Dear Gardeners,
Have you all been enjoying delicious, home-grown tomatoes from your plot? I am so proud of this enormous tomato I picked yesterday at my home garden. The variety is Trip-L-Crop. I purchased the plant at Meinke Garden Center in Niles. I grew the plant in my raised bed. This season, I added composted manure, leaf mulch, and Dr. Earth Veggie Soil. I also fertilized with Dr. Earth granule fertilizer every 3 weeks. The plant has many large tomatoes on it, but none are as large as this 2 lb. beauty. I do not own a scale so I took it to Fresh Farms and weighed it. I have not tasted it yet but I can’t wait to make a BLT! Send me an e-mail to let me know your favorite tomato variety this season.
*DO YOU WANT TO SAVE MONEY ON SEEDS?- Join me for this cool class! Seed Saving in Your Garden- Learn how to save seeds from the flowers, herbs, and vegetables in your garden. Seed saving is very rewarding and can save you money too. This class covers the basics of harvesting, cleaning, and storing your seeds for optimum germination and production in your garden the following year. Sign up at www.glenviewparks.org
Class is 9/10/2019 from 6:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. $15 residents/$18 nonresidents
*IRRIGATION-The irrigation system is set to run on Saturday, August 17 at 3:45 a.m. It will run for 45 min. and put down ½ in. of water.
*CHECK OUT OUR BLOG- The Community Garden blog is up to date! Don't forget to check it out to find past newsletters and see gardening tips!
http://wfcg.blogspot.com
http://wfcg.blogspot.com
*TIPS ON GROWING CORN from our own farmer, Blake Lanphier- Several gardeners are growing corn this season so I asked our head farmer, Blake Lanphier, for some corn growing tips.
“First of all, the tassels on the corn plants have the pollen that fall on the silks to pollenate the ears for kernel growth. You do not need to take off the tassels of your corn at any point. Farmers de-tassel corn in fields where they are trying to grow a hybridized plant. Corn, like sunflowers, is a heavy nitrogen feeder. You may want to add a nitrogen fertilizer or compost during the growing season. If you notice the leaves on your plants curling, then you need to water them more. Harvest sweet corn 2 weeks after silking occurs or when the silks start to turn brown. If you are growing Deny corn or popcorn, wait until the husks on the ears of corn are brown or hanging before harvesting. After harvesting popcorn, pull back the husks and dry for a week or two.
When you harvest sweet corn, make sure to cool it down ASAP! Get your corn into the refrigerator. The longer the corn sits picked at room temp, the less sweet it becomes. Refrigeration slows down the polymerization of the sugar molecules keeping it sweeter longer. When you are finished growing your corn, please place the stalks in the compost bins.”
Thank you, Blake, for these great suggestions! If you have any other questions about growing corn, feel free to send them to me and I will find out the answers from Blake.
*GARDEN HELPERS for HIRE- Below are a list of garden helpers for hire if you need a teenager to water and/or weed your garden while you are on vacation. You arrange everything with them and decide on what you will pay them per hour.
*RAW MILK FUNGICIDE- This week and every Saturday at 10:00 a.m., I will be providing a solution of raw milk (from our very own cows) and water to help prevent powdery mildew on your plants. Raw milk fungicide is available in the garden on the wooden storage boxes. Bring your own spray bottle. Note- this does not deter insect pests.
Happy Gardening!
Alyssa
