Hello Members!
August 3 Work Party: The work party is this Saturday, August 3 from 7:30 – 9:30 AM and the garden will be closed until 9:30 AM for the general membership. Now is a great time to get some hours completed. 4 hours are required by April 30, in order to renew your membership and 2 of the hours are due by December 30. As we saw last year, many members ended up having to pay for hours because they left it to the last minute. We will check everyone in at the gazebo and provide instructions. We have a number of assignments that are important to maintain the infrastructure of the garden – please do your part.
Please let us know if you will be attending by replying to this email so we can plan accordingly.
Orchard Work Parties: The Orchard work parties are usually 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
Picnic: For those of you who missed the picnic, it was a great success!! For those who attended, it was great networking, tomato and salsa tasting, wonderful food, and more. The winning tomato was Brad’s Atomic Grape, 2nd-Golden Sweet-small, 3rd-Green Zebra-small. You might consider these great tasting tomatoes next year when you plant. There were a total of 12 entries, thanks to everyone who donated tomatoes for the tasting. The salsa tasting winner was: 1st-Nancy Bernstein, 2nd-Sarah Walkowicz, and 3rd- Gary Wall. We had 3 entries this year.
Speed limit: Remember, the speed limit in the entire garden is 5 mph, there’s new signage throughout the garden. PLEASE SLOW DOWN , even if you don’t see anyone.
End of Summer / Beginning of Winter Season: By the end August , gardens will be coming to the end of their Summer Seasonal production. If plants are failing, we strongly recommend removal — even if these areas are vacant for a month. It is better to remove old rotted crops than to leave them to increase the spread of disease. In September, consider removing all crops and starting to prepare for winter planting.
We hope everyone had a productive summer season. Thanks to everyone who donated your 10% to the Food Bank as it was and continues to be greatly needed.
For Winter: you should be thinking of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces, etc. Look at the Planting Calendar for So California on the lbcg.org website.
Weed and Feed: Do not add any products labeled as “weed and feed” to your garden. These products contain herbicides such as 2, 4-D, mecoprop-p and/or dicomba. They are designed for use on lawns and are used to kill broadleaf plants like dandelions. However, in your garden they will affect many vegetables such as lettuce, tomatoes and cause stunting or death. They can remain active for months or years after application. Also, these products are not very effective against the weeds you typically find in your garden.
Sewer project: The sewer project will be starting on July 31st Wednesday. They will be working in the South-East corner. The wheelbarrows and the trash can will be moved. Please don’t put anything up against the fence from the herb garden to the manure wall. Needs to be kept clear and at all times until finished.
Garden Reviews: All plots will be reviewed the first week of every month with a 2nd review mid month. 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. You will be given 10 days to correct issues. Please be considerate to new row monitors, they’re beginning an old program. They’re still learning members and issues. Please remember weeding is part of gardening. If you think a mistake was issued, please contact me at gregmarcotte56@gmail.com
Current Plot Issues:
- Plants growing into pathways
- Weedy plots and pathways
Board Meeting: Next Board meeting is held on August 5, 2024 by Zoom from 6:30 – 7:30pm. Garden members who are interested should contact the President at gregmarcotte56@gmail.com to receive an invitation to the meeting.
Happy Gardening,
Greg Marcotte