Sunshine Weekly Weeder Newsletter
8 July 2015
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org
Our Purple Martins are Moving!
Did you know Sunshine Gardens hosts one of Austin's largest Purple Martin nesting colonies? Thanks to the generosity of our Board and individual members, Sunshine nows provides over 50 nesting cavities between the new gourd houses and smaller houses erected and maintained by individual gardeners.
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 monagamous), 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.
Feeding on many flying insects during the day, the martins build up their body weight for the migration. Flying overhead, they delight us with their distinctive chirps and burbels. Then, beginning late June, they leave their nesting sites and move to larger flocking locations. Here they find secure night roosting where large numbers provide protection from predators. One of the largest sites in North America is located just a mile or two from Sunshine! Variously located around the old Highland Mall and Capital Plaza, the group roost begins to form in late June and early July. Very quickly, as martins come in from all over Central Texas, the roost grows into a massive nightly collection of several hundred thousand birds.
Travis Audubon hosts weekly Friday and Saturday evening "Martin Parties" at the roosting site in July and early August. People gather in lawn chairs to watch hundreds of thousands of birds swirl in at sunset to the appointed trees. You can almost feel the nervous restlessness that develops among the birds as they fly and flock, getting ready to head south. The spectacle rivals our local bat flight at the Congress Avenue Bridge, and, with the bat viewing, is a nice 'two-fer' during the Austin summer. Find more information at www.travisaudubon.com.
Events of Interest
Monday, July 13, 2015, 6:30 pm
Zilker Botanical Garden Center, 2220 Barton Springs Road
Austin Organic Gardeners Meeting.
Agenda: Doors open at 6:30 for visiting and getting answers to your gardening questions from our answer desk (look for the sign and the guys in big hats at the back of the room). Announcements and club business start at 7 followed by our program at 7:30.
Topic: Trisha Shirey, author and head gardener at the Lake Austin Spa Resort, will discuss her "Top Tips and Favorite Things".
Trisha will also have copies of her latest book, "Vegetable Gardening in the Southwest", available for $21.60 – cash (exact change appreciated), check, or charge.
Gardening Outlook for July
Now that the spring season is over there are less varieties of vegetables that will take the summer heat. The long range monthly forecast is for lower temperatures (relatively, in comparison to the last few years) with possibilities for thunderstorms. That is a reasonable forecast for Central Texas, so we can look forward to at least some produce in the coming month.
Vegetables to Plant in July
Early to mid month: Pumpkin, Amaranth, Okra. (I have found chinese long beans (also called yard long beans) to grow very successfully in the heat. They taste a lot like regular green beans).
Officer and Zone Coordinator Contacts - Sunshine Garden
Officers
- President - Jeff Monks garden@jeffmonks.com
- Vice President - Jim Willmann jwillmann@texasnurses.org
- Secretary - Ginny Heilman scgsecretary@gmail.com
- Treasurer - Caroline Limaye scgtreasurer1@gmail.com
- Director - Michael Hall fibercable@austin.rr.com
- Director - Kay McMurry scg.plots@gmail.com
- Director - Shannon Posern posern@hotmail.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 Kadukova 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
- Compost Coordinator - Janet Adams jartdaht@gmail.com
- Compost Tea - Jennifer Woertz jennifer.woertz@urs.com
- Education Committee - Shannon Posern shannonposern@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
