From the Gardens Registrar:  Water in the Gardens!; Sunday Events at Eagle Heights; What to Plant Now; Cancellation Policy

Hello Gardeners,

WATER! – Water is now on at Eagle Heights! And it will be on shortly at University Houses.

Lots of things going on at Eagle Heights this Sunday:

WORKDAY AT EAGLE HEIGHTS  – This Sunday, April 28, we will hold a workday at Eagle Heights, from 10am – 1pm. The task will be organizing the garden shed to prepare for electrical installation, followed by loading and delivering compost to plots. (see Compost and Row Cover, below.) Here’s the link to sign up for the workday: https://doodle.com/poll/hn2qu6cg5y9axc74  

COOL WEATHER PLANT SALE – Our cool weather plant sale will be held on Sunday, April 28, from 11am – 1pm, near the Eagle Heights shed. Plants that Scott Williams will sell will include: broccoli, red and green cabbage, Brussels sprouts, napa cabbage, lettuce, sage, marjoram, kale (several varieties), collards, parsley – both curly and flat leaf, and bok choi. He hopes to also be able to bring plants from his fields, including rhubarb, chives, thyme, alpine strawberries, violas, and pansies.

By the way, we need two volunteers to help Scott on Sunday morning, starting at 9am or 9:30, and going until Noon or 12:30. This constitutes a workday. Please let me know if you’re interested.

COMPOST AND ROW COVER – Along with the plant sale, we will also be selling excellent compost from the UW West Ag Station. The price will be $5 for a 2/3 cartload, delivered to your Eagle Heights plot. (We’ll try to make arrangements soon to get compost to UH gardeners.) Also, row cover will be on sale, at $5 per piece. Payment should be in cash, and exact change would be appreciated. (If you prefer to write a check, make it payable to Division of University Housing.)

WHAT TO PLANT (AND NOT PLANT) NOW – We will still have some cold nights and possible frost for a few more weeks. This is a good time to plant lettuce, radishes, carrots, beets, kohlrabi, peas, cabbage and their relatives), kale, chard, and other greens. It is too early to plant beans; beans not only are sensitive to frost, but they also need warm soil to germinate and grow. It is waaaay too early to plant tomatoes outside. Wait until mid-May for beans, tomatoes, summer and winter squash, cucumbers, and melons. Peppers and eggplants like really warm temperatures, so those shouldn’t be planted outside until late May or even early June.

CANCELLATION POLICY – Around this time of year, I often get emails from people who have taken a garden plot, and have just found out they won’t be in Madison this summer. If this has happened to you, please let me know as soon as you find this out. I will get you a refund, and assign your plot to someone else. The last couple of years, we’ve made May 1 the deadline for refund requests, but since it’s been a late spring, I am going to relax the deadline a little. But absolutely no refunds after May 31.

If you have a friend who wants to take your garden, let me know that too. We don’t have a waiting list yet, so I’m happy to transfer your plot to someone you know. I will have your friend fill out an application, and then I’ll assign them the plot. But please do not arrange this without involving me.

Happy Gardening,

Kathryn

From the Gardens Registrar:  How to Throw Things Out; Workday This Saturday; Cool Weather Plant Sale; Fences

Hello Gardeners,

HOW TO THROW THINGS OUT – If you’re throwing something out at our gardens, you have to think about what it is you’re getting rid of, because it doesn’t all go in the same place.

If you’re throwing out vegetation, such as weeds, old plant material, and old vegetables – that all needs to go into the weed pile, as far in the middle as you can pitch it. But if you’re throwing out old row cover, broken tomato cages, plant containers, broken hoses, etc. – that stuff all goes into the dumpster. This is really important – if there’s vegetation in the dumpster, the people who pick up our trash can refuse to take it. If there’s trash in the weed pile, the people who pick up that material and compost it may also refuse to take it. Either way, we have to pay somebody to haul it away. So please think before you throw, and get it right.

