From the Gardens Registrar: The Arbor Garden; Where Are the Tools? Canada Fleabane; A Few Volun-teer Opportunities; Refrigerator Pickles

 Hello Gardeners,

 THE ARBOR GARDEN – At Eagle Heights, we have a Garden Arbor, next to the 600 row, where gardeners can rest in the shade and have their lunch. Surrounding it is the Arbor Garden, which is maintained entirely by volunteers – very hardworking and conscientious volunteers. Last year, we expanded the Arbor Garden to include a rain garden – this is a plot which has been lowered and planted with native plants that can tolerate wet conditions. This rain garden has really helped other low plots in that area to handle the few big rainstorms we’ve had this year. The Arbor Garden has been receiving a lot of attention this year and is flourishing, so here’s a big thank you to the volunteers!

By the way, the Arbor itself will be taken down some time this fall – it’s old and not in good shape any more. It may be a while before we can replace it, but we will try to find some way to provide shade temporarily until the new structure can be completed.

WHERE ARE THE EH TOOLS? – This is a serious question, and I don’t know the answer. We should have lots more tools at EH than we currently do. This suggests that some gardeners have been keeping our tools in their plots. Please remember that the tools and carts are all shared – we have a lot of them, but if some are being hoarded, then we don’t have enough for everybody. So don’t bogart the tools, ok?

WEED OF THE WEEK – CANADA FLEABANE – Conyza canadensis is a weed/wildflower that can grow quite tall – up to 7 feet. It is also called Canadian Horseweed. Though it is native to the Midwest, it is not particularly attractive, and because it can get so tall, it can shade your plants and your neighbors’ plants. Also, each plant can produce as many as 20,000 seeds, which spread around the garden and can live in the soil for several years. There’s quite a lot of it in the gardens right now – if you have it in your plot, please pull it out. Here’s some information: https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/canadian-horseweed

A FEW VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES – Our garden worker, Megan, does an hour of weed-whacking every Monday morning, from 9am – 10am, and is always looking for volunteers to help her – we need three people each week. We’ve been doing these sessions at Eagle Heights, but we’ll also do some at University Houses. Also, we need a volunteer to haul mulch and woodchips  to the sandbox/pear plot in the 1100s, and also a couple of volunteers to haul woodchips to the cart yard next to the EH shed – keeping woodchips there keeps the weeds down. Please let me know if you’re interested, and I’ll give you more information.

REFRIGERATOR PICKLES – This is a basic recipe for pickled cucumbers to keep in the refrigerator, but you can use the same method to pickle lots of other vegetables too: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/easy-refrigerator-pickles/

 

Happy Gardening and Stay Well,

Kathryn