranes, and then some time next month, they’ll take off for Florida or the southeast coast. The turkeys stay year-round (sorry.) But some northern species of birds actually spend their winters here – juncos and tree sparrows, for instance, have appeared in the gardens. The mammals are year-round residents. Toads hibernate – they burrow into loose soil, and sleep through the winter. As for insects, they primarily die, although the monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico. Unfortunately, the Japanese beetles live through the winter as grubs and larvae in the soil, and will emerge again next summer. But hey, the mosquitoes are gone – that’s one good thing about frost.

THEFTS – Thefts seem to be increasing now that we’re near the end of the season. I think most of the thieves are not our gardeners, but, just to make sure, please remember that no gardener should be in another person’s garden, or take another person’s produce, without that person’s permission. Do not assume that another gardener has quit for the season. Do not assume that produce sitting in a garden is unclaimed. Please don’t break your fellow gardeners’ hearts. And keep an eye out for suspicious behavior. Oh, and by the way, if you still have winter squash in your plot, please pick it – don’t leave it for thieves to take or for voles to devour.

WORKDAY SUNDAY AT EAGLE HEIGHTS – We will have a workday on Sunday, October 21, from 1pm – 4pm, at Eagle Heights. The tasks will be working on the blueberry and blackberry plantings, and hauling materials to the future rain garden in Plot 115. Here’s the link to sign up: https://doodle.com/poll/m7bc9cdy82ygpm7b

Happy Gardening,

Kathryn