From the Gardens Registrar: Organic Gardening; New Co-Chair Needed; Are You Going Away?

Hello Gardeners,

ORGANIC GARDENING – According to our rules, all garden plots at Eagle Heights are to be gardened organically. At University Houses Gardens, the A and B rows are officially organic. (Gardeners in C, D, E, and F plots are not required to garden organically; they can stop reading this and go do something more pleasant until it’s over.) What does this mean? First of all, no chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides are allowed in organic plots. Anything you apply to improve your soil, destroy weeds, or protect your plants from insects must be organic, a natural substance, rather than the product of a laboratory. As organic gardening becomes more popular, more and more organic products are available at garden centers, but be sure you see the word “organic” on the label before you buy anything and bring it to your EH or UH garden.

This affects more than just your own garden – if you use chemicals in your plot, whoever gardens in that space after you leave will inherit those chemicals. Also, your garden neighbors may be affected by those chemicals. Again, we are a community garden – we are all in this together.

But there is more to organic gardening than simply not using chemicals. Organic gardening is about a different relationship with your garden and the natural world. It’s not about making your vegetables grow. It’s more about understanding how they grow, and learning, through observation and experience (and a fair amount of dumb luck) how to work with natural processes to help them grow better. It’s more work gardening organically, but it’s better for us, and our plants, and the planet.

NEW GARDEN COMMITTEE CO-CHAIR – Our gardens are run by the Garden Committee, which consists of gardeners. Any gardener can join the committee and help make decisions to keep the gardens going. The Committee in turn is run by 2 Co-Chairs. The Co-Chairs set the agendas and run the meetings. They also sometimes help to settle disputes with gardeners or take on special projects. Most importantly, they look at larger issues with garden management, and guide the Committee and the gardens to develop better procedures and policies. We currently have a vacancy for a Co-Chair. The position generally requires very little time – being present for a one-hour meeting once a month is most of it. (It’s okay to miss a meeting occasionally.) But it’s helpful if you read your email regularly and can respond to the urgent questions and situations that sometimes come up. We would also be particularly interested in having a Co-Chair with a plot at University Houses, who can represent that constituency. We would appreciate a one-year commitment. Please let me know if you’re interested, or would like more details about what is involved.

ARE YOU GOING AWAY (WITH NO WORD OF FAREWELL?) – Just a reminder – if you’re leaving Madison at the end of the summer and giving up your garden plot, please let me know. There are generally new people looking to get garden plots this time of year, and I’m always anxious to find empty plots I can move them into. Or if you’re realizing you don’t have the time or interest in gardening any more and want to quit, let me know. Please don’t just walk away from your plot without communicating with me. And by the way, if you have a friend you’d like to give your plot to, we can accommodate that. Let me know, and I can transfer your plot to your friend. But please don’t just arrange it between yourselves. Let me know. Or to put it another way, let me know. And thanks.

Happy Gardening and Stay Well,

Kathryn