Painting Party This Friday--Earn Volunteer Hours!

Calling all Gardeners and Volunteers,

Alliance Community Garden is hosting a painting party for our new shed this Friday, July 20, at 9:00 a.m. We will weather protect our new shed and make it a beautiful centerpiece for our garden. If you have extra painting equipment (brushes, trays, rollers) please bring it. 

Youth volunteers can earn volunteer hours for honors' clubs and Scouts--see Britta to sign off on your paperwork. (If you're a leader in a youth or scouting organization, please forward this post to your groups.)

The painting party will be in the Alliance Community Garden, 7904 Park Vista Blvd., Fort Worth, Texas 76137.

For any questions and to RSVP, please contact Britta Coleman.

Cheers,

Britta

McDonell's (Not McDonalds)

Hi Gardeners,

Just a quick post with a fabulous new local resource for our EarthKind garden. McDonnell's in Keller has the Cotton Burr organic compost, and they're a super-friendly small business with tons of information and products for our garden. Hooray!. Here's their website: http://www.mbmkeller.com/

We picked up four bags of compost for $26. They also carry earthworms, but the heat had gotten to their batch so the owner (kindly) wouldn't sell us any. We'll check back soon.

Cheers, Britta

Pssst...Secrets from a Master Gardener

Hello Garden Gang,

I have some secrets to share with you! Here’s an update on our last garden gathering, with some extremely useful information from Master Gardener Jackie Peel. Many thanks, Jackie, for sharing your expertise with us.

Watering:

The best tool for gauging watering needs is a “soil moisture meter.” Where can you get one? We all have one—our index finger! Dig into your garden soil about two knuckles down. The soil should feel like a damp sponge. If it doesn’t, it’s time to water. Watering at night is most efficient, but if your schedule only allows for morning watering, go for it. Remember to keep leaves dry to minimize diseases, and shoot your water directly at the root of the plant for best efficiency.

Fertilizing/Mulching:

Jackie recommends Cotton Burr compost (Earth’s Best or Finest). Each bed can take about 2 bags of the 40lb. variety which can be found for about six dollars at Foreman’s feed or McDonnell's Feed. We should each have about 2-3 inches (!) of mulch on our beds to keep bugs away and keep the soil moist. Also, Jackie says NEVER to use weed and feed, at home or in our beds. The chemicals used to kill weeds will also kill plants and trees. She recommends a slow-release all nitrogen variety fertilizer, such as 17-0-0. We can also continue to use our leftover worm castings and molasses to enrich our beds.

Bug Identification:

Did you know that 90% of all bugs in the garden are beneficial? Wow! So, if you see a bug, don’t panic. Most pests are species specific, which is good news for us since our gardens have such a wide variety. For pest control, Jackie recommends shooting water at buggy sites, and if all else fails, use NEEM. It’s an organic pest control that works for just about anything. NEEM can also be found as Green Light Rose Defense. It’s the same product, so we can use it on our gardens.

She also shared the following tips:

•  Make the garden work for YOU and don’t be a slave to your garden.
• A little flaw in produce is okay. We’re too quick to denounce our imperfect looking produce as inedible (or not worthy of donation.)
• Protect extreme heat with physical barriers. Our peppers, which have looked a little sad, need cover from intense heat. She suggests burlap or netting.
• Tomatoes quit production when nighttime temperatures don’t get below 80. If your tomatoes have slowed down, that’s why.
• Other community gardens are good places to steal with your eyes. Visit other gardens and see what’s working!
• Use holidays to help you remember planting dates. New Year’s we can start seeds for spring, St. Patrick’s day is good for spring planting, 4^th of July to start fall seeds at home, Labor Day to plant fall crops. She recommended that we can start seedlings for fall plants at home now. Examples include tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, winter squash, leafy and root vegetables like carrots, turnips, beets. Now’s a good time to start seeds for broccoli, cauliflower, onions, and garlic and herbs. She recommends using short-maturing varieties to maximize production.

She also shared the following resources with us:

Doug Welsh’s Texas Gardening Almanac

Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew

Nrhcommunitygarden.com for bug identification and when to plant what

www.aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu

Tarrant County Master Gardener Helpline 817-884-1944

Many thanks to all who attended our meeting—we had a great time!

Cheers,

Britta

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

No May-Be about it--May's Successes in the Garden!

Hello All,

 Many thanks to those of you who were able to attend the May 16 service in the garden. We had over 50 people singing and worshiping and fellowshipping in the garden! What a blessing from the Lord! 

Here are some important updates and opportunities:

 1. Donations. We have donated over 54 pounds of produce to the Keller Storehouse in the month of May! Please keep your donations coming--the storehouse is beyond happy to receive our fresh produce on behalf of their clients. I take a trip to the storehouse every Wednesday, so you may drop off your donations at the church or at my house.

