From the Gardens Registrar: It’s Starting Soon! Information on Upcoming Non-Events at Eagle Heights

 

Hello Gardeners,

 OPENING DAY – Opening Day for our gardens this year will be Saturday, March 20. On that day, we will bring out the tools and garden carts that have been in storage for the winter at both gardens. Although we’re not officially open until this day, we do keep some tools and carts outside all winter, so that gardeners can work in the off-season.

 Portable toilets will be set up at both gardens starting on Thursday, March 18. By March 20, the parking signs on Eagle Heights Drive will be changed from the winter version which does not allow garden parking except on weekends, to the garden season version, which designates the spots along the south side of the street specifically as garden parking.

Please note that the water in the gardens will not be turned on until there is no danger of heavy frost that would damage the pipes. Don’t expect the water to be on until late April, or even early May.

 FREE SEEDS – Normally (that is, when the Earth is not experiencing a global pandemic), we hold a Seed Fair every year, at the end of March. Current gardeners come to the Community Center that morning, check in, and receive tickets which they can exchange for seeds for vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Last year, the Coronavirus settled in while we were planning the Fair, and it had to be cancelled. This year, the health situation is better, but we will still not be able to hold our usual event.

 However, we do have lots of seeds to share with gardeners. After our Opening Day, I will begin bringing seeds to both gardens, and leaving them on the share shelves. I will bring some out several times a week, depending on the weather. We will have seeds for the vegetables that need to be started early in the season, in the house, such as tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. We will also have seeds for early crops, such as lettuce, carrots, radishes, greens, beets, and peas. Seeds for beans, cucumbers, squash, melons, herbs, flowers, etc., will be brought out later when the weather warms up.

 Last year, our gardeners did a fantastic job of social distancing. It will be important again this year, particularly when people are clustering around seed packets. Please wear a mask and give other people space when you are in common areas of the gardens and other people are around.

 FREE POTS – We also have a large collection of plastic plant pots, including trays and pots for starting seeds. These will also be brought out to both gardens and left on the share shelves. Help yourself. (They take up a lot of space in my office, and I hope to never see them again.) If you have extras of these at home, as most gardeners do, please bring some to the gardens to share.

 ROW COVER – Many of our gardeners use this garden fabric to give their seedlings protection from insects, wind, and cold. We buy big rolls of it, cut them into smaller pieces, and sell them, at cost, to gardeners. Again, because of the pandemic, we weren’t able to sell any last year, but this year, we will sell some, for $5 per piece, in the next few weeks. We haven’t set dates for this yet, but when we do, I will include the information in one of my next weekly messages.

 QUESTION; So, does this mean we can start gardening now?

 ANSWER: NO, my dears, it’s still March! It’s way too early to plant anything outside. We’re having nice warm weather this week, but it won’t last. We will have more cold and snow before Spring really takes hold. The gardens are still covered with snow, and once that melts, the ground will still be frozen. Once it thaws, it will turn into mud. And it is very bad for your soil to dig and work it when it’s wet and muddy, especially for us with our heavy clay soil. (It’s also bad for whoever washes your clothes.)

 Early April is generally the earliest anyone can actually start planting anything here, and mid to late April is still plenty early.  Planting too early can be counter-productive - seeds won’t necessarily sprout and plants will grow very slowly if the soil is too cold. However, you can certainly do some cleaning and clearing in your plots now, if you’re desperate to be outside.

Happy Gardening (pretty soon),

Kathryn