From the Gardens Registrar: Last Call for Extra Produce; Lasagna Gardening; Overwintering Herbs; Gardens Closing Day November 8

Hello Gardeners,

ANY EXTRA PRODUCE? One of our gardeners is a member of First United Methodist Church, which runs a kitchen that prepares food for homeless people. They are always looking for fresh produce. If you still have any extra produce in your plot, such as winter squash or greens, and you’re done with harvesting, please let me know. This gardener would be very happy to come clear anything edible from your plot to bring to her church.

LASAGNA GARDENING – A lasagna garden is a garden that is built up in layers – this technique is also called “sheet composting.” You can start a lasagna garden any time of year, but fall is the best. So if you’re tired of digging and weeding, you might want to try this out.  I have had a lasagna garden for almost five years – it’s been pretty productive, and it’s very easy to take care of. You can start by hauling off your weeds, or you can also just trample down the weeds you have, since they’ll be covered up by your layers and will feed your soil as they decay. Then you put down the  first layer – cardboard. On top of that, you put down layers of wet newspaper and leaves. You can also add compost, straw, coffee grounds, whatever other soil amendments you might have. Then leave it for the winter. In the spring, it won’t look much different, but you can go ahead and plant into it, and your plants will feed on the nutrients and decompose the layers, while the cardboard continues to block the weeds. Seeds can be planted the same way you plant into soil, If you’re putting in a plant, you only need to dig a small hole into the layers. One of the advantages of lasagna gardening is that, since you do very little digging, you don’t disturb the microbes that live in the soil and improve it. Later this fall, I’ll add another layer of newspaper and leaves to mine. Here’s a link to a good article: https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-make-a-lasagna-garden-2539877

OVERWINTERING HERBS –The best thing about gardening is having fresh herbs to cook with, and the worst thing about the end of the season is having to say goodbye to that. As far as growing is concerned, herbs can be divided into 3 types. There are annuals, which are planted every year. Some of the annuals, such as dill and cilantro, readily reseed themselves, so if you plant them once, they may keep coming up on their own every year. Basil, unfortunately, has to be planted again every spring. Then there are hardy perennials, such as chives, sage, and mints, including oregano. These need no help getting through the winter. Chives can survive just about any winter, and will be one of the first plants to start growing as soon as the ground starts to thaw in the spring. And then there are more tender perennial herbs, such as lavender, which can use a little help to get through the winter. This is a short article about how to protect those, and also about trying to extend the herb season by bringing some of your plants indoors. : https://garden.org/learn/articles/view/2508/

CLOSING DAY NOVEMBER 8 – Our gardens will have their official closing day this year on Sunday, November 8. On that day, most of our carts and tools will be put away in the sheds for the winter. But we always leave a few out for gardeners who do some work during the winter. Also, we’ll bring the UH hoses in for winter storage, and take the opportunity to throw out the worst ones, since we have some new hoses to replace them with. You can help in this process by please please please returning any of the community tools you currently have in your plot.

 Happy Gardening and Stay Well,

Kathryn