From the Registrar: April 10, 2025

Hello Gardeners, 

Plant sales: Kristen from Blue Moon Community Farm would like two volunteers to help with each plant sale. Volunteers need to arrive at 9:30 and stay to close up after, so the total volunteer time will be from 9:30-12:30. 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 limited spots out to gardeners in the order I receive replies. I’ll send a reminder before each sale, along with details about prices and which plants will be available. I will also be selling row cover at the cool weather plant sale. 

 

The sales will be held at Eagle Heights Gardens next to the shed: 

• Cool weather plant sale: Sun 4/27 10 am-12 pm  
• Warm weather plant sale: Sun 5/18 10 am-12 pm 

Row cover: If you’re planting transplants, they might benefit from some row cover. Row cover helps protect again transplant shock and shields new plants from direct sun. Additionally, there are a number of plants that are frost-tolerant, but they might not survive prolonged freezing temperatures, and row cover can give a little protection from this. (A frost is possible with a temperature under 36° F. A freeze can happen under 32° F, and a hard freeze 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. https://www.eagleheightsgardens.org/tips/garden_manual_v_1.12.pdf 

 

Facebook page: We have a private Facebook group for the Gardens: https://www.facebook.com/groups/eagleheightsgardens 

All gardeners are welcome to join the group. This can be a good way for gardeners to connect with each other. Some announcements are put there, but all regular communication will continue to be via email. Please continue to use the Registrar’s email to contact me: ehgardens@rso.wisc.edu 

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   

From the Registrar: April 4, 2025

Hello Gardeners,  

Seed Fair: Join us for the annual Seed Fair at the Community Center tomorrow from 9am-11am! Each garden plot can get 12 free packets of seeds (plus extra flower seeds). You do not need to sign up to come to the Seed Fair. We will also have pieces of row cover for sale ($5/ea. cash only) and gardening advice available.  

 

If you drive to the Fair, 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 or at Frautschi Point and walk over to the center. There is a map on this page: https://www.housing.wisc.edu/apartments/resident/community-center/    

 

Upcoming plant sales: Blue Moon Community Farm will return to the Gardens this year for plant sales. The sales will be held at Eagle Heights Gardens next to the shed. I will share more details about the sales next week. There will be two sales:  

 

Cool weather plant sale: Sun 4/27 10 am-12 pm  

Warm weather plant sale: Sun 5/18 10 am-12 pm  

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 are: Lettuce, Spinach, Peas, Carrots, Chard, and Kale. See this chart for planting information: https://eagleheightsgardens.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/vegetable_planting_guide.pdf  

This comes from the gardening manual on our website, which is a great resource: https://www.eagleheightsgardens.org/tips/garden_manual_v_1.12.pdf 

Gardening economically: People garden for many reasons. All reasons are good! Some gardeners may be interested in reducing food costs. Can a garden help with this? Possibly, depending on what you grow, and how you do it. Many new gardeners ask what supplies they should buy for their garden plots. While there are many things that can be bought for a garden, it's not required to have a successful and productive garden. We have communal tools and carts, and free seeds and mulch. Time and labor must be considered too, so the more efficient the garden, the better. Mulching your garden well is one way to help with this. It will reduce the amount of time spent weeding. As the planting season goes on, I’ll continue to send information about what and how gardeners might choose to plant. 

Thanks, and happy gardening,   

Lily   

From the Registrar: April 1, 2025

Hello Gardeners, 

Important date reminders:  

• Opening day in the gardens will be this Saturday, April 5th.  
• The Seed Fair will be held at the Community Center this Saturday April 5th from 9 am to 11 am.
   

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    

 

Plot markers and corner posts: Please don’t move your numbered plot marker or the corner posts of your plot. The numbered markers are not just 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 permanently mark plot borders.   

 

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 plots). Please check your borders at the beginning of the season. It is much easier to move things early in the year, before plants begin to grow. Remember also that plants can grow larger than anticipated, so they should not be planted too close to the borders. 

Water: The water at both gardens is usually turned on in late April, when we can be certain there’s no chance of the pipes freezing. Some of the water pipes entering the gardens are above ground, and the rest are only buried very shallowly. I will send out a notice when we have requested that the plumbers turn it on. If you need water for early planting, bringing jugs of water to your plot is helpful. 

 

Thanks, and happy gardening,   

Lily   

From the Registrar: March 17, 2025

 Hello Gardeners,  

 

Welcome to the Gardens for the 2025 growing season! This year we will have both Opening day and the Seed Fair on the same day:  

Opening day in the Gardens: Saturday April 5th  

Seed Fair: Saturday April 5th from 9 am to 11 am at the Community Center  

Opening day: 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 Eagle Heights Gardens on the south side of the street. Garden parking will also be available in the small lot by University Houses Gardens.   

*Orientations for new gardeners will begin on opening day. I will send out a schedule soon with dates and times.  

Seed Fair: Please join us for the annual seed fair at the Community Center on Saturday April 5th from 9 AM to 11 AM. Each plot will be entitled to some free packets of seeds. We receive the seeds as generous donations from seed companies each year. This year we have also purchased some bulk seeds that have been repackaged for the Fair. This is a fun community event and a great way to get your garden started. I hope to see you all there!  

If you are interested in volunteering to help at the Seed Fair, please let me know. The volunteering time will be from 8:15 AM to Noon and it counts as a workday. I will assign available volunteer spots in the order I receive replies.   

Some branches of the Madison Public Library are also handing out free seeds if you’re interested. Details can be found here: https://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/collections/dane-county-seed-library  

Where to put waste in the Gardens: Many gardeners will find that they need to clean up their plot before they begin planting this spring. Please make a note of where different waste should go in the Gardens so we can keep things running well:  

WEEDS/PLANT MATTER: Go in the weed piles. Only plant matter can be dumped in these piles. Dirt must be removed from roots. If there is dirt, trash, or sticks in the weed piles they cannot be moved to a composting site. Sorting the piles is time consuming, and paying for removal can be costly.  

TRASH: Goes in the trash dumpsters. If weeds and plants are put in the dumpsters, we may receive a fine.  

STICKS: Go in the stick barrels/piles. These piles are for gardeners to take sticks as plant supports. Please do not take sticks out of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve surrounding the Gardens.  

  

Planting Season: Most years, on opening day it is still too early to do much in the gardens. This year may be an exception, but keep in mind that it could still snow again before spring is here. Even if it is warm in general, there will still be a danger of frost into May that could kill many plants. If you are new to gardening, or if you want a reminder about different planting dates, this is good resource. Mid-April is typically when a lot of cool-weather plants go in:  

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 wet from the snow thawing. This will compact the soil, which is not good for plants. Marking your paths early in the season to avoid walking in the planting areas can help keep your soil healthy.   

If you are interested in more information about preparing your garden, please start on page 38 of the garden manual: https://www.eagleheightsgardens.org/tips/garden_manual_v_1.12.pdf  

  

Thanks, and happy gardening,    

Lily