From the Registrar: June 29, 2022

 Hello Gardeners,   

IMPORTANT! Reporting maintenance issues: Please use this new form to report all maintenance and repair requests: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScyjHBH_xBH229AVwmqTE-2L3znGrLwn3TNJfw2ri9T01MMfA/viewform 

It will also always be available via the website, both on the sidebar and under the Gardeners tab: https://eagleheightsgardens.org/  

Responses to this form will go directly to me and to the garden workers at the same time. Please ONLY use it for repair-related requests. All other questions should continue to go to the registrar’s email. Using this form for issues like water line problems will ensure that everyone gets the information as soon as possible. 

Dogs in the gardens must be leashed: We continue to have problems with unleashed dogs in the gardens and we’ve had some recent complaints. Dogs can disrupt wildlife and cause damage to the Nature Preserve, in addition to damaging garden plots. Dogs must stay on a leash the whole time they are in the gardens, and violations can be subject to a fine. 

Workday opportunity: There will be a group workday at Eagle Heights Gardens this Sunday 7/3 from 1:30-4:30 pm. The work crew will be weeding fruit plantings with a garden worker. We will need five volunteers. Please email me if you’re interested and I will assign spots in the order people reply. 
 
Thanks, and happy gardening,  

Lily 

 

From the Registrar: June 22, 2022

 Hello Gardeners,   

 

More about ticks: After my email about ticks last week, a gardener reminded me that although we often associate deer ticks with deer, more often they make their way to humans via smaller animals, like mice and voles. This is a great reason to limit rodent habitats in your garden. They like lots of cover to hide from predators, so tall weeds and brush will attract them. Not only can they bring ticks into your plot, but they will also quickly eat your crops. So, there is more than one good reason to discourage rodents from entering your garden! 

 

Turn off the water all the way: Please remember to turn the water off all the way when you’re done, so it doesn’t drip continuously. It wastes water and makes the paths muddy. 

 

Workday opportunity: There will be a group workday at Eagle Heights Gardens this Sunday 6/26 from 1:30-4:30 pm. The work crew will be pulling thistles from the tree border with a garden worker. We will need 20 volunteers. Gloves will be necessary! Please email me if you’re interested and I will assign spots in the order people reply. 
 
Thanks, and happy gardening,  

Lily 

From the Registrar: June 16, 2022

 Hello Gardeners,   

 

Garlic scapes: If you’re growing garlic, this is a good time to check your plants for scapes. Scapes grow as a stalk from the center of hardneck varieties of garlic and will produce a flower. Scapes can be chopped up and used in cooking. The flower should be removed before cooking. 

Harvesting scapes while they’re still young can be helpful for a couple of reasons. If they’re left on the plant too long, they will take energy away from the bulb. More mature scapes can also be tough and stringy. 

To harvest scapes, remove them from the plant without damaging the leaves. Scapes should be cut when they start curling. Scapes that have curled too much can start to get tough. Not all hardneck garlic varieties produce scapes at the same time, so you may find that some are ready sooner than others.  

If you decide to leave the scape on the plant, the flower will produce small bulbs (bulbils) that can be planted. Here is some interesting information on growing garlic from bulbils: http://greyduckgarlic.com/how-to-grow-garlic-from-bulbils.html 

 

Ticks: As the weather warms up ticks become more prevalent outdoors, and we do get reports every year of ticks found by gardeners. Wisconsin is home to a variety of ticks. Ticks can transmit a variety of diseases to humans also, but the primary concern is generally with deer ticks, which can carry Lyme disease. Please check for ticks and be careful. The UW Department of Entomology has extensive resources about ticks: 

https://wisconsin-ticks.russell.wisc.edu/ 
 
Thanks, and happy gardening,  

Lily 

From the Registrar: June 8, 2022

Hello Gardeners,   

Colorado potato beetles: The potato beetles are now more abundant and beginning to cause some damage to plants. You may have seen some adults on your potato plants, but many plants are just hosting eggs right now. This is a great time to check your plants and destroy the eggs before they hatch. Due to the colder weather, they are not hatching very quickly, so this is a good opportunity. Once the eggs hatch, plants can be quickly defoliated if there are many larvae. 

 

Potato beetles will eat anything in the Solanaceae family, including tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and tomatillos. They especially like tomatillos, as I just learned. So, if you are growing tomatillos you may want to check those for beetles and eggs also. 

 

The link below from the University of Minnesota Extension has some good pictures of the beetles at each stage of life. Please remember that only organic control methods are allowed in Eagle Heights and the A and B rows of University Houses. The gardens sometimes spray Spinosad to control them, but it is too early to consider that. 

 

https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-insects/colorado-potato-beetles 

 

Workday opportunity: There will be a group workday at Eagle Heights Gardens this Sunday 6/12 from 1:30-4:30 pm. The work crew will be weeding the blackberry and raspberry patches with a garden worker. We will need 15 volunteers. Please email me if you’re interested and I will assign spots in the order people reply. There is a chance of rain on Sunday, so if the garden worker has to cancel the workday we will reschedule. 

 

Thanks, and happy gardening,  

Lily