 2. Education. Katey Rudd has invited us to the Community Garden Committee meeting this Friday at 1:30p at Southside Community Garden, located at Southside Church of Christ (2101 Hemphill Street, FW 76110.) I will attend, and will bring back my notes. Anyone who would like to join me is welcome. Also, Katey sent me this weblink as a valuable source for our garden--check it out and we can talk about how we can implement some of the tools for our garden. http://www.gardeningmatters.org/coordinating-resources

 3. Gather in the Garden. For those of you who are able, let's meet in the garden this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. to share our gardening successes and concerns, and talk about bugs, fertilization, watering, harvesting, and ideas for future growth. I'll also share feedback from the Southside meeting.

 4. Get Excited: The Local Growing Festival is coming soon: June 23rd! Actually, Public Health wants to honor you all as gardeners and will be giving certificates of appreciation to gardens at the event. We have an opportunity to create a small display for a booth to advertise our garden. Please let me know if you plan to attend. There will be some excellent mini-workshops held by Master Gardeners that day as well. I can't attend as I have a conflict, but I'd love for someone from our garden to represent.

 Thanks again for all your hard work in the garden--it's so fun to watch it all grow!

 Cheers, Britta

Ellen's Notes from the Garden

Hello Garden Gang,

Many thanks to all of you who came to our garden gathering last Saturday. We had a great turnout, and Ellen did a wonderful job of reporting her meeting notes from the Bhutanese garden. Colleen shared a resource for seeds: High Mowing Organic Seeds.

Here's a snapshot of the egg seedlings that I brought to the meeting, and how they've grown just since Saturday--aren't these adorable? I told the kids if they're lucky I'll put them in their Easter baskets!

Here are some of Ellen's notes from the meeting, for future reference. Thanks, Ellen!

Garden Meeting 3/29/2012
Neighborhood Needs Community Center – Bhutanese Refugee Garden
Altamesa, Fort Worth, TX 76133

What a great outreach they have to get a diverse group of people together. It's amazing. They also have a” feed the community” outreach and they feed around 150 families. With these families they partner with 5 other churches and also supply groceries, clothing and of course garden goods.

Tour of the Garden and suggestions from others.
1. All the beds we toured are maintained by the Bhutanese. They come in early morning or at dusk to attend their garden. At this time they have 27 families that work the beds and they are all full.
2. All beds had numbers on them and are full. Regardless of how many beds you have it is important to get the as full as you can quickly to attract new people.
3. Last year they out of the Bhutanese Garden they produced 895 pounds.
4. They had a board on the side of the building that charted the bed and weight.
5. They had a great little sitting area under a tree that was wonderful for the older people to rest.

Suggestions from other Gardens in attendance.
1. Garden in Arlington - This last Halloween they had a trick or treat event that attracted people to the church and in the Garden each Family sit up chairs and had candy. They would ask the kids questions. Example: Which garden has beans? The kids would run off and ask questions then come back and they would get their candy. Out of that they had 2 families
2. Suggestion to get help – Craig’s list
3. Fort Worth - When it gets hot create a natural resource to create shade. Example: cut limbs from tree that has a Y shape place into the ground then a cross beam at the top and start with branches, twigs and build from there. They tried a thin cloth at first and the first wind and rain took it away.
4. Call the volunteer center of north Texas. The Arlington Garden was able to connect and they received $20,000 which purchased 2 sheds and a chipper where the community could bring their branches and they mulch and use it in their garden.
5. While working in your Garden esp. on build days or work days have a banner made and place out front. Most of the gardens do this and they have people that walk up and find out what is going on.
6. If you know it’s going to rain or the weather is not good outside before planting use your church's gym and have a seed party inviting the church family to join in. Have sandwiches and fun for the kids. It does not need to be very big just let the kids know they will be playing in dirt.During this event have a pot painting event and have little pots placed in a certain area of you garden so the kids can watch their plants grow.


Actual presentation
1. Buy in Bulk. Seeds can be stored. Decide what you want to grow in the coming year and store being ready for the season. See handout on seed storage.
2. They had plastic containers that stored the seeds. Small and compact. Do not store in a shed or outside. They need to be stored in a climate controlled area such as your house. They do not need to get to hot or cold before you plant.
3. Transplanting information (from Texas Vegetable Gardening Guide – Argrilife Extension Service)
4.Companion plant growing. See handout.
5. Call outs for planning companions:–
·Alliums (onions, garlic, Leeks etc helps with fruit trees and night shade tomatoes, potatoes and peppers. It repels slugs, aphids and other pests.
·Beans help with Beets, Corn & Brassicas. They help with containing bacteria that fix nitrogen, and it helps to fertilize other plants.
·Beets help with Lettuce, Alliums & Brassicas . Beets help with adding minerals to the soil.
·Borage helps with strawberries, Cucumbers and almost anything. Borage repels many pests and attracts honeybees.
·Marigolds help with Squash, Tomatoes & Asparagus. Produces pesticides that deter nematodes & beetles.
·Geranium helps with Tomatoes, Grapes, Aubergines &Roses Geraniums help trap crop and attract the pest away from the other plants.
·I love that if you plant Basil under your tomato plants it makes the tomatoes taste sweeter
6. Handout – Plants Families.
7. Thinning Plants – Thinning is best when the soil is damp. Thinning is harsh because you see plants that you don’t want to destroy however if they are thick after planting they are competing for water, nutrients and sunlight that seedlings need to grow.