Sunshine Weekly Weeder Newsletter
14 March 2014
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org
Sunday, March 23, 2014 4pm - Tea Time!
A talk on Native/Beneficial Ants vs Fire Ant Management. Bring and open mind and your questions about ants! We will have tea, scones, tea-sandwiches and sweets. There will be a short lecture, followed by extensive Q & A.
In an effort to better educate Sunshine Gardeners about "beneficial" ants vs fire ants, we will be welcoming Elizabeth "Wizzie" Brown of Travis County Extension. Ms. Brown has an MS from Texas A&M University, 1999 in Entomology and serves as Program Specialist - IPM in the Austin metroplex encompassing Travis County and surrounding counties.
Volunteers needed, calling all tea makers, bakers -- and video takers!!
We need some high-tea savvy (and/or regular joes!) to help set the tea for our "Natives vs Fire Ant" talk with Wizzie Brown which will take place at 4pm on Sunday afternoon 3/23/2014. We will have both members of SCG, their invited guests, plus some guests attending from the Austin Garden Coalition. This is part of the SCG community education program.
Volunteer jobs:
- spiffing up the trailer and grounds early Sunday afternoon.
- HOME BAKERS (scones and cookies) or TEA-SANDWICH makers - regular and gluten free.
- A videographer with video camera, tripod and skill. Talk planned to be out of doors so good sound capture in outdoor setting is essential. Video editing skills are a bonus but not required.
Items Needed:
- Tea pots and fancy trays...hardy and/or non-breakable silverlike preferred...no precious family heirlooms please!
- An electric tea kettle or two.
Welcome Nicole Fisher - TSBVI
A warm Sunshine welcome to Nicole Fisher, Rehab Teacher and Job Coach for TSBVI. She replaced Mike Mobley as the TSBVI coordinator for SGC. Nicole hit the ground running in her new role last October and she has exciting plans for the TSVBI garden and greenhouse!
Nicole is in her third year with TSBVI. She came from working with adults with disabilities, so her new role involving the garden is within the same department, Career Education. The program works with high school students that are getting work experience as well as students that are aged 18 and over who have finished with high school credits. The focus of the 18+ students is learning work skills and independent living skills; some students are taking classes at Austin Community College.
This Spring Nicole and the TSVBI students will be getting ready for the next school year. The first step was building the accessible raised beds, which were completed on February 15th. Hooray! She has plans to create a sensory garden where different textures, scents, tastes, and colors can be explored. This will include a xeric/succulent bed and a butterfly bed. Other beds will still be vegetables. The students also work with animals so one bed will be dedicated to producing food for the animals. It's going to be an awesome and diverse program and the Sunshine Community is glad to be a part of it. Welcome Nicole!
Site Rules and Bylaws
The Site Rules and Bylaws Committee has has been meeting and discussing how to update the rules and bylaws for several months, and now it's time for the rest of us to give our input. The Committee has revised the Site Rules and amended the Bylaws and the Board has approved them. The newly approved Site Rules went into effect immediately per our existing Bylaws and the membership will have the opportunity to affirm them or repeal them at our annual meeting on May 31. Meanwhile, we will be holding a special meeting for the purpose of voting on the amendments to the Bylaws on April 12 at 10 AM. It is very important that we have a quorum at both meetings. Please put them on your calendar to attend. We have scheduled the special meeting in April so that the amendments may be in effect in time for our elections in May. Among other changes, the amended Bylaws change which positions are up for election each year to better facilitate continuity on the Board. The Site Rules and Bylaws committee agreed that this change should go into effect in time for our upcoming elections if approved by the membership.
You may have questions or comments about the revisions to the Site Rules and amendments to the Bylaws. If so, please feel to contact any of the committee members by email or attend one of our Q&A meetings. You can find these documents and supporting information on our website.
We will vote on the amendments to the Bylaws on April 12 at 10 AM. We will vote on the revised Site Rules at our annual meeting on May 31 at 10 AM.
