Sunshine Weekly Weeder Newsletter
8 February 2018
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org
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Purple Martins are Back!
Did you know Sunshine Gardens hosts one of Austin's largest Purple Martin nesting colonies? With this winter's addition of a 3rd nesting gourdcomplex, Sunshine now provides over 80 nesting houses on site. The first Martins of 2018 (2 adults) were recently spotted overhead by Denise Dailey.
Purple Martins (Progne subis) are members of the swallow family. PUMA's, the abbreviation used by orthinologists, arrive each spring in February and March after a long-distance migration from their wintering grounds in the tropics. After pairing up and nesting (martins are monogamous), the female will lay a clutch of 3-6 eggs, and the pair will raise 1 to 2 broods. Chicks fledge as early as May. Then the adults and young begin to prepare for the long flight back south. Flying overhead at Sunshine, Martins delight us with their distinctive chirps and burbles.
We are lucky to have several volunteers who monitor and maintain our Martin houses. You may see Denise, Sharon, Wendy, Courtney, Estelle or Mark lowering the houses for cleaning or taking egg and/young bird counts. This data goes into the national Purple Martin Society research database. And please thank the individual Martin house owners for their work in providing houses on their plots! By Dana Kuyendall.
Upcoming Events
- February 10 from 10-5 and Sunday, Feb 11 from 10-4: 47th Annual Heart O' Texas Orchid Society "Spring Fling" at the Zilker Botanical Garden Center, 2220 Barton Springs Road.
- Tuesday, February 13: Join in on the Pancake Day fun at Snooze (3800 North Lamar) while raising money for the upkeep and installation of the rainwater collection system for the Micah-6 garden. Snooze is donating 100% of ALL pancake profits to the garden.
Volunteers Wanted!
We have been toiling away at transplanting all of the herbs for the spring sale, but still need help writing thousands of labels for the pots. If you would like to help, please contact Jennifer Woertz at jwoertz@lata.com. She'll coordinate getting you tags and a list of plant names. Please use a pencil to fill out any of the tags, as it doesn't fade in the sun or wash off during watering. Please return the finished labels to the SCG greenhouse by February 18.
Plant Sale: Sign Up to Help & Spread the News
The Plant Sale runs on volunteers! Pick a shift, pick a job, show up ready to help us earn the money we need to keep Sunshine going on SignUp Genius. Remember, volunteers for the plant sale get to shop early, on Friday evening. Please mention the upcoming Plant Sale on Facebook...Twitter...Instagram...all your social media. And pick up some posters and postcards from the trailer to take to your favorite restaurants/coffee shops and nurseries for them to post. You can also download a version.
Weeder Content
Should you have any content to add to the Weeder, email your article or suggestion to Kristin Phillips. On normal weeks content should be received by end of day Wednesday.
Officer and Zone Coordinator Contacts - Sunshine Gardens
Officers
- President - Nick Sweeney nick.sweeney@hotmail.com
- Vice President - Marilyn Landberg marilynlandberg@utexas.edu
- Secretary - Polly Porter pporter_scg@austin.rr.com
- Treasurer - Caroline Limaye scgtreasurer1@gmail.com
- Director - Bill Cason wccason@gmail.com
- Director - Lori Dobbin loridobbin@gmail.com
- Director - Randy Thompson jartdaht@gmail.com
Email the board.
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, Maria and Philip Wiley m.stroeva@gmail.com, philip9wiley@gmail.com
- Zone 8, Shannon Posern sposern@hotmail.com
- Zone 9, Kerry Howell casonhowell@gmail.com
- Zone 10, Christopher Schroder
christopher.s.schroder@gmail.com &
Karl Arcuri karl.w.arcuri@gmail.com
Other Personnel
- Weekly Weeder Newsletter - Kristin Phillips phillips.102@gmail.com
- Plant Sale - Randy Thompson & Janet Adams jartdaht@gmailcom
- TSBVI Liaison & Volunteer Coordinator - Janet Adams jartdaht@gmailcom
- Plot Assignment - Kay McMurry scg.plots@gmail.com
- Compost Coordinator - Janet Adams jartdaht@gmail.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
- Kitchen Supplies - Anita Keese
anodekraft1@msn.com
(If supplies are needed for events, contact by email or at 512-773-2178) - Compost Tea - Jennifer Woertz jen@enjeneer.com
- Micah 6 - Dana Kuykendall kuykendall@austin.rr.com
- Micah 6 - Mary Gifford mgifford@austin.rr.com
- Website Coordinator - Sharon Rempert scgardenweb@gmail.com
- Spanish language contact - Andriana Prioleau gabp8dec65@hotmail.com
Record Service Hours Online - Green Binder
