Wagner Farm Community Garden: March 2013

Saturday, March 30, 2013

A beautiful day

It was a beautiful day outside today, and I'm betting most of you were thinking about gardening. I know I was.

Here's the thing: the soil is still a bit wet. This is definitely good -- we had a drought last season that lasted well into this spring, so it's nice to feel like the soil actually has moisture in it this year.

But this is also not so good, at least for those of us who want to get digging. Digging in wet soil ruins the tilth of the soil. Tilth is the condition of soil with relation to growing plants.

Good soil needs air as well as moisture, and tilling and digging can compact or reduce the amount of air in the soil. Soil ideally shouldn't be worked until it's sufficiently dry to crumble when squeezed. And I'm not just talking about the top several inches: topsoil is considered the top 6 inches, and when we till at Wagner Farm, we go a bit deeper than that. Subsoil can be drier or wetter than the topsoil. Right now our area's subsoil is apparently a bit on the dry side, according to our own state climatologist's blog.

So what does this mean? This means I don't have an answer to folks asking for a definitive start date for planting in the community garden! I'll let you know as soon as I know!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Starting seeds...

...it's not for everyone. It takes discipline and patience and great light and space.

If you want to go for it, OrganicGardening has a handy chart for keeping track of when and what, as well as other good information on the topic.

I've got a friend with a greenhouse who starts the majority of veg that my non-profit plants in neighborhood gardens, but I'll be starting some other fun things soon, like prickly caterpillar, marsh mallow, flats of marigolds and sweet alyssum, and more onions. (You can never have too many onions, according to my family.)

Prickly caterpillar, an edible legume

Marsh Mallow, the basis for marshmallows

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Pinterest for the garden-addicted

When it's not gardening season, I'm either recovering with my feet up or checking out my favorite gardening blogs and websites to find ideas for next year. If I find something good, I pin it to Pinterest.

If you haven't visited Pinterest yet, it's a site that allows people to "pin" pictures from webpages on personal idea boards, and if you or anyone else clicks on the picture, the original webpage opens. It's a great way to visually save ideas and links, on virtually any topic.

Last year I started a Pinterest board for the community garden, and I've been adding pins to it ever since. If you're interested in checking out some how-to's and find some new ideas for 2013, head on over to Community Garden at Wagner Farm's Pinterest board.

Help on the way

There were lots of questions at the first meeting on Thursday, and one of them reminded me of a section to add to the blog: Help! As in, helpful online sites. Scroll down a bit and look on the right side of the blog, and there you'll find "Great Help," a list of websites I think offer great gardening information.

If you've got a great go-to online site for gardening techniques, let me know and I'll add it to the list.

Friday, March 15, 2013

First meeting

It was almost standing-room only last night at Wagner Farm as the first of this year's community gardeners gathered to hear about the program from the Garden Coordinator (that would be me). I saw a lot of familiar faces from last year, and was happy to meet the new ones.

The second meeting will take place on Saturday, March 16 at 9am for people who were not able to attend Thursday's meeting.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Welcome to the 2013 Community Gardeners

Congratulations to the Glenview residents selected by lottery to receive garden plots for the 2013 season!

Word must've spread about our community garden program -- we had to go to lottery to determine which of the 130 potential gardeners would get one of the 107 available plots.

Keep an eye on this blog for Wagner Farm Community Garden information, Q&A, events, and tips & techniques. Looking forward to gardening with you!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

It's almost time!

Snow is covering the community garden, and the bulletin board is empty, but not for long. Next week, this year's community gardeners will join us at Wagner Farm for a series of organizational meetings. There's a lot to learn about this year's program -- and a lot to look forward to.

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What's This?

FieldWatch is a nonprofit organization that is intended to help pesticide applicators and specialty crop growers communicate more effectively. The site registers certified organic gardens and their beehives. This information is provided to crop dusting (pesticide) applicators to let them know the location of organic gardens. They use this information to plan their routes accordingly. Our sign alerts them to keep pesticides away! The Wagner Farm Community Garden and our Wagner beehives are registered as organic sites through FieldWatch.

Q&A

Q: Are cocoa shells allowed as mulch in the community garden?

A: YES! Cocoa shell mulch (also called cocoa bean mulch) is great for gardens. These shells have a sweet smell and look very neat in your garden bed. When cocoa beans are roasted, their shells separate. Roasting the beans sterilizes the shells. Therefore, the shells are weed free and organic. If you are interested in using them in your plot, ask for them at your favorite garden center.

Negatives-When cocoa mulch gets too wet and does not have time to dry between waterings or rainfalls, it can attract pests. Also, in hot, humid weather, the cocoa shells can develop a harmless mold. You can use a mixture of 25% water and 75% vinegar as a spray to get rid of the mold.

*CAUTION- Do not use cocoa bean mulch at home if you have dogs. This sweet mulch can be toxic to dogs if eaten.

Biggest Gardening Mistakes:

Biggest Gardening Mistakes:

1. Planting too soon-The weather forecast shows nighttime temperatures below 50º through next weekend. You are taking a risk if you plant your warm weather crops such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, basil, zucchini, etc.

2. Not hardening off your plants-Plants that have been grown in your house or in a greenhouse need to be “hardened off”. This means they need to gradually get use to the outdoor temperature, sun, and wind before being planted outside. Ask if your plants have been hardened off at your favorite garden store. Check online to see how to harden off your plants.

3. Improper Spacing-Your seedlings look so small and cute right now, but they will be huge! Read plant tags and seed packages for recommendations on plant spacing. Proper spacing will ensure better air circulation which leads to healthier plants and better production. Planting things too close together will make your plants more susceptible to disease. It will also make it difficult to harvest your veggies.

4. Not staking plants-It is important to stake your plants. This will promote proper air circulation and will help prevent disease. Staking is especially important because we have overhead sprinklers.

5. Not weeding-Weeds compete with your veggies for valuable nutrients and space. Some weeds even send out growth inhibitors that stunt the growth of your plants. You will get a weed warning in the Community Garden if you decide not to weed.