Sunshine Weekly Weeder Newsletter
1 October 2014
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org
Coming Soon!
TSBVI Fall Plant Sale
From Wednesday, October 15th thru Saturday the 18th the nursery will be selling:
- Cool weather vegetables and flowers in four inch pots:
Broccoli - Marathon Brussels Sprouts - Jade Cross Broccoli - Packman Kale - Red Russian Cabbage - Emerald Cross Kale- Vates Dwarf Blue Cabbage - Ruby Perfection Artichoke - Green Globe Cauliflower - Snowball Pansies Cauliflower - Veronica/Romanesco Viola - Penny Lane - An assortment of four inch succulents including: Ghost Plant, Echeverias, Panda Plant, and Paddle Plant
- Hearty plants and house pants in various sizes: Aloe, Pothos ivy, Agave, Purple Heart, Spider Plant/Hen-and-Chickens
Prices are based off of pot size. All four inch pots are $2 each.
Open hours:
Wednesday, October 15th 11am-6pm
Thursday, October 16th 11 am to 4 pm
Friday, October 17th 11 am to 6 pm
Saturday, October 18th 9 am to 4 pm
Where: TSBVI Greenhouse - park at Sunshine Community Garden, at 4814 Sunshine Dr. Walk toward the back of the garden and go through the gate to get to the greenhouse.
The Fall Plant Sale is a fundraiser for the Horticulture work training program of Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
For more information contact Nicole at 512-206-9369 or fishern@tsbvi.edu.
The Fall Garden
by Elizabeth Breston Submitted by Ila Falvey
"Then there are those who plant. They endure storms and all the vicissitudes of the seasons, and they rarely rest. But unlike a building, a garden never stops growing. And while it requires the gardener's constant attention, it also allows life for the gardener to be a great adventure." -- Paul Coelho
When I was kid, autumn was my favorite season. For most of the summer, I stayed with my grandparents in Maine. Back then, school started after Labor Day and I returned home to Massachusetts well into September. I loved the subtle melancholy cool of late August nights that announced fall's return with its promise of color and bright skies that would eventually descend into cold grey and darkness. I felt the descent. Even as a child, autumn made me aware of life's brilliant decay.
Spring's showy resurrection green was never as compelling.
I've lived in Austin for twenty-five years, half my life thus far. In an alchemy of getting older and the seasonal cycle of Central Texas, my feelings about autumn have reversed course. It's still my favorite season, but now I feel the restorative ascent that comes with the end of a Texas summer.
For me, a fall vegetable garden is the epitome of renewal.
October marks my first year at the community garden. My 10×10 plot is surrounded by two-hundred other gardeners. Last year I got a late start on my fall garden and spent most of my time settling in and trying to rediscover my green thumb. The prior gardeners' presence lingered and made me respectfully conservative with my plans.
I made it through winter's oddly frequent freezing snaps and managed to save most of my cabbages, kale, artichokes and beets. By the time spring arrived, the hundred-square feet of dirt was mine. I had the best spring and summer yields of my haphazard gardening history.
Finally, autumn has arrived to pull back summer's blanket of relentless heat and scorching sunlight that squeezes the color out of the world. Even the old timers, the hearty, smiling, veteran gardeners who generously mentor me in the ways of growing, let their plots burn up in the August sun.
It's the ever-so-slight crispness of late September mornings that summons us back to the garden. It's not the garden we abandoned with its verdant organized rows of domesticated nature. Entropy rules the universe and nowhere is it more obvious than an untended garden.
Tomato plants are shackled in cages, slumped life-less and brown. Every inch of soil is host to the wild plants that have stealthy roots, burs and stinging stickers to remind you of their tenacity. They choke out the few remaining peppers and hide the cucumber and squash carcasses.
Autumn in Central Texas is not as conspicious as its New England counterpart. Instead of bedazzling the landscape before a winter's sleep, it tempers the extremes of summer and offers up the quiet possibility of balance before the darkness.
I approach the fall garden as a re-awakening. It challenges me to try again. To pick up a shovel and turn the earth, to shift through the chaos patiently and restore order. It doesn't matter that the cycle will go around again, it's the effort that has meaning. The time spent doing serves the ascent.
Fire ants
They are rising again. They tend to go deeper in the ground during the summer to avoid the heat. There is "Come and Get it" bait in the tool shed. Please read the instructions for application. Place the bait around the mound not on it. Use a moderate amount (follow instructions) and return to shed after use. This bait is approved for organic vegetable gardens.
Compost is ready
The compost "Harvest Here" sign has been moved to the former "Compost in Process" pile. This pile is now ready to be used as it is no longer hot.
The fresh pile should probably be screened for optimal use and the leaves that remain on the screen added back to the active pile.
Please limit your harvesting of compost to two large wheelbarrows (not the extra large) per full size plot - and one wheelbarrow full for the half and quarter plots so that all gardeners can have an opportunity to use this high quality compost.
More TSBVI News
Do you want to spread your knowledge to TSBVI students? If you would be interested in talking to a class about the chickens, bees, or maybe something else get in contact with Nicole, at fishern@tsbvi.edu.
T-Shirt design contest for Sunshine Community Garden
Feeling creative???
T-shirt design guidelines:
- One color design
- Must include "Sunshine Community Garden"
- Nothing offensive
- Design to be on front of shirt
Designs need to be submitted by October 31, 2014 at midnight.
Please submit via email or in person to any Board member.
Designs will be voted on for the following five days, online, until November 5 at midnight.
If possible we will also have them available to view at the garden for your consideration.
Any questions? Contact a Board member. Contact information on the website and also in each Weeder.
T-shirts, ideally, will be ready for purchase on December 6 for our Holiday meeting/potluck/party.
Events of Interest to Gardeners
Natural Gardener
Saturday, October 18, 2014 at 10:00 am.
A talk by Michael Warriner of Texas Parks and Wildlife about "Bumblebees of Texas"
Although bumblebees are one of the most recognizable and well-liked of all insects we encounter in our yards, we probably don't know a lot about these flying balls of fur. What value do they have in our garden and ecosystem? How can we make our gardens attractive to these pollinators? For more information check out the Natural Gardener website.
Links
A site with a multitude of links of interest to gardeners in Central Texas: http://gardeninglaunchpad.com/Aus.html
Vegetables to plant in October
Early to Mid Month: - Arugula, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Chinese Cabbage, Kohlrabi.
All Month: - Beets, Chard, Collards, Garlic, Kale, Mustard, Multiplier Onion, Radish, and strawberries
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 - Linda Francescone linda.francescone@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
