Hello Gardeners,
Workday opportunity: There will be a workday this Friday, 7/18 at Eagle Heights Gardens from 9 am –12 pm. The group will meet at the EH garden shed at 9 am. Six volunteers are needed. The workday will be for weeding fruit plantings and digging out stumps. Volunteers should wear long sleeves and bring gloves. Please email me if you’re interested and I will assign the spots in the order I receive replies.
Possible drone flight Friday: The research drone flight over the Biocore Prairie has been rescheduled for this Friday if weather allows.
Garlic harvesting: If you have not already harvested your garlic, this is a good time to do that. Most garlic varieties are ready by now. If garlic is left too long in the ground the cloves can separate from the bulbs, and they will not store well. If the ground is very wet, which it has been with all the rain, the bulbs can rot.
Freezing beans: Green bean plants can be very productive, and you may find you’re harvesting more than you can eat. In this case, green beans can be frozen for later use. For the best result and to preserve quality and flavor, blanch them before freezing. This is a useful guide to freezing vegetables from PennState Extension: https://extension.psu.edu/freezing-vegetables
Jumping worms: The term jumping worm refers to a number of species of earthworms in the genus Amynthas. These worms are invasive here and rapidly break down organic material. This makes the soil crumbly, and some plants can have difficulty growing in these conditions. In particular, they are a problem for native plants and forests. See this DNR article for more information: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Invasives/fact/jumpingWorm
Several years ago, jumping worms were discovered in our leaf mulch piles. At this point, they have spread throughout most of the gardens. Even if you have not seen any in your plot, it’s best not to transplant any plants out of the gardens to avoid introducing them elsewhere.
If you find them, treating the soil with heat by covering it with plastic is most effective. If you find a portion of your garden is badly infested, this may be a good method to try. You can also put any you find in a plastic bag and throw them away.
Although jumping worms are a problem, don’t let them discourage you from gardening! Fortunately we have not had many reports from gardeners about issues at this point. There is research being done, and hopefully we will learn of more solutions soon. For now, the most important thing to do is to try to avoid spreading them out of the gardens.
Thanks, and happy gardening,
Lily
Maintenance request form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScyjHBH_xBH229AVwmqTE-2L3znGrLwn3TNJfw2ri9T01MMfA/viewform
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