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| Blogging from the garden! |
It’s another beautiful day in the garden. Right now, the
breeze is bringing both scents of garden blooms, as well as the
sounds of a ukulele player who is currently serenading the plants (and me). While
I plan on gardening today, first I’m going to post about a few things discussed
in the most recent garden meeting, as well as items I’ve collected from recent group emails.
Tag sale
Don’t forget the Summit
Street Garden Tag & Bake Sale is on Saturday, June 13, from 10 am–3 pm.
Shawna has sent out an invitation to sign up for shifts and for baked goods and
food. Shifts are 9–11 am, 11 am –1 pm, 1–3 pm and 3–4 pm (breakdown), with three
to four people per shift.
Remember to sign up
for garden hours
There are still plenty of spots open for June, and the
garden is looking gorgeous right now.
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| This could be your view when you sign up for hours. |
Grilling season
The grill is now repaired, with new grates and a new
ignition system, thanks to Shawn.
No food scraps in the
compost, please
Sondra recently sent out a friendly reminder not to put
kitchen scraps in the compost. It makes for smelly compost that attracts flies, so it's best if the compost contributions are limited only to garden cuttings.
If you’d like to compost food items, the Carroll Gardens
Greenmarket on Carroll Street, between Court and Smith streets, accepts
food compost from 8 am–1 pm on Sundays. Compost can also be dropped in the
rotating box (not the compost box) in the Backyard Garden, but if you’re not
sure where to drop it off, please check with a member there.
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| Thinking about putting kitchen scraps here? Don't do it! This compost is for garden cuttings only. |
Moonflower by the arbor
Be careful not to pull up the moonflower planted by the
grapevine near the arbor. Claire has sent a helpful photo to let us know what
it looks like, and says, “This is a photo of a young moonflower plant, an
annual with amazing white trumpet flowers later in the season. It's in the
morning glory family and its flowers have a similar shape, but it doesn't drop
seeds for next year.”
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| This is a photo of a young moonflower, courtesy of Claire. |
Birch tree
Some concern has been expressed about the health of river
birch at the back of the garden—specifically a menacing dead branch. Claire has
spoken with a community gardener who is helping another local garden with some
tree trimming, and she’ll keep us posted on the birch tree status.
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| River birch |
Herbs in the garden
Lily sent out an email to the garden about her herb
gardening throughout the communal areas. “Probably most people are aware
that one of my biggest gardening interests is the propagation,
growth, harvesting, sharing, and eating of herbs of all sorts,” she
writes. “To this end, I have begun populating some of the common areas
(Mediterranean Mound, patio planters) with tasty edibles for everyone to share.”
Expect a map to come shortly. Lily also says that she plans
to incorporate more herbs and edible flowers both into the section she has
adopted (the shady patio by the pines), and other sections of the garden. She
also thanks Stephanie and Claire for the contributions of some herbs—including
spearmint, basil and sage—into the garden this season. She also would like to
hear from fellow gardeners as to what we would like to see be available for communal
harvest this summer. So far, she’s suggested more basil, cilantro and rosemary, but she’s open to suggestions and help with the herbs project.
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| Edibles |
Blog
Thank you to Lindsey, who set up a Tumblr account. I’m
afraid I’m the one holding things up now, as I haven’t had the time to sit down
and take a look at uploading yet. I hope to have a new site launched by the end
of the summer! In the meantime, you can find news and updates here.
Carpenter bees
The carpenter bee activity by the shed seems to have eased
up a bit for now. In the last meeting, putting wood elsewhere for them to bore
was suggested, though everyone seems to have pointed to a direction where they
usually aren’t gardening (but someone else is.) So we’ll see how things go with the bees.
They’re good pollinators and rarely sting, but they can be a little
intimidating.
OK, that’s enough typing for me—time to get my hands dirty!
Happy gardening!
—Josie