If you are digging up old plants with big roots, you can actually leave the roots in the soil, where they will rot and feed your new plants. This is less work for you, and will make for less dirt in the weed piles, which is also important. Lastly, if you’re throwing out plant containers that are in good shape, leave them on or near the share shelves – someone else will be happy to reuse them.

WORKDAY – Last weekend’s workday was a rousing failure. Not a single person signed up. The current forecast for this Saturday is sunny and warm. This work needs to be done, so please sign up and get your workday obligation done for the season (before it’s 95 degrees in the shade, and wall-to-wall mosquitoes.) The location again will be University Houses Gardens, at the end of Haight Road, past Bernie’s Place Childcare Center. Again, the main task will be setting up the hoses and hose reels. There will also be some work to get junk out of the weed pile. If the soil is dry enough, there will also be work on the retaining wall for the end of the B path.  SATURDAY, APR. 20TH, 9 AM — NOON. MEET AT THE UNIVERSITY HOUSES GARDEN SHED. Here’s the link to sign up: HTTPS://DOODLE.COM/POLL/2Q9Y6Y79YNV9SG7P

COOL WEATHER PLANT SALE – Our cool weather plant sale will be held on Sunday, April 28, from 11am – 1pm, near the Eagle Heights shed. Plants will be sold by Scott Williams, who owns a business called “Garden to Be”, and has sold garden plants to Eagle Heights for many years. These are the plants he has growing in his greenhouses for us: broccoli, red and green cabbage, Brussels sprouts, napa cabbage, lettuce, sage, marjoram, kale (several varieties), collards, parsley – both curly and flat leaf, and bok choi. He hopes to also be able to bring plants from his fields, including rhubarb, chives, thyme, alpine strawberries, violas, and pansies. Scott always has good quality plants, he gives us special prices, and he’s very knowledgeable about what he sells. So give him your business if you’re looking to buy plants.

GOOD FENCES DO NOT ALWAYS MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS - At our last Garden Committee meeting, we discussed the fact that there are more fences in our gardens than ever before. We also talked about how many voles and rabbits we had last year – more than any long-term gardeners had ever seen in our gardens. Obviously, there is a connection here.

Unfortunately, long-term gardeners also agreed that fences don’t work. Animals can climb, jump, and dig, and most fences don’t really keep them out. We understand peoples’ desperation. But there are three reasons we don’t really like fences – one is that they are too often put up in the wrong places. Be very sure if you put up a fence that it is not right on your border with any of your neighbors. It must be at least six inches inside your plot – and a full one foot would be even better. Secondly, fences are often allowed to fall apart and to lean into neighboring plots. Lastly, fences often collect weeds. So be sure, if you do put up a fence, to set it up in the right place, keep it in good shape and weed it often.

Happy Gardening,

Kathryn

From the Gardens Registrar: Check Your Plot Assignment!; When Will the Water Be On?; Workday at University Houses Gardens Saturday April 13; Seeds vs. Plants

Hello Gardeners,

PLOT ASSIGNMENTS – The plot assignments have finally been posted on our website. I apologize for the delay. Here’s the link:                              http://eagleheightsgardens.org/gardeners/2019-plot-assignments/  If you’re a new gardener, please check the assignment listing, and make very sure you are gardening in the correct plot. So far, there have been at least two gardeners who have started working in the wrong plots. We may have given out a few wrong plot numbers at the Seed Fair – if we did, it’s our fault, and not yours. But please check, and email me if you have any questions. Also, if you took tomato cages from Plot 208, please return them immediately – these were not abandoned.

WHEN WILL THE WATER BE ON? – I don’t know. Next question? On Monday, the temperature was in the 70s. Today, it is snowing. In other words, it is April in Wisconsin. We will not turn the water on until it is warm enough that we can be sure the pipes will not freeze and burst. This is completely weather dependent. It will be at least another two weeks – maybe longer. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out.