Q&A meetings for the Bylaws are scheduled for 2 PM on Sunday, April 6, and 6:30 PM on Monday, April 7. We will schedule additional meeting times for the Site Rules after April 12.
The Site Rules and Bylaws Committee is composed of:
- Mary Gifford (chair), mgifford@austin.rr.com,
- Janet Adams, jartdaht@gmail.com,
- Cheryl Hazeltine, cph@austin.rr.com,
- Kay McMurry, scg.plots@gmail.com, and
- Philip Wiley, philip9wiley@gmail.com.
Update on Sunshine Community Gardens Forums
A new feature has been added to the forums. "Media" gallery - You can upload and share your pictures and videos with other gardeners once you're logged in. Please share your videos and pictures of the Plant Sale this last Saturday.
If you have problems, contact Sharon at scgardenweb@gmail.com.
Thanks!
Winter is Sticking Around
For those who bought starts (Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplants, Tomatillos) at our plant sale do not put them in the ground yet. Weather in Austin during spring is notoriously fickle. The average last frost date is mid-March, however, the latest freeze of record was on April 9th, 1914. What this means is that until the risk of a hard frost is over keep your plants in pots that you can put inside should a frost threaten. A light freeze can often be averted by covering the plants to keep them above 32. Once the summer plants have been frozen they will not come back.
Cold tolerance depends somewhat on preconditioning. For instance, if broccoli has been growing in warm conditions and temperatures drop below 22 degrees F., it will probably be killed. If these same broccoli plants had already experienced cool weather, they would probably survive the sudden cold.
A frost (31-33 degrees F.) will kill beans, cantaloupe, corn, cucumber, eggplant, okra, peas, peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, tomatoes and watermelon.
Hello seed lovers!
If you are interested in the Sustainable Food Center's (SFC) Seed Bank Leadership Team, we would like to invite you to a meeting. This is a new area we are exploring and we would value your input as we begin this new initiative. I (Ellen Orabone) would love to have a meeting sometime this month in order to begin to form a vision of the seed bank and bounce ideas around to how to go forward with this wonderful project. Please fill out this doodle survey for your availability: http://doodle.com/3fgkppabry47vrah
Also, if you know of someone else who may be interested in being a part of this leadership group, feel free to forward the info and doodle survey. The more the merrier!
Thanks so much!
Ellen,
Sustainable Food Center, 2921 E. 17th Street, Building C, Austin, TX 78702
512-220-1139 (voice)
512-236-0098 (fax)
ellen@sustainablefoodcenter.org
www.sustainablefoodcenter.org
Vegetables to plant in March
Early to mid-month: Beets, Collards, Turnips, Kohlrabi.
All month: Lettuce, Radish, Mustard
Officer and Zone Coordinator Contacts - Sunshine Garden
Officers
- President - Ila Falvey ila.falvey@gmail.com
- Vice-President - Janet Adams jartdaht@gmail.com
- Secretary (acting) - Janet Adams jartdaht@gmail.com
- Treasurer - Jack Reynolds scgtreasurer1@gmail.com
- Director - Michael Hall fibercable@austin.rr.com
- Director - Kay McMurry scg.plots@gmail.com
Zone Coordinators
- Zone 1, Jody Trendler jody.trendler@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 jingli.80@yahoo.com
- Zone 8, Irina Kaducova irina@austinshrooms.com
- Zone 9, Cheryl Hazeltine cph@austin.rr.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
- Carpentry & Repairs - Robert Jarry r.jarry@sbcglobal.net
- Water Leak Repairs - Stewart Nichols sgwater@math.austin.tx.us
- Tools & Wheelbarrows - Bob Easter beaster1@austin.rr.com
- Website Coordinator - Sharon Rempert scgardenweb@gmail.com
Record Service Hours Online - the Virtual Green Binder
