Sunshine Weekly Weeder Newsletter
4 June 2014
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org
Attention Gardeners!
Online Elections for Board Members is open for votes until midnight tonight (4 June)
Make your vote count
The positions being voted on are:
- Secretary for the Board of Directors (2 year term)
- Three (3) at-large members on the Board of Directors (2 year terms)
- Three (3) members of the Nominating Committee (1 year term)
- Director Position 1 - 2-Year Term
Michael Hall - Director Position 2 - 2-Year Term
Kay McMurry - Director Position 3 - 2-Year Term
Linda Francescone - Nominations Committee - 1-Year Terms
- Katy Davis
- Chris Schroder
- Judy Sinclair
- Nancy Seibert
- Secretary
- Ginnie Heilman
- Kathleen Cobb
For more information on the candidates and their answers to questions go to the Sunshine website
Contact Sharon if you have not received a ballot. scgardenweb@gmail.com
4th Annual Tomato Tasting & Potato Show and Tell
Saturday June 7 at 9 a.m.
Not all tomatoes taste the same. Come taste for yourself. Bring your favorite tomato(es) and join your fellow gardeners of Sunshine Gardens for our 4th Annual Tomato Tasting Event. We will have paper bags in the trailer so you can drop off tomatoes starting on Thursday, June 5. Please label them. If possible, please let Ila (ila.falvey@gmail.com) or Kay (scg.plots@gmail.com) know which varieties you are contributing before Saturday.
If you grew potatoes this year and would like to show them off, please bring them to the tasting on Saturday. We will have a form you can fill out with the details of how you grew them.
- When: Sat. June 7
- Time: 9 o'clock. It is never too early to eat tomatoes!
- Where: Sunshine Community Gardens, 4814 Sunshine Drive
- http://www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org/
Rabbit Redux
A rabbit has been spotted at Sunshine Gardens. If you see a rabbit or evidence of a rabbit (mostly plants being nibbled) please let Stewart know. Please also include the location and activity and time seen.
stewart nichols
elmer@math.austin.tx.us
Tomato Test Garden
The harvest of tomatoes from the plants in the Tomato Test Garden has richly begun.
By Saturday, May 31st, a total of 202 tomatoes had been harvested from the plants in the Tomato Test Garden. Most of this harvest (85%) has occurred since May 25th.
So far, the five Flamme tomatoes plants have yielded 108 tomatoes. Flamme, a French heirloom, tomatoes are orange in color and the size of a golf ball.
The five Early Girl plants have yielded 31 tomatoes. Although a few Cream Sausage tomatoes have been picked, the plant stems are laden with ripening tomatoes.
The Black Krim and Black from Tula have yielded the largest tomatoes. All the tomatoes have weighed six ounces or more. Black Krim and Black from Tula are both Russian heirlooms. The tomatoes are a beautiful dark reddish-brown. Black Krim usually scores well in tomato tasting events.
When at the garden, please visit the Tomato Test Garden. The cages are tagged to indicate the tomato varieties. There are 10 varieties currently been grown in the test garden.
Service Hours
Get your hours done before June 30th
There are two work days coming up:
Sunday June 8th and Saturday June 28th.
It's getting hot fast (or at least it was) so do not to let Service Hours sneak up on you! You need to do them before JUNE 30, 2014.
It has been proposed that the number of required hours go up. This "Guide" will be edited to reflect the Site Rule changes that are voted in. In the meanwhile you can still use it to see what tasks apply. It also covers tasks that count for your TSVBI hour.
Keeping pathways safe for our members and the public, including the differently enabled, is part of our SCG non-profit charter.
To all Contributors and Readers
The Editor of this newletter will be out of the country (visiting England) from 7th June until the 25th of June. While I will attempt to get out the newletter in a timely fashion, there may be some delays. Any important or urgent information should be sent a week early to ensure it is received by readers in time.
Get Ready for Hot Weather Gardening
There are several things a gardener can do to relieve some of the stress on plants during the summer.
Sunshine soil that has not been amended is basically black clay. Clay drains slowly, absorbs water slowly and if it dries becomes so hard that plant roots have a difficult time penetrating the soil. Compost dug in during the spring will help. If it's too late for that compost can be added to areas near established plants, (be careful not to invade established root zones). As the plants grow the roots will move into the composted area. Aeration is improved, internal drainage is enhanced and roots are able to more thoroughly fill the soil and mine its nutrients. Additionally soil will retain the moisture more easily.
The other factor to consider during summer is watering. A bed that is covered with mulch will retain the moisture much longer and help the soil stay a few degrees cooler. Water on bare soil evaporates rapidly, but water that filters through mulch will last much longer. There are many different types of mulches available but the leaves from Sunshine's leaf pile will do the trick. The advantage of the leaves (besides being free) is that they will gradually break down and add humus to your soil.
There is no way the garden will escape the hot weather in a Texas summer but by taking precautions we may alleviate some of the worst the summer has to offer.
Micah 6 Volunteers Needed
Now that the growing season is kicking into first gear, we are putting a call out for Micah 6 volunteers to harvest and deliver to the food pantry.
We have a need for a Thursday Harvester. This would be a about a 2-3 hour commitment once a month. The volunteer will harvest vegetables from the Micah 6 plot and deliver them to the food pantry, which is located close to the UT campus. The delivery should take place between 3-4 pm on Thursday.
We can also use occasional fill in volunteers who will cover for persons who are on vacation. And we are always happy to have people help with weeding and general maintenance.
This is a great opportunity to work together with other Sunshine Gardeners to help our less fortunate neighbors.
Please contact Linda Francescone at lfrances16@hotmail.com or 207 756-0329.
Compost
A third compost pile has been started south of the previous two. It is near the fence next to the TSBVI transportation yard. Dump your thin plants and vegetables there.
Events of Interest to Gardeners
Alternate Methods of Gardening
Thursday, June 5, 2014 10am - noon
Travis County AgriLife Extension Office
Feeling adventurous? Explore alternate methods of gardening during the final class in our Dealing with Drought Conditions series. If you have time, space, or physical limitations yet still have a desire to nurture your green thumb, Master Gardener Pat Mokry will teach you how to raise carefree veggies, herbs and flowers using self-sufficient grow boxes. Then, for some more 'new' ideas, Master Gardener Marian Stassney will describe the ancient practices of both keyhole gardening and hugelkultur, to expand your repertoire of gardening techniques.
Part of the Texas AgriLife Extension Water Conservation Series. Register or by phone 979-845-2604. $10 fee, $15 at site. Class is limited to 40 people.
Grafting Vegetable Crops - Principles and Practises
Thursday June 19th, 2014 9:00 am-12:00pm
6011 Blue Bluff Road. cost $15.00
AgriLife Extension specialists in College Station will be joining the group via web video to present the program. This is part of a six part seminar series to evaluating diversification strategies addressing small acreage horticultural crops.
Rebates for Compost, Mulch and Aerating:
Great news! The City of Austin is offering rebates for things we should all be doing in our yards - mulching plants & trees, and aerating & topdressing our lawns. If you do all three things (according to their rules, of course) you can get as much as $180 back! Buy what you need, and be sure to keep your receipts. For rules and more details, visit the City of Austin's website.
A site with a multitude of links of interest to gardeners in Central Texas: http://gardeninglaunchpad.com/Aus.html"
Vegetables to plant in June
All month: Malabar Spinach, Okra, Sweet Potatoes, Peanut, Pumpkin
Start seeds indoors for fall transplants Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplants.
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 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