WORKDAY AT UNIVERSITY HOUSES GARDENS – We will have our first workday of the season this Saturday, April 13, from 9am to Noon, at University Houses Gardens. The tasks will be installing the hose reels for the water system, and also working on a retaining wall for the end of the B row. If you have a plot at the end of the B row, you may have noticed piles of cinderblocks on your plot. We plan to use these blocks to improve the path. The sooner we get a good number of workday volunteers to work on this project, the sooner we can get these blocks installed and out of gardeners’ way.  I especially urge UH gardeners to volunteer for this project, because you’ll be able to see the results every time you’re in the garden. Dress warm, bring gloves, and don’t forget to put your name and plot number on the sign-in sheet. Here’s the link to sign up: https://doodle.com/poll/4b3qahz2tqwyzfv3   (University Houses Gardens is at the end of Haight Road – if you can find Bernie’s Place Childcare Center, at 39 University Houses, the gardens are next to that.)

SEEDS VS PLANTS – If you’re a new gardener, you may be wondering which vegetables to start from seed, and which to buy plants for. Basically, if you’ve got more time than money, seeds are always much cheaper than plants. (If you don’t have either time or money, join the crowd.) But if you plant seeds, it will take some time for them to grow, and things can easily go wrong. If you plant plants, you’ll spend much more money, but you’ll get faster and probably more reliable results.

Some vegetables (and fruits) are always started from plants. Strawberry seeds exist (we don’t have any), but they’re hard to find. Most people start with strawberry plants, which you can get at garden stores. Potatoes are always planted from pieces of potatoes – not from seeds. Rhubarb and berries are always started from plants. Asparagus and rosemary are more often grown from plants than from seed. Onions can be started from seed, if you start them inside in February – otherwise you can buy plants or “sets”, which are tiny onions that will grow quickly into green onions or bulb onions.

By the way, if you’re not finding seeds for all of the vegetables you want to plant, there are many reputable seed companies you can order from on-line, including the companies that donate seeds to us: Renee’s Garden, Seed Savers, Seedway, Berlin, E & R, and Baker Creek. Garden stores and some hardware stores have seeds, too. For Asian vegetables, some of the Asian groceries on Park Street sell seeds for those, and you can also try Kitizawa, a California company that specializes in Asian vegetables. https://www.kitazawaseed.com/

Happy Gardening (or Snowman-Making),

Kathryn

From the Gardens Registrar: What To Do With Your Seeds; Know Your Boundaries; How This Place Works

Hello Gardeners,           

SEEDS – Thank you to the more than two hundred gardeners who came to our Seed Fair on Saturday. I hope you enjoyed yourself, and got at least most of the seeds you were hoping for.

If you’re a new gardener, and you’re ready to move beyond enjoying the pretty pictures on the seed packets, you may be saying to yourself: “Now what am I supposed to do?”

Well, to begin with, sort your seeds into three piles. The first pile is “seeds to start right away, in the house.” This includes tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. To plant these seeds, you will have best results if you buy some seed-starting soil mixture – this is lighter than normal soil, and your seedlings will grow better in it. (You can buy this at hardware stores and garden centers.) If you don’t have regular plant pots, you can use plastic food containers. Put some holes in the bottom for drainage. Get the soil thoroughly wet, then put a few seeds on top, and sprinkle a little more soil over the seeds. Place the pot in a warm, sunny window sill, and keep it moist (but not soggy.) Once the seedlings come up, be sure to give them as much light as you can.

Starting seeds in the house can be tricky. Here’s a link to a website with more detailed instructions: https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/how-to-start-seeds/5062.html

The second category is seeds that get planted directly in the soil in your plot. This includes peas, lettuce, radishes, kale, Swiss chard, cabbage, broccoli, spinach, and root crops such as beets and carrots. If your garden is still wet, you should continue to wait to plant. But you can certainly try planting some lettuce and radishes until the soil is ready for more serious work.

