Sunshine Weekly Weeder Newsletter
28 January 2016
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org
Garden Visitor
An older gentleman who is not a gardener has been picking wild plants from people's plots. If anyone sees him, they should ask him to respect people's plots and stay on the pathways. He drives a black Chevy Sonic, license plate DPD-3510.
Common Paths
We have received several complaints about gardens spilling out of their boundaries into the common paths. To help fix this, we will be marking the common paths and asking gardeners whose gardens are blocking the paths to rein in their plots when planting in the spring. If you have any questions, contact Jim Willman or Jeff Monks.
Special Project Workday Sunday January 31st
There will be a special project workday Sunday 1/31 beginning at 1:30 pm to clean the north greenhouse and clear empty plots. Time spent cleaning the greenhouse will count as TSBVI hours.
What to do in your garden in February
Sow Seeds
Vegetables: Beets, Carrots, Endive, Kale, Kohlrabi, Lettuce, Mustard Greens, Parsnip, Peas, Radish, Rutabaga, Spinach, Turnips. Start Tomatoes and Peppers indoors.
Herbs: Chives, Cilantro, Dill, Echinacea, Parsley.
Flowers: Coreopsis, Cosmos, Nasturtium, Sweet Peas.
Plant
Vegetables: Artichokes, Asparagus, Asian Greens, Broccoli, Cabbage, Chard, Collards, Lettuce, Mustard Greens, Onion Sets, Seed Potatoes, Shallot Bulbs, Spinach.
Fruit: Blackberries, Dewberries, Grapes, Figs, Pears, Persimmon, Pomegranate, Strawberries.
Herbs: Calendula, Chives, Cilantro, Dill, Echinacea, Fennel, Feverfew, Lavender, Pansies, Parsley, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage, Savory, Sorrel, Thyme.
Annuals: African Daisy, Alyssum, Balloon Flower, Delphinium, Dianthus, Dusty Miller, English Daisy, Larkspur, Lobelia, Nemesia, Petunias, Poppies, Snapdragons, Stock.
Perennials: Black Foot Daisy, Four Nerve Daisy, Hymenoxys, Ruellia, Salvia greggii, Skeleton Leaf Golden Eye, Turk's Cap, Yarrow, Zexmenia.
Feed and Cultivate
Early in the month, work in compost and organic fertilizer to vegetable and flower beds so you'll be ready when the planting fever hits. In our gardens, we alternate between Revitalizer, Turkey and Farm Style composts. We also add Garden Pep Cotton Seed Meal, and a mineral source such as Glittering Greensand or Minerals Plus.
Tomato Garden News
With the beginning of the New Year many of you are probably contemplating what tomato varieties should you buy at the Sunshine Community Garden spring plant sale Saturday, March 5th.
The Tomato Garden plot, located near the entrance, was established to evaluate the production of tomato varieties grown in Central Texas. Each spring since 2011, eight tomato varieties have been grown in the tomato garden. Spring of 2016 will be the sixth year of evaluating tomatoes. The evaluations are designed to determine the yield or production of each variety. Tomatoes from the garden are donated to Micah 6 or other food pantries. Since 2011 over 6,500 tomatoes from the tomato garden have been donated. Of the 37 varieties evaluated to date, Early Girl, Stupice, and Viva Italia have been the most prolific producers producing an average of 107, 131, and 164 tomatoes per plant, respectively.
For spring 2015, six plants of eight varieties were planted. Plants were planted on March 14th. Overall a total of 1,947 tomatoes were harvested. Below are the varieties grown and the average number of tomatoes harvested per plant.
