175 Pounds...and Gaining!

Hello Gardeners!

You might have noticed we have a new shed and a bridge! We are working on a deck and an overhang with a produce scale for the bridge, and we'll plan a painting party soon to make it super cute. (Because every garden should have a super cute shed.) Also, we have donated over 175 pounds of produce to the Keller Storehouse! They are so grateful for our donations and they send their thanks to all of you for contributing to their clients' needs.

Here is some important information for the days ahead:

1. Gather in the Garden. On Saturday, July 7th at 10:00 a.m. we will have a Master Gardener come visit our garden and share with us information about watering, fertilizing, and bugs. I hope you'll join us for this informative event! You may also invite friends or neighbors who are gardeners to join us and benefit from this valuable session.

2. Garden Stewardship. Many of us are travelling at various times this summer, and we must care for our gardens even in our absences. If you know you will be out of town, please contact me or other gardeners on this loop to keep up the maintenance on your garden, including watering and harvesting. Unattended gardens waste potential produce that could be going to the storehouse and they also attract bugs and birds. We can trade favors throughout the summer and keep our gardens looking beautiful.

3. Harvesting Permission on Wednesdays--Please Reply. Our garden donates produce to the storehouse on Wednesday mornings. I visit our gardens and harvest from my own bed and the community garden that morning. If you would like to give me permission to harvest ripe produce in your garden that morning, please reply to this email. I will only take what looks like is Super Ready to go so the produce won't go to waste and the storehouse can benefit from each of our gardens.

Many thanks for all you do!

Cheers,

Britta

Citrus Oil Spray Recipe

Hi Gardeners!

Last Saturday we met and talked about bug prevention in our garden. Author J. Howard Garrett has a great recipe for citrus oil that's easy to make and is Earth-kind for our gardens. His recipe, which can be found in his book, Texas Organic Vegetable Gardening, is as follows:

Citrus Oil Spray
Fill a container 1/2 full with any citrus peelings or pulp. Orange is best. Fill the remainder of the container with water. Let it sit in a cool place for a week or so. Strain. Use one cup of homemade concentrate per gallon of spray. Note: Commercial orange oil is more powerful than homemade orange oil. It is a powerful solvent and can burn plants. We recommend using it at a rate of less than 2 ounces per gallon of water as a spray and always mix with molasses and compost tea.

This natural spray works on all kinds of bugs and doesn't hurt plants at all. You'll need to reapply after a rain, of course, but it's so easy and cheap to make it's worth the effort. We keep our orange peels in a little container in the refrigerator (see photo--shown without lid) and then transfer the oil and the water into a spray bottle that you can find at Lowe's or Home Depot.

Hope you find this recipe useful. I highly recommend Garrett's books, and you can order them online or try to score a copy at Half Price Books.


Cheers,
Britta