Sunshine Weekly Weeder Newsletter
2 April 2014
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org
Sunshine Gardens Fire Ant Management Program
Sunshine Community Gardens, in cooperation with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, is starting a garden wide fire ant management program. It would be great to have as many garden members as possible participate in the program.
Joining a community wide fire ant baiting effort can help reduce the number of fire ants within the garden as well as increase the number of native ants. By joining together, re-invasion boundaries can be pushed further out causing a longer period of time to elapse before fire ants move back into the area. Studies show that community management can reduce the number of fire ants within the area, reduce the amount of money spent on fire ant management & reduce the amount of chemical placed into the environment.
Sunshine Gardens will be baited on Wednesday April 23, 2014. The rain out date for baiting will be Tuesday, April 29th, 2014. Please turn off sprinkler systems or do NOT water on baiting days.
If you don't wish to be baited, contact Wizzie Brown at 512-854-9606 or ebrown@ag.tamu.edu by Wednesday, April 16, 2014. If you fail to contact Ms. Brown by the above date, then your plot will be baited along with others in the garden on April 23rd.
We will be using a broadcast method to bait the garden area and Sunshine Gardens is supplying the fire ant bait. The fire ant bait being used is ferti-lome 'Come and Get It Fire Ant Bait' which has spinosad as the active ingredient. You can find the label and MSDS sheet for the product here:
Thank you in advance for your cooperation and participation.
The information given herein is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service or the Texas A&M AgriLife Experiment Station is implied.
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.
Notes From the Gardens
Organic gardeners do not use treated seed, please be suspicious of colored seeds.
The Compost piles are heating
up!
We have started a new compost pile to the north of the existing one.
Please put your compostables in the small pile and do not add
anything to the large pile. There is a very small hill of compost
that may still be available. It grows smaller every day.
Tomato test plot:
If you haven't had a chance, stop by to visit the tomato test
plot near the gate. There are 10 varieties of tomatoes planted
in 6 rows. Thanks to Jeff Taylor, Jim Willmann, Randy Thompson
and Don Freeman for their work. Stay tuned for progress reports
and results of the trials.
Events of Interest to Gardeners
April 5 - the Mayfield Gardening Symposium - Trowel and Error is scheduled for Mayfield Park from 9:30 am-1:00 pm. Information about this wonderful gardening event is at http://mayfieldpark.org/
April 19th 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Funky Chicken Coop Tour. A tour of 14 amazing chicken coops including Sunshine's coop. For more information go the website
Are You Missing any of the Following?
The following items were found around the gardens after March 1st and The Plant Sale. Contact Charlotte before April 30th. Unclaimed items will be donated to charity on May 1st:
- Blackberry Cell Phone
- Blanket/Throw/Shawl - Pottery Barn - wool - light blue - old & well-worn
- Clogs - garden/mud - kelly green plastic - women's or girls size 7
- Cup - coffee sip cup - Contigo - stainless steel with black plastic sip top
- Gloves - women's - gardening - leather/suede - ACE Hardware - mauve/pink
- Jacket - men's small - Bugle Boy - jean-jacket - cotton - taupe/light brown
- Rain Boots/Galoshes - women's 10 - Stone Creek - rubber - light/dark blue argyle pattern - split on the side
- Staple-gun - heavy-duty - Stanley - Aircraft Aluminum - silver & black
- Sweater - women's large - Anthropologie - imitation vintage - black with white accents
- Water Bottle - REI - lime green - one pint
Volunteer opportunities
April 5 9:00 am until 12 noon. This Saturday is our first official regularly scheduled flower garden work day. We will be weeding the beds, cleaning up the walkways, pruning, and watering. Bring your happy spirit and work gloves! Call Vickie Flaugher at 512-917-3347 or log on to the forum for more information.
April 12 8:30 am until noon, work day before and after the Bylaws meeting. Led by Katy Davis and Ludmila Vostov. Come make our garden look great before the chicken people visit.
Vegetables to plant in April
All month: Snap Bush and Pole Beans, Lima Bush Beans, Cucumber, Muskmelon, Southern Peas, Radish, Summer Squash, Winter Squash, Watermelon.
Put in Pepper and Eggplant transplants.
Beginning to mid month, Tomato transplants.
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
