Sunshine Weekly Weeder Newsletter
1 April 2015
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org
Saturday, 4 April 2015:
The Funky Chicken Coop Tour will have its headquarters at Sunshine Community Garden this Saturday, 4th April.
There will be no vehicles allowed in the garden during Saturday while the tour is in progress. Parking will be allowed after 5 o'clock. Please check out this fun event.
There will be parking in the surrounding state parking lots. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Volunteer opportunity
11 April, Saturday.
A workday hosted by Katy and Chris from 8:00am - 11:00 am. For more information email: Katy Davis or Christopher Schroder
Sunday, April 19th 2015:
at 5 o'clock there will be a celebratory potluck gathering, in the trailer. Come meet your fellow gardeners. Please bring a dish to share.
Trisha Shirey will be our guest and you will have an opportunity to buy her new book, Vegetable Gardening in the Southwest, and have her autograph it. Please mark your calendars as it will be a enjoyable event and a chance to talk to your fellow gardeners.
Compost
There is compost available in the very last row. It probably should be sifted before use. Any junk in it, please throw in the dumpster. The middle mounds are still hot and should not be harvested yet. There will be an announcement and signs that indicate when each pile is available for your gardens.
April 10-12, 10 am-6pm. 1098 Jain Lane.
FREE Soil Testing for Gardeners
Visit the Soil Kitchen during this year's Fusebox Festival.
As the temperatures in Austin move towards summer heat, home gardeners begin to think about the many varieties of crops they'll want to plant this spring. First, however, they'll need to put some thought into the quality of their garden's soil. Austin's Brownfields Revitalization Office, part of Austin Resource Recovery, is making this process easy by sponsoring free soil testing at the Soil Kitchen. The Kitchen will be open during this year's Fusebox Festival, on April 10-12 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at 1098 Jain Lane in East Austin. Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, Texas A&M's AgriLife Extension Service and the City of Austin will be on hand to test soil for the presence of heavy metals and soil nutrients.
"Soil testing is an important start for preparing garden beds before planting. Understanding what is actually in the soil provides gardeners with the information they need to successfully grow healthy crops for their families," said Christine Whitney, program manager for Brownfields Revitalization Office.
With technical support from the Environmental Protection Agency, gardeners can bring in samples for sophisticated testing in the EPA's mobile lab at no charge. "Historical uses of land, even for residential use, may have left behind heavy metals. The Soil Kitchen provides an opportunity to inform gardeners of what's in their soil and what can be done to improve soil quality and food safety," Whitney said. The testing is confidential. Gardeners simply list their initials, date of soil collection and the closest intersection on their quart size sample bags. A number is assigned to the sample and the gardener can look up the number online, contact the Brownfields Office by phone or drop back by the Soil Kitchen to obtain the results later. A test will generally take about 30 minutes, but the length of time depends on how many samples have already been dropped off.
Gardeners can also watch demonstrations on how to build raised beds and learn about home composting during the festival. Additionally, staff members from the City's Office of Sustainability and Parks and Recreation's Sustainable Urban Agriculture program will be on hand to encourage gardeners and answer any questions they may have about their gardens and plant life.
For more information about the Soil Kitchen and soil sampling, please visit: www.austintexas.gov/soilkitchen.
Directions for Soil Sampling:
- Gather together a garden trowel or spade; a spoon; two zip-top, quart size, plastic bags; a waterproof marker; and a clean shallow pan.
- Label the bag(s) with the following information: your initials, the date you took your sample and the approximate location of your garden plot. PLEASE do not give your exact address. Instead, please list your street and the closest cross street. This is for the protection of your privacy.
- Go to your garden area and sample the soil in five to 10 different spots around the garden bed(s). Sample to a depth of six inches, using your trowel to make a cone shape into the soil and then extract the samples. Place each of the collected samples into the shallow pan.
- When you have completed the sampling work, take your spoon and mix all the soil together in the shallow pan to obtain a more representative sample.
- If the soil is very wet, leave the soil to dry out in the pan overnight. Make sure to remove any rocks, grass or dead plant material that could get in the way.
- If you would like to have your soil sampled for the presence of heavy metals AND for soil nutrients, please use the collected soil to half-fill TWO separate zip-top bags.
- Fill your plastic bag(s) until it is half -full and seal it shut.
- Drop your sample off at the Soil Kitchen. The soil nutrient information may be obtained while you wait. The heavy metals analysis may take a bit longer. We will give you a card that has information on how to obtain your soil results online.
What to do in the Garden in April.
All month plant:
Amaranth, Bean, Corn, Cucumber, Eggplant, Muskmelon, Okra, Peppers, Pumpkin, Southern Pea, Squash, Sweet Potato, Tomatillo, Transplants, Watermelon.
Feed tomatoes and peppers with a liquid organic fertilizer.
Officer and Zone Coordinator Contacts - Sunshine Garden
Officers
- President - Ila Falvey ila.falvey@gmail.com
- Vice-President - Janet Adams jartdaht@gmail.com
- Secretary - Ginny Heilman gheilman1@gmail.com
- Treasurer - Jack Reynolds scgtreasurer1@gmail.com
- Director - Michael Hall fibercable@austin.rr.com
- Director - Kay McMurry scg.plots@gmail.com
- Director - vacant
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 jingli80@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
