Wagon Hill Farm Community Garden growing greater good

If you are watering, PLEASE remember to turn off both the spray nozzle AND the faucet.  We are using well water and need to conserve as much as possible. Every drip counts!!

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when trying to decide what to put on the compost piles:

• Avoid adding any plants that seem diseased.  Bring a trash bag and bag those plants, take the bag home and dispose in your own trash.
• Try not to add plants or vegetables with seeds that will sprout next spring.  These can be thrown into the fields.  For example, all my tomato plants and damaged tomatoes went into the field, as did my marigold plants.  I know that some of you have already put tomato plants and tomatoes into the compost but it’s a good idea not to continue to do that.  Squash are also notorious for sprouting “volunteers”.  I find I am always sympathetic to these volunteers in the spring time (after all they have weathered the hard winter along with me) but generally regret letting them grow later in the season.
• Chop up vines, stems, large leaves, in order to speed up decomposition.  A sharp shovel blade or edger works well for this.

Here are a couple of examples of how the raised beds should be “finished” off for the season:

• Cold weather crops can be left in the beds until November, but the rest of the bed should be cleaned out.
•  People who have in ground plots should also cover the soil with mulch to protect it.
•  This is a good time to top off your beds and add manure since it will have time to “mellow” by spring.  I bring the bedding from my chicken coop and add it at this time.  Also you will want to cover your beds with leaves and/or straw.(Straw is available for your use at the garden).  Some gardeners have found it helpful to lay stakes or tack string across their beds to keep the straw from blowing off.

carefully transplanting

Yesterday I posted a warning about planting tomatoes and other heat loving vegetables too early and suggested that planting after Memorial Day would be safe  Then I looked at the calendar and realized that Memorial Day is about a week early this year. Better to give you specific guidelines about the necessary conditions for success.  After checking my own opinion against the information available I have these instructions to share:

Plant when the nighttime temperatures will not drop lower than 55 degrees.  There are some who say they can get by as long as the temperatures don’t dip below the high 40s, and that may be true for some cold tolerant varieties, but to be safe stick with 55 degrees.  Wagon Hill is windy and on the cool side anyway.

Harden off. If your tomatoes have been living in a warm, controlled environment like a greenhouse, cold frame, or living room, they need a little time to get used to the wilder climate outside. Give them a few days to adjust to the swinging temperatures, harsh sunlight and strong wind by bringing them outside for a few hours, then increasing to half a day, a full day, and finally a day and night.

Choose a cloudy day, or the cool of evening. To alleviate seedlings from shock, transplant on a cloudy day, or if it’s not in the forecast, plan toward the end of the day, when air and soil temperatures cool and the sun is won’t scorch the young plants.

In the case of tomatoes, plant them deeply.  Tomatoes can develop roots all along the stem so planting them nice and deep builds a stronger root system that will provide more support for the crop.

Tickle the soil around the roots to loosen them from the root ball and to help them absorb the water you will be sure to give them.   Water well and often as the plants establish themselves.

And, just for perspective:  Imagine transplanting rice!  Hope this helps!

Dear Gardeners,  Last season we encouraged gardeners to plant flowers, for pollination and beauty’s sake.  Now, a study done in San Francisco’s community gardens and urban setting has shown that flower density has a significant impact on tomato yield.  I’m sure we can extrapolate to other vegetables.

Even more surprising, neither the size of the garden nor the amount of green space in the surrounding area impacted the amount of pollinator service a plant received. Instead, the key factor was the “floral resource density,” or the abundance of flowers present within the garden in which the tomato plant was located. The more densely flowers were grown within each garden, the higher the yield of tomatoes.

Here is the link to the entire article. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/sfsu-upg021215.php

Let’s continue to include flowers in our garden plans!  See you tomorrow afternoon.  Ellen

A message from Michael Michaud, CGFA’s Composting Expert…

Composting is a process that is natural and works with or without any help from us. However, with just a small amount of assistance in the form of management and  a little hard work we are able to better utilize the benefits of this process more quickly and more frequently  than nature  usually provides.

We’re an organic garden.  Most commercial fertilizers should NOT be used in an organic garden; however, there are some organic fertilizers with the seal OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) that can be used.