- Heinz 1350 - average of 40 tomatoes per plant
- Italian Gold - average of 42 per plant
- Jersey Boy - average of 26 per plant
- Jubilee - average of 25 per plant
- Pink Berkeley Tie Dye - average of 23 per plant
- Santa Clara Canner - average of 12 per plant
- Spot Yellow - average of 35 per plant
- Stupice - average of 131 per plant
Heinz 1350 and Santa Clara Canner are varieties developed by the food processing industry. Jersey Boy is a hybrid of Rutgers and Bradywine producing red globe tomatoes. Spot Yellow and Pink Berkeley Tie Dye are bi-colored varieties from Wild Boar Farms in California. Italian Gold is a paste tomato ripening to a yellow/orange color. Jubilee produces golden, round globe tomatoes. This was the second time Pink Berkeley Tie Dye has been evaluated. In 2013 the average yield for Pink Berkeley Tie Dye was 28 tomatoes per plant. This was also the second time Jubilee has been evaluated. In 2013, the average yield for Jubilee was 12 tomatoes per plant. Stupice is a heirloom variety from Czechoslovakia. Stupice is noted as an earlier producer of tomatoes. Fittingly, the six Stupice plants produced 200 tomatoes, by May 20th, less than ten weeks after planting. These 200 tomatoes were 25% of the eventual yield for the plants. None of the other seven varieties produced over 10% of their eventual yields by this date (May 20th).
Micah 6 Update
Sunshine Gardens contributes to the Micah 6 food Pantry which helps the homeless and impoverished in the University of Texas campus area. In 2015 we contributed 2268 pounds of fresh, organic vegetables. In the first 2 weeks of January we contributed 71 pounds.
Gardeners may contribute vegetables from their gardens by placing them, clean as possible, in the cool room or the refrigerator. Deliveries are being made once a week at present on Saturday morning. Vegetables need to be ready to deliver by early Friday evening. Plastic bags and ties are available in the cool room.
Mother Earth News Fair
On February 20th & 21st Mother Earth News will be hosting a Fair in Belton Texas. The fair will have fun-filled, hands-on, Sustainable lifestyle events. Find more information on their web site - http://www.motherearthnewsfair.com/.
Officer and Zone Coordinator Contacts - Sunshine Garden
Officers
- President - Jeff Monks garden@jeffmonks.com
- Vice President - Jim Willmann jhwillmann@gmail.com
- Secretary - Shannon Posern shannonposern@gmail.com
- Treasurer - Caroline Limaye scgtreasurer1@gmail.com
- Director - Michael Hall fibercable@austin.rr.com
- Director - Kay McMurry scg.plots@gmail.com
- Director - Katy Davis katydavis@austin.rr.com
Zone Coordinators
- Zone 1, Martin Morales marmoral512@gmail.com
- Zone 2, Katy Davis katydavis@austin.rr.com
- Zone 3, Ludmila Voskov lvoskov@austin.rr.com
- Zone 4, Ila Falvey ila.falvey@gmail.com
- Zone 5, Mary Gifford mgifford@austin.rr.com
- Zone 6, Charlotte Jernigan charlotte@cybermesa.com
- Zone 7, Jing Li jingli80@yahoo.com
- Zone 8, Irina Kadukova irina@austinshrooms.com
- Zone 9, Kerry Howell casonhowell@gmail.com
- Zone 10, Christopher Schroder christopher.s.schroder@gmail.com
Other Coordinators
- Weekly Weeder Newsletter - Margaret Powis purslane2013@gmail.com
- Plant Sale - Michael Hall fibercable@austin.rr.com
- TSBVI Liason & Volunteer Coordinator - Janet Adams jartdaht@gmailcom
- Plot Rental - Kay McMurry scg.plots@gmail.com
- Compost Coordinator - Janet Adams jartdaht@gmail.com
- Compost Tea - Jennifer Woertz jennifer.woertz@urs.com
- Education Committee - Shannon Posern shannonposern@gmail.com
- Carpentry & Repairs - Robert Jarry r.jarry@sbcglobal.net
- Water Leak Repairs - Steve Schulz sschulz784@aol.com
- Tools & Wheelbarrows - Bob Easter beaster1@austin.rr.com
- Compost Tea - Jennifer Woertz jennifer.woertz@urs.com
- Website Coordinator - Sharon Rempert scgardenweb@gmail.com
Record Service Hours Online - the Virtual Green Binder
