Hello Members,
With all the rain, many gardens are full of weeds. Please make sure to get out all the weeds to make room for new planting which has to be complete by May 1.
Upcoming Work Party — Saturday, May 4th: We have a lot of maintenance projects so if you are able to attend and complete at least 2 of your required Community Service hours for next year, you will be ahead of the game. Assignments will be given at the gazebo from 7:15 to 7:30am and the work party concludes at 9:30am.
Please let us know if you will be attending by replying to this email so we can plan accordingly.
Our garden year begins on May 1, 2024 and all plots start fresh with 4 hours required by April 30, 2025 and 2 of those hours are required to be completed by Dec. 31. Don’t procrastinate — come Saturday! As a reminder the garden will be closed Saturday morning to the general membership during the work party and will open at 9:30am.
May 1st summer planting deadline: May 1st is the deadline for summer planting, we will be walking the entire garden for compliance. Remember the 4 foot rule, all Corn, Artichokes, Asparagus and Sunflowers must be planted at least 4 feet in from the border boards.
Broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower: Cole crops have exceeded their time in the gardens as they attract aphids and disease. They are required to be removed from all plots by May 1st.
Manure: Although we had one delivery a month ago between rains, the subsequent rains have again created a problem for the horse stable owner. The rain makes the manure too wet and heavy to transport. We expect some in the next week or so but there are no guarantees. An alternative is to purchase chicken manure at about $5/bag and can be found at the usual nurseries or hardware/supply stores.
Orchard Work Parties: The Orchard work parties are every Tuesday from 5 to 7 and are by appointment only by signing up at the Gazebo. Also, individual appointments are available by contacting Alan Coles at: lbcg.orchard@gmail.com. Your help is greatly appreciated and you will get to learn about our orchard.
Pathways: When mulching pathways, please weed pathways first. DON’T just chip over weeds – you will have a bigger problem in the future and the chip level in the paths will go over the border boards which is not allowed. Weed barriers under the chips can help long term as well but they need to be dug down 4 inches or you will create a tripping hazard – cardboard will do this regardless so avoid using it. The best is a cloth that you can purchase called weed barrier or weed blocker fabric.
Fertilizer: The choice of fertilizer you use can have a long-lasting impact on your plants. It can take many years to reduce excessive levels of metals like zinc and aluminum. Very high amounts of potassium, an important nutrient, can make it difficult for plants to uptake other nutrients. That is why it is important to only add the nutrients you really need according to soil tests performed by Wallace Labs: compost/manure, gypsum and some nitrogen (blood meal, feather meal, fish emulsion or calcium nitrate are recommended). Avoid compound fertilizers with multiple ingredients such as Miracle Gro. Special “vegetable” or “tomato” fertilizers are marketing ploys to get you to buy something you don’t need. See our full recommendations at: https://lbcg.org/amending-your-garden/. Questions? Lbcg.orchard@gmail.com.
Garden Reviews: All plots will be reviewed throughout the month. Reminders and correction notices will be emailed if needed, by the President of the board. Please check your spam folder for my email gregmarcotte56@gmail.com. Please be sure your plot is in compliance and dig out all weeds in the plot and pathways and be sure that there is no overgrowth of plants outside of your plot borders.
Picnic and BBQ: Save the Date – Saturday July 20th, 2024. More details are coming up.
Bee Class: The next Bee class will be held on May 4th at 9:45am, right after the work party. Please email me at gregmarcotte56@gmail.com, if you are interested. The first 20 people to contact me will be able to attend. If you do not attend when scheduled, you will go to the bottom of the list for a future class. There is a great deal of interest in the bee project.
Thank You for the Food Bank Contributions: The amount of produce contributed to the Long Beach Mission was amazing this year. Those of you who contributed your 10% and more should feel very good about this at a time when so many are struggling.
Happy Gardening!
Greg Marcotte