Sunshine Weekly Weeder Newsletter
21 October 2015
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org
WORKDAY MOVED
to Sunday October 25th - 10:00-2:00
Get your TSBVI hours in for this season!
Because of the forecast of significant rain (YEA!) through Saturday, the workday scheduled for Saturday is being moved to this Sunday (10/25) from 10:00 - 2:00. Because it is the least likely to be affected by the rain, the main project will be restoring the granite paths around the raised beds on the west side of the parking lot. The plan is to put down a border of 2 x 6's around the raised beds, remove dirt (full of weeds) from existing paths, put down weed cloth and fill in with new decomposed granite. The hours will count as TSBVI Service Hours.
We would like to put down a layer of cardboard or newspaper with the weed cloth so if anyone has any old newspapers or cardboard boxes, please put them in the greenhouse or bring on Sunday.
The South Compost Pile is Open
The compost pile closest to the TSBVI fence is available for use. Please remove any trash found in the pile and put in buckets placed next to the pile.
Compost Tea
Is usually available on the weekends. Free to Sunshine Gardeners, Check in the north greenhouse, there will be a sign outside if there is a fresh batch of compost tea.
I am repeating piece of information published last March for all the new gardeners.
Compost tea can be used as either a soil drench or a foliar spray. The tea should be diluted approximately 10:1 before use, so 1/2 gallon should be more than enough for your plot! The tea should be used within 8 hours after bottling. The millions of live microorganisms in the tea use up available oxygen very quickly in the confines of a small container where they can go dormant.
Benefits of using of aerobic compost tea include:
- Improved plant growth as a result of protecting plant surfaces with beneficial organisms which occupy infection sites and prevent disease-causing organisms from finding the plant
- Improved nutrient retention and water retention in the soil
- Improved plant nutrition by increasing nutrient availability in the root system
- Improved uptake of nutrients through the foliage while at the same time reducing evaporative loss from the leaf surface
- Improved soil structure
What's on in Austin
Saturday 24th October 10:00 am
Natural Gardener - Honey Bees and Beekeeping with Tanya Phillips from BeeFriendlyAustin.com
Free
Sunday 25th October 1:00 - 4:00 pm
Zilker Botanical Garden
Straw Bale Gardening: Minimal Maintenance and Maximum Production.
Entrance fee to park but presentation is free
Thursday November 12th, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Travis County Master Gardeners
Backyard Basics: Bold and Beautiful
Register: https://agriliferegister.tamu.edu/TravisCounty
Fee
What to do in October
Now the temperatures are cooling off (cross fingers), gardeners can