From the Gardens Registrar: Warm Weather Plant Sale; Jumping Worms II; Workdays; Rhubarb

 Hello Gardeners, 

WARM WEATHER PLANT SALE – Scott Williams of Garden To Be will be selling warm weather plants at Eagle Heights on Sunday, May 23, from 10am – 1pm. He will be bringing basil (5 varieties), cilantro, lettuce, salad mix packs, edible flowers, cucumbers, zucchini and summer squash, pumpkins, melons, winter squash, eggplants, and peppers – both sweet and hot. He will (hopefully) also bring tomatoes, but his tomatoes got their tips frosted, and he’ll have to wait to see how they’re doing before he is sure he’ll be bringing them. Please wear masks and social distance. I already have volunteers to help.

JUMPING WORMS II – REVENGE OF THE JUMPING WORMS – Several gardeners wrote me after my last message to explain that mustard water does not kill jumping worms. What actually happens is that they don’t like the mustard, and they come up to the surface of the soil to avoid it. At that point, you can pick them up and kill them by putting them in a plastic bag and leaving it in the sun until they turn to mush. I know, yick. If you do that, please throw that bag in the dumpster – do not try to compost it.

WORKDAYS – In a normal year, a gardener from every plot must either contribute three hours of work to the garden community, or else pay a “no workday fee.” Last year was not a normal year. Due to Covid, it did not seem safe for us to organize our usual group workdays. A few gardeners managed to do projects on their own, and we did have some weed-whacking sessions with small numbers of volunteers. Because it was so difficult for most people to do a workday, (but we still wanted to give credit to those who did, or who paid the fee), we decided to lump together 2020 and 2021 as far as workdays were concerned. So, if you were a gardener last year, and either did a workday or paid the fee, you do not have to do a workday this year. In fact, please don’t – we want as many opportunities available to new gardeners as possible.

This year, I think, by the summer, we will be able to organize workdays in a somewhat more normal way. Typical workdays involve projects such as weeding and wood chipping paths, weeding common areas, weeding and mulching abandoned plots, and so on. We’ve been using Doodle for the scheduling, and publishing the Doodle links in this message when a workday is scheduled. Workdays mostly take place on weekends, but we try to have a few on weekday evenings too, and to have projects at both gardens.

Another workday opportunity will be garden jurying, but I’ll explain that in my next message.

If you want to do a workday, but you would prefer to work alone, or don’t feel comfortable in a group, please contact me, and we’ll see if we can find a good project for you.

Otherwise, if you really don’t want to do a workday, or you aren’t able to sign up for one, you can pay the $32 fee – that is not due until December 1, and there’s no need to do it any earlier.

RHUBARB – Generally, the first crop that can be harvested in our gardens is rhubarb, a perennial vegetable that’s treated like a fruit. The roots have been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years and it’s been grown in Europe and North America since the 17^th Century as medicine and later, as a vegetable. As a vegetable, only the stalks are eaten – the leaves contain a lot of oxalic acid, and are poisonous (though you’d have to eat an awful lot before they would hurt you.). The stalks are very tart, and are usually eaten with a great deal of sugar. It’s not particularly nutritious, but it’s tasty by itself, or with other fruits. If you’re looking for rhubarb recipes and general information, this is the place: Rhubarb Website /Blog - Recipes, Growing, Nutrition and More (rhubarb-central.com)

Happy Gardening, 

Kathryn