The third category is seeds to sow outside later, once the ground has warmed up, and there’s no longer a chance of frost. This includes beans, cucumbers, melons, and summer and winter squash.

If you didn’t get a chance to pick up Robin Mittenthal’s one-page planting guide at the Seed Fair, here’s a link with much more detail than I’m providing:

http://eagleheightsgardens.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/vegetable_planting_guide.pdf

KNOW YOUR BOUNDARIES – If you’re a new gardener, here’s the first thing to do with your plot:  figure out your boundaries. Each plot has a metal sign in front of it with the plot number. (If it’s a small plot, there is a metal piece under the number with A and B on it at Eagle Heights, or N and S on it at University Houses.) There should also be two yellow posts at the front of the plot – these mark the corners. Your plot extends from one yellow marker to the other. BUT every gardener must allow six inches on each side of the plot, including the back, for access. Since your neighbor also must allow six inches, this means there is one foot of empty space between each plot. This space is necessary for you and your neighbors to be able to work, push carts, and connect hoses to water. You are not allowed to plant anything in this space, and you should not have big plants next to it that will grow into it or hang over it. If you put up a fence or trellis, it CANNOT be placed on the boundary – it must be at least six inches into your plot – 12 inches would be better.

HOW THIS PLACE WORKS – I’m the Registrar for the gardens. I’m a very part-time employee, who assigns garden plots, answers questions, and mediates disputes. I also send out a message once a week with miscellaneous and occasionally bizarre information. We also have several part-time garden workers. But the staff doesn’t run the Gardens – the gardeners do. We have a garden committee that meets once a month (the second Wednesday of the month) to discuss issues, problems, and projects. 

 Any gardener can attend these meetings. We also have an email discussion group – any gardener can be on the discussion list – just email me and ask me to add you. So please get involved!

Happy Gardening,

Kathryn

From the Gardens Registrar: PARKING INFORMATION – IMPORTANT; More Fun With Sweet Potatoes; Lakeshore Nature Preserve; New Orientation Day Added; Bring In Your Plant Pots; Ask Our Garden Experts; Gardening Manual

Hello Gardeners,

PARKING – Parking for the Eagle Heights Gardens is along Eagle Heights Drive. We do not allow parking or driving in the gardens. If you have tools and equipment to bring to the garden, please park along EH Drive, go get a garden cart, and bring it to your car to unload your stuff. The entrance to the gardens is at a dangerous intersection at the top of the hill, where visibility is poor – if you drop things off by the gate, you will have to back out on to Lake Mendota Drive, where there is the real possibility that you will be hit by another vehicle, or will run into a pedestrian or bicyclist. Yes, getting a cart takes longer, but it is much safer.

SWEET POTATOES IN CONTAINERS – Two UW students have been awarded a grant for their project on building community through sweet potatoes. They will be experimenting with container-growing methods for sweet potatoes on the land used by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) next to our community garden at Eagle Heights, and are reaching out to some community organizations as part of the project. They will attend our Seed Fair and demonstrate their designs. They will also be able to provide some 5-gallon buckets and other materials for growing sweet potatoes in containers. Look for them at the same table as the Sweet Potato Project – that’s the project that provides free sweet potato slips to gardeners who will donate half of their crop to food pantries.

LAKESHORE NATURE PRESERVE – The Eagle Heights Gardens are situated in the Lakeshore Nature Preserve, a 300-acre natural area along the south shore of Lake Mendota. Because we are part of the preserve, we require our gardeners to follow their rules. Please note that collecting or picking of plants or branches is not allowed in the Preserve. We do our best to furnish sticks for our gardeners to use for climbing plants. Please do not forage in the woods that border our gardens.

The Friends of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve will also have a table at our Seed Fair. They will be handing out informational brochures with maps, and will also have some fun activities for adults and children.

