From the Registrar: September 29, 2022

Hello Gardeners, 

Fall get-together: Please come to the Gardens Saturday, October 8th between 11 AM and 2 pm for an informal fall get-together. Meet garden neighbors, share gardening ideas, and talk about your harvest!   

 

Signs in Lakeshore Nature Preserve areas: A sign promoting a business was posted within Eagle Heights Gardens recently. The Gardens are inside the Nature Preserve, where signs and advertisements aren’t permitted. Please let me know if you see anything like this in the future. 
 

Winter squash: Winter squash is ready when it turns the right color for the variety, the vines die back, and the stem is hard. Some gardeners harvest earlier to prevent pests from eating the squash, or theft, which can both be problems in our gardens. If you can wait a bit longer it will help the squash store well. Here is some information on harvesting and storing winter squash: 

 

https://savvygardening.com/harvesting-winter-squash/ 

 

https://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/vegetables/winter-squash/winter-squash-eating-guide.html 

 

Workday opportunity: There will be a group workday at Eagle Heights Garden on Sunday 10/2 from 10 AM-1 pm. 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: Sept 25, 2022

 Hello Gardeners, 

Horse manure: We are expecting a delivery of horse manure to Eagle Heights Gardens soon. The manure will be left between the leaf mulch and wood chips. This is an excellent fertilizer for your plot. Please be aware that this will not be composted manure, so you should not put it directly on any plants. It will need to be aged, so if you would like some, you can put it in a pile or a large bag in your plot to leave until spring. Unfortunately, we can’t have any dumped at University Houses.   

Workday update reminder: The workday requirements for 2022 and 2023 have been combined. Each plot will be responsible for one workday for both seasons. The change also applies if you pay the no-workday fee. So, if you paid the fee for 2022, you will not have to pay or do a workday in 2023. If you are still interested in doing an independent workday this season, please let me know.  

Putting your garden to bed: It’s time to begin putting the gardens to bed for the season. You can start by pulling out plants and weeds and taking them to the weed pile. Spreading mulch over your plot will help protect it from erosion and add organic matter to the soil. Try to avoid stepping on the beds when you remove plants, to prevent compacting of the soil. Remove as much dirt as possible from the roots of plants before taking them to the weed pile. If you plan to plant garlic later this fall, you can prepare the beds now. It’s quite cold in mid to late October at garlic planting time, so getting the garden ready now will make it easier when the time comes. 

We could begin to see some light frost this week. If you have plants that are susceptible to frost, you may want to consider covering them overnight if the predicted temperatures are low enough. 

 
Thanks, and happy gardening,  

Lily 

From the Registrar: September 14, 2022

Hello Gardeners, 

 

Workday requirement update: Unfortunately, we have not been able to schedule as many workdays as we would like this season. Because we don't believe we can provide enough opportunities for everyone that wants to do a workday, we have decided that the workday requirements for this year and next year must be combined. This means that each plot will be responsible for one workday for both 2022 and 2023. So, if you have already done a workday this season, you will not be required to do one next year. If you don't do one this year, you will need to do one next year. 

 

However, we do still have some opportunities to do workdays this year! If you choose to do one of them, your requirement for 2023 will be out of the way. 

• Independent workdays: If you are interested in an independent workday or organizing a small group to clean an abandoned plot, please contact me for opportunities. There are a lot of tall weeds going to seed in the gardens. 

• Arbor Garden workday update: The Arbor Garden workday has been rescheduled for Saturday 9/24 from 10 AM to 1 pm. There are now two openings for this workday. Please email me if you’re interested and I will assign spots in the order people reply.  

• Group workday this weekend: There will be a workday at Eagle Heights garden on Sunday 9/18 from 10 AM-1 pm. The workday will be for weeding, and volunteers should bring gloves. We will need ten volunteers. Please email me if you’re interested and I will assign spots in the order people reply. 

 

Please use leaf mulch! We have been asked to use up our leaf mulch piles as quickly as possible. We must limit the length of time they are there due to DNR regulations. We are due to receive new leaves this fall as well. So please, use leaf mulch on your plots. It will be great for your soil too! 

 
Thanks, and happy gardening,  

Lily 

 

From the Registrar: September 1, 2022

 Hello Gardeners, 

 

Preserving food: Garden harvests can be a little overwhelming at this time in the season. If you’re looking for ways to preserve your extra produce, there are many great options. The National Center for Home Food Preservation has guides for canning, freezing, drying, fermenting, and more: https://nchfp.uga.edu/#gsc.tab=0 

Or you can always put your extra produce on the share shelf for other gardeners! 

 

Workday opportunities: There will be two group workdays this weekend: 

-There will be a workday at University Houses on Saturday 9/3 from 10 AM-1 pm 

-There will be a workday at Eagle Heights on Sunday 9/4 from 10 AM-1 pm 

Both workdays will be for weeding, and volunteers should bring gloves. We will need five volunteers for each workday. Please email me if you’re interested and I will assign spots in the order people reply. 

 
Thanks, and happy gardening,  

Lily