Natural materials to use as a soil additive fall into two basic groups. One is animal, (brown manure), and two is plant (green manure) both are acceptable for use at the Wagon Hill Garden. Our compost program is exclusively plant material.  This is why we ask that NO meat, poultry, or fish products or by-products (cooked or raw) be added to the compost piles.  NO DOG or CAT feces are allowed due to possible parasite infestation…

The garden rules ask that you DO NOT put diseased plants or weeds into the compost pile. This is an attempt to prevent any unnecessary spread of plant diseases and/ or weeds to other garden spaces.  Your cooperation is much appreciated.

Our composting program uses a three step process:

STEP 1 GREEN (raw waste): We start with green waste from the garden (tomato plants, leaves, and other plants) basically anything that grows in a garden. Chop it, shred it, tear it up, or throw it into the compost pile whole. This gets us started on step one. Next we add a small amount of dirt and water repeating this in layers until we have used up all of the green waste that we have. Next cover the pile with hay or straw to insulate.  (The compost pile needs heat to work.) Turn to aerate the pile about once a week then cover again with hay or straw.

STEP 2 BROWN (mulch): The green pile has been turned once or twice for aeration and now has been moved to the brown pile, more dirt and water is added, we can also add wood chips for additional fiber, then cover with hay or straw to insulate. During this stage of composting, IF we have done things correctly, we should be seeing various bugs and especially worms – the more, the better. DO NOT KILL THEM. They really help the process and the bugs usually disappear at or before step 3.

STEP 3 BLACK GOLD (COMPOST): This is what we have been looking for, our black-gold, a rich soil additive that you can take to your garden. Add 1 or 2 inches to the garden then work it into the soil about 1 OR 2 inches deep. However, it is not necessary for you to work the compost in since you can just put it on the topsoil and plant your seeds or transplants in the compost (your choice). Everything will eventually sink into the topsoil when it rains or you water the garden. The same is true with any other amendments indicated by your soils’ PH test. Having done this, you have given your garden its best chance for a clean healthy growth.  Compost and the necessary amendments provide your garden a full assortment of nutrients essential for healthy and strong plants.  These products should always be OMRI APPROVED, look for the OMRI seal on the package. We appreciate any help you can give and please enjoy your gardening experience.

For more information about composting check out this Composting and Cover Cropping article from the UNH Cooperative Extension.

http://www.arthritissupplies.com/search.asp?keyword=garden+tools&sortby=0&page=1&catid=

Gardeners,  My physical therapist sent me this link for a company, The Wright Stuff, that offers ergonomically designed gardening tools.  These have handles that are kinder to wrists and shoulders.  They also offer tools with extended handles that would be helpful in reaching across and cultivating the raised beds.  Hope you find this helpful.  Ellen

Gardens don’t wait on whim, or even on convenience. It’s a lesson new gardeners have to learn and experienced ones are reminded of every season. Gardens have to be tended And–their tending does not always conform to our schedules. Think of a garden a bit like a pet. It is a living, growing, changing organism. Just as you reconcile yourself to your pet’s needs for attention and care you must also be aware of your garden. If you are too busy to walk your dog or are planning a vacation, you find someone to care for your pet . You should do the same for your garden. That is one of the great benefits of belonging to a Community Garden. There are lots of people available and willing to pitch in. Get to know the gardeners around you and don’t forget you can contact me, the garden steward at any time for help.

Dear Gardeners, It’s been a slow, cool spring, which I do prefer to “sudden summer”. We get to enjoy the bulb flowers and bright green leaves and grass. Cool temperatures have delayed planting in the gardens at Wagon Hill for many gardeners. However, they have not delayed the growth of weeds! I was in the garden yesterday and noticed many beds full of rapidly growing, robust weeds.

Even if you do not intend to plant in your beds immediately, please come out and take a look at your plot and remove the weeds. The grasses are already starting to go to seed and that is just what’s happening above the ground. Below, roots are finding their way into the beds of your neighbors.

The moist soil does make it easier to pull up the weeds so it should not take long.
Once the weeds are removed, check the soil depth in your bed to be sure it is at least 1″ below the top of the bed rail. Add more soil, if necessary. This will help to prevent the field grass from growing up through the bottom. Especially important if you have one of the older raised beds.

Remember to dispose of weeds in the open compose pile not in the bins. Do not leave them in the paths. Oh—some of the paths need weeding as well.
Garden Steward