GARDEN ORIENTATIONS – We have added another garden orientation to our schedule for this weekend. We don’t require it, but we do strongly recommend that all new gardeners attend an orientation to learn some of the basics about our gardens.  This is the schedule (all orientations will start at the garden shed):

Saturday, March 30         Eagle Heights                               11:30 a.m.           Orientation in Mandarin

Saturday March 30           Eagle Heights                              12:00 Noon        Orientation in English

Sunday March 31              Eagle Heights                             12:00 Noon        Orientation in English

(NEW!)

Saturday March 30           University Houses Gardens          11:30 a.m.           Orientation in English

Sunday March 31              University Houses Gardens          1:30 p.m.             Orientation in English

Orientations will take 30 – 45 minutes or so, depending on how many people have questions. If you aren’t able to attend one of the scheduled orientations but would still like to get oriented, please let me know, and I may be able to meet you at another time to show you around.

PLANT POTS – Do you have piles of plant pots and trays taking up space in your basement, garage, dining room table, refrigerator, etc? Now’s your chance to get rid of them. Stack them up and bring them to the Seed Fair, to Room 139. We’ll have an exchange. You know they multiply over the winter – declutter, and spark joy in someone else!

GARDEN EXPERTS – And while you’re in Room 139, leaving or taking plant pots, be sure to talk to the two experienced gardeners who have agreed to answer questions for beginning gardeners. This is a great opportunity for guidance.

GARDENING MANUAL – Our website has quite a lot of information on gardening, but the very best resource is a manual written by a former gardener, Robin Mittenthal, which he put together specifically for new gardeners gardening here at Eagle Heights/University Houses. Here is a link: http://www.eagleheightsgardens.org/tips/garden_manual_v_1.12.pdf

It’s 108 pages! But if you only read the first few pages, you’ll already learn some important things. Robin really knew his stuff, so take a look at it.

Happy Gardening and see you at the Seed Fair, (which, as you recall, will be Saturday, March 30, from 9:30 – 11am, at the Eagle Heights Community Center.)

Kathryn

From the Gardens Registrar: Opening Day, Sweet Potatoes, Orientations, Mud, and Seed Fair Reminder

Hello Gardeners,

OPENING DAY – We are going to bring tools and garden carts out of the sheds later this week, and are declaring this Saturday, March 23, as our Opening Day. The parking signs along Eagle Heights Drive have been changed to allow garden parking. Portable toilets will be installed at both gardens next week, on Thursday, March 28.  Please note that most parts of both gardens are a combination of frozen and muddy. (see Time to Start? below)

SWEET POTATO PROJECT – We will have some information on this project, including a sign-up sheet and contact information, at the Seed Fair. The program provides free sweet potato slips to gardeners who will donate half of the crop to food pantries.  “The Dane County Sweet Potato project is an opportunity to grow delicious food and support your neighbors. Sweet potato slips are provided free of charge. We ask that you donate half your harvest to a local food pantry. Thank you to all who have grown sweet potatoes for the project in the past and donated their harvests back to the community to improve food security in Dane County and bring more fresh produce into food pantries. Since 2013, residents have provided over 15,000 pounds of sweet potatoes to food pantries and programs serving those in need.”

GARDEN ORIENTATIONS – We are considering adding another orientation to the schedule - Sunday, March 31 at Noon at Eagle Heights Gardens. Are there any new Eagle Heights gardeners who won’t be able to attend an orientation on Saturday, March 30, after the Seed Fair? If so, would you come to an orientation on Sunday? We won’t schedule it if there isn’t much interest, so let me know soon.

TIME TO START? – No, it’s really not, for most of us. Spring is slowly starting (finally), but much of the ground, including the garden paths, is muddy on top and frozen underneath.  The large amount of snow we got this winter came on top of an unusually wet summer; the lower plots at Eagle Heights, and much of University Houses are waterlogged. Most people should not do any work in their plots until they thaw and dry out. (Note that the gardens up on the hill at Eagle Heights are more likely to be workable at this point.) But if you feel like getting outside and getting started, this is a good time to haul leaves to your plot, and leave them in a handy pile to spread later when the soil warms up. You can haul wood chips for your plot paths, too.  

Digging when your garden is muddy is not good for the soil – it compacts it, which makes it harder for plants to send roots through it. This can cause problems for your plot and plants for the rest of the season. An easy way to find out if your plot is workable is to grab a handful of soil, and squeeze it. If it forms a loose ball that easily breaks apart, it’s ready to be dug and planted. But if you’ve got a mud pie on your hands, you’re better off waiting. I know we’re all anxious to put this endless and intense winter behind us, but please don’t play in the mud.

Happy Gardening (soon) and see you at the Seed Fair, (which, as you recall, will be Saturday, March 30, from 9:30 – 11am, at the Eagle Heights Community Center.)

Kathryn

Hello Gardeners,

Our annual Seed Fair will be held at the Eagle Heights Community Center, on Saturday, March 30, from 9:30am – 11am. This event is for our gardeners only, not for the general public. To get your seeds, you’ll give your name to the volunteers at the check-in table, they’ll look up your plot number, and then they’ll give you 15 tickets. (Note: this is 15 tickets per plot, large or small, but gardeners with two small plots will only get a total of 15 tickets.) Each ticket is good for one packet of seeds. We have lots of seeds this year:

Beans

Beets

Broccoli

Brussels Sprouts

Bunching Onions

Cabbage

Carrots

Cauliflower

Celery

Chard

Chinese Cabbage

Collards

Cucumbers

Eggplants

Assorted Greens – European and Asian

Herbs, including Basil, Dill, and Parsley

Kale

Kohlrabi

Lettuce

Melons, including Watermelons and Cantaloupes

Mustard Greens

Okra

Parsnips

Peas

Peppers – both sweet and hot varieties

Radishes

Rutabagas

Spinach

Squash – Summer, Winter, and Pumpkins

Tomatoes

Turnips

We also have a huge selection of flower seeds this year. Flower seeds are “free”, which means you don’t need tickets for them. You’ll have the opportunity to ask gardening questions of two of our very experienced gardeners, and we will be selling row cover, a type of light fabric that protects your plants from insect pests and light frost. (You’ll have other chances to buy row cover later on, if you don’t want to get it at the Seed Fair.)

If you are not able to come to the Seed Fair, but you still want free seeds, email me, and give me a list of the seeds you want. We may already be out of some things, but I’ll gather what I can for you after the Fair, and I’ll leave the seeds for you to pick up at the Community Center.

SEED FAIR VOLUNTEERS – We already have most of the volunteers we need for the Seed Fair, but we could still use a few more people who are bilingual – English/Mandarin or English/Korean. Volunteers will need to report to the Community Center at 8am on March 30 to set up for the Fair, and should commit to staying as late as Noon to clean up. (We’ll probably be done more like 11:30.) Working at the Seed Fair constitutes a workday. It’s fun, but it’s an extremely busy, tiring morning.

GARDEN ORIENTATIONS – We strongly recommend that all new gardeners attend an orientation to learn some of the basics about our gardens, and have an opportunity to ask questions.  We have the following orientations planned for Seed Fair weekend. All orientations will start at the garden shed:

Saturday, March 30    Eagle Heights                          11:30 a.m.       Orientation in Mandarin

Saturday March 30     Eagle Heights                          12:00 Noon      Orientation in English

Saturday March 30     University Houses Gardens     11:30 a.m.       Orientation in English

Sunday March 31        University Houses Gardens     1:30 p.m.         Orientation in English

Orientations will take 30 – 45 minutes or so, depending on how many people have questions. If you aren’t able to attend one of the scheduled orientations but would still like to get oriented, please let me know, and I may be able to meet you at another time to show you around.

As always, let me know if you have any questions.

Happy Gardening (soon, we hope),

Kathryn