From the Registrar: March 23, 2022

Hello Gardeners,  

Opening day reminder: Opening day at the gardens will be this Saturday, March 26th. Orientations will be held this weekend as well. 

Plot markers and corner posts: Please don’t move your numbered plot marker or the corner posts of your plot. If you need stakes to hold up a fence or a plant, please don’t use the markers or posts. The markers are not just important for the gardeners of the plots. They also help new gardeners find their way around the gardens, and they help the garden juries correctly identify plots. The corner posts also help you and your neighbors find the borders of the plots.  

Reminder about plot borders: We notified gardeners last Fall that this season any plants, fences, or structures that go past the front borders of the plots into the paths will need to be moved. The front borders of your plot are marked by two corner posts. If your plot is located along a retaining wall, the border is inside the wall, so no fences or plants can go on top of or past the wall.  

Plants and fences can extend to the border only in the front of the plot. On all other sides there must be six inches of space left as a path (so there are 12 inches between all plots). 

Birdhouses: Due to problems with invasive House Sparrows, only wren houses are allowed in the gardens. If you’d like to have a birdhouse, there will be copper plates the correct size for wren house entrances available at the Seed Fair.  

Plant sales: Scott Williams, from Garden to Be, will be holding plant sales again at Eagle Heights this year. There will be a cool weather plant sale on Sunday April 24th from 10 AM-1 pm and a warm weather plant sale on Sunday May 22nd from 10 AM-1 pm. 

Scott will be bringing some people along to help with the sale, but he would also like two volunteers for each day. For the April sale, the volunteers need to arrive a little before 10 AM. For the May sale the volunteers will need to be there at 9 AM. Please let me know if you’d like to help with either plant sale. It will count as a workday, and I will give the spots out to gardeners in the order I receive replies. I’ll send a reminder before each sale, along with any details I get about prices and what plants will be available. 

Thanks, and happy gardening, 

Lily 

From the Registrar: Seed Fair

 Hello Gardeners, 

 

This year we will be holding the Seed Fair a little differently than in the past. Gardening has become much more popular recently, and unfortunately, we didn’t receive as many donated seeds as we hoped. Much of what we did receive was not usable. We did still receive some very nice seeds, but we will be able to offer fewer seeds per plot, and the selection is more limited.  

The Seed Fair will be held outside, in front of the Eagle Heights Community Center on Saturday April 9th from 9:30AM-11:30AM. When you arrive, please get in line and you will be given a paper to write your name and plot number on. The line will start in front of the Center and go down the sidewalk to the left of the Center, towards the lake. If you arrive by car, the parking lot will be available, but please drive slowly since there will be a lot of people around. 

In order to make sure that the distribution is fair, and everyone gets a nice selection of seeds, we have made up packets to hand out. Each plot will be able to get one “basic” packet of seeds. Once you have the basic packet, you will get a ticket, and you can choose one packet from a couple options of smaller “specialty” packets. The number of seeds in the packets isn’t certain yet, but they will be equal. There will be two tables for specialty packets: one for starting seeds indoors, and one for seeds that can be started outdoors. The packets are not all identical, but they have been randomized. If you don’t like something in your packet you can trade with friends or other gardeners once you’ve left the line. Seeds for flowers and gourds will not be included and you can stop by to take what you want from that table before you leave.  

If the times above don’t work for you, but you’d still like your packets of seeds, please let me know. 

We hope the weather will be nice on the 9th, but if it rains, the Seed Fair will be held the following Saturday April 16th instead.  

Because onions need to be started early indoors, I will be putting onion seeds on the share shelves at both Eagle Heights and University Houses Gardens tomorrow morning. If you’d like to start onion plants inside, please feel free to take a packet of onion seeds. 

We will be selling row cover at the Seed Fair. The pieces are approximately 7 ft x 24 ft and they are $5 each. We will have copies of this handout on row cover at the Fair, but if you'd like to read about it now you can see it here: http://eagleheightsgardens.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/row_cover_handout.pdf 

 

Thanks, and happy gardening,   

Lily   

From the Registrar, March 10, 2022

 Hello Gardeners,  

   

Opening day: Opening Day at the gardens will be Saturday, March 26th. There are currently a small number of carts and tools out at both Eagle Heights and University Houses gardens, but the remainder will be put out on the 26th. The portable toilets will be delivered to both gardens before opening day. The parking signs on Eagle Heights drive will be changed to allow 4-hour parking for the gardens on the south side of the street.   

 

Orientations: There will be orientations at both Eagle Heights and University Houses gardens the weekend of opening day. It is highly recommended that new gardeners attend an orientation if they’re able. If you can’t attend, but would like to arrange something else, please let me know. Groups will meet by the sheds at both gardens. Here are the dates and times: 

Eagle Heights orientations: 

Saturday March 26, 11 am 

Sunday March 27, 3 pm 

University Houses orientations: 

Saturday, March 26, 11 am 

Sunday, March 27, 4 pm 

 

Planting Season: Even by opening day it will still be too early to plant outdoors. The ground is still frozen right now, and it may snow again before Spring. There will also still be a danger of frost into May that will kill many plants. If you are new to gardening, or if you want a reminder about different planting dates, this is a great resource: 

http://eagleheightsgardens.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/vegetable_planting_guide.pdf 

You can find many other useful documents on this page also if you’re interested: 

http://eagleheightsgardens.org/gardens/organic-growing/ 

If you do decide to start cleaning up and preparing your garden before the planting season begins, try not to walk on or disturb the soil too much while it’s still very wet from the snow thawing. This will cause the soil to be compacted and that’s not good for your plants. Marking your paths early in the season to avoid walking in the planting areas can help keep your soil healthy. It’s also a good idea to wait to cover your garden beds with mulch until the soil has had enough time to warm up.  

 

Water: The water at both gardens will be turned on in late April or early May, when we can be certain there’s no chance of the pipes freezing. If you need water for early planting, you can bring jugs of water to your plot.  

 

Please let me know if you have any questions. You will hear from me again soon about free seeds.  

 

Thanks, and happy gardening,   

Lily