From the Registrar June 9, 2021

 Hello Gardeners, 

Organic Gardening: All of the plots at Eagle Heights and the A and B rows at Uhouses are organic. (If you garden in the C, D, E, or F rows at Uhouses you can ignore this). No chemical pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or fertilizers can be used in the organic gardening areas. Any products that you do purchase to put in your garden must be labeled as organic. There are ways to deal with pests and weeds in an organic garden. Insect pests like potato beetles can be hand-picked and dumped in soapy water. Some years we spray Spinosad (an organic insecticide) for potato beetles as well. This is something we might consider this year if there are enough issues. Hand pulling weeds and mulching to prevent their return is one of the best methods for weed control. Which brings us to: 

Mulch: Mulching not only prevents weed growth, it adds organic matter to the soil, helps keep moisture in the soil and prevents erosion. It also helps maintain the temperature of the soil. Soil health will directly affect how well plants grow and mulching is a great way to help promote it. We have piles of leaf mulch at both gardens.  

Nature Preserve: Both our gardens are a part of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve and there are protected preserve areas around the borders of both gardens. Please never dump weeds or take anything out of any areas of the Preserve. The branches and sticks in the Preserve are not available to use in plots. Please remember to stay on our side of the paths too if you’re weeding. The Preserve does their own weeding and know which plants they want there. There have been some problems with the north tree island at Eagle Heights. Dumping weeds there interferes with the efforts of volunteers to create a wildlife habitat. I know that the weed pile is a long way away for some of the Eagle Heights plots but if you’re looking for someplace to put your weeds, please try the method with the weed bag I mentioned last week instead.  

Trees coming down by gravel path at Eagle Heights: Starting next Monday, June 14th the University will be having a contractor take down some trees in the area between the gravel path and Lake Mendota Drive. They will need to use the gravel path for their work and request that gardeners don’t go in the area while they are working. 

Dry weather: As I’m sure you all already know; it’s been very dry. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we have a high chance of rain any time soon, so we can all probably look forward to a lot of watering.  

Thanks, and happy gardening, 

Lily