From the Registrar: April 20, 2023

 Hello Gardeners, 

Reminder: Do not dump plant waste anywhere but the weed piles. Some rhubarb was found dumped in the tree island at the end of the 600s row at Eagle Heights. The only places that we can leave plant waste at either garden location are the weed piles. 

 

Garden operations: The Gardens are run by the gardeners. We have a Garden Committee that meets the second Wednesday of every month at 7 pm (currently via Zoom) to discuss the running of the Gardens. All gardeners that are interested are welcome to participate! Please contact me if you would like to attend a meeting.  

 

The Committee is led by two co-chairs, who set the meeting agendas and run the meetings. The Gardens have a few part-time employees: A registrar (me) and some garden workers (Megan, Ian, and Nichole). The registrar does administrative work: assigning plots, answering questions, and explaining the rules. The garden workers take care of the Gardens: doing maintenance and leading volunteer workdays. All employees report to the Committee via the co-chairs. 

 

Our gardens are one of the oldest and largest community gardens in the country. We currently have 565 plots between both locations, with 777 registered gardeners. If you do not have a secondary gardener listed on your plot and you’d like to add one, please contact me. All gardeners receive email updates (primary gardeners are required to provide an email address and secondary gardeners have the option). 

 

Help plan the EHCG anniversary party: Eagle Heights Community Gardens is turning 61 this year! We would like to form a small committee to help plan a celebration for all gardeners this September. Please contact me if you’re interested in helping with this project.  

 

Gardener looking for watering help: A gardener in the 1000s row at Eagle Heights is looking for help watering and maintaining a plot for six weeks starting June 1st. If you are interested in helping a neighbor, please let me know and I will put you in touch.  

 

Thanks, and happy gardening, 

Lily 

 

From the Registrar: April 12, 2023

 Hello Gardeners, 

Spring planting: Usually, April 15th is the day that marks when you can begin planting many things outdoors here. Some good options of seeds to plant right now are: Lettuce, Spinach, Peas, Carrots, Chard, and Kale. We have an excellent guide for this that I would normally link here, but our website is unfortunately down at the moment. I will share the link as soon as it’s back up or I’ll email a pdf of the guide tomorrow. 

If you’re planting transplants, they might benefit from some row cover. There are a number of plants that are frost-tolerant, but they might not survive prolonged freezing temperatures. (A frost is possible with a temperature under 36° F. A freeze can happen under 32° F, and a hard frost under 28° F). It’s still possible to have more cold weather before Spring is over. Row cover also protects small plants from pests like flea beetles. 

If you would like to buy some row cover before the cool weather plant sale, please email me. The pieces are approximately 7 ft x 20 ft and they are $5 each, cash only. 
 

Plant sale details: I’ve attached the full seedling list from Blue Moon. Here are their price details:  

Plants are $4.00 per item (either a 3.5" pot or a 4-pack depending on what vegetable it is--indicated on the seedling list) 
Mix + Match discount: 6 for $20, or a full flat of 18 for $60 

• Cool weather plant sale: Sun 4/30 10 AM-1 pm  

• Warm weather plant sale: Sun 5/21 10 AM-1 pm 

Don’t take the bricks and blocks: Please don’t take the bricks and blocks from the area by the weed pile at Eagle Heights for use in your plot. Many gardeners have them in their plots, but they sink into the ground and end up buried for future gardeners to dig up. We are trying to get rid of the blocks, which were originally given to us to build a retaining wall. 

Thanks, and happy gardening,   

Lily   

From the Registrar: April 6, 2023

 Hello Gardeners, 

Seed Fair this Saturday! The Seed Fair will be held at the Community Center this Saturday April 8th from 9 AM to 11 AM. Each plot can have 12 free packets of seeds. If you drive, you can park in the Community Center parking lot. If the lot is full, you will need to park in the gardener parking spots on Eagle Heights Drive and walk over to the center.  

There has been an update to the timeframe for the tuber trade: It will now be held from 9:30 to 10:15 during the Fair. Please bring tubers you would like to trade/share with other gardeners. 

Row cover sale: We’ll be selling row cover at the Seed Fair. The pieces are approximately 7 ft x 20 ft and they are $5 each, CASH ONLY. Please bring exact change if possible. We will have copies of this handout on row cover with instructions at the Fair: http://eagleheightsgardens.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/row_cover_handout.pdf 

  

Lakeshore Nature Preserve: Both Eagle Heights and University Houses Gardens are a part of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve. The Gardens consist of the garden plots, common areas, tool areas, weed piles, and mulch piles (and the paths between). Any area outside of that is a protected area. Please never dump weeds in the protected Preserve areas or take anything out of them. The branches and sticks in the Preserve are not available to use in plots. All weeds should go in the weed piles, and only sticks in the blue stick barrels are available for use in gardens. 

 

We observe the Preserve’s hours, which are 4 AM to 10 pm every day. Bikes are permitted on the garden paths, but not on the Nature Preserve paths. Dogs must be on a leash in all parts of the Gardens and Preserve.  

 
Please note that events that are held at the Gardens and within the Lakeshore Nature Preserve must be approved by both the Garden Committee and the Preserve.  

 

Thanks, and happy gardening,   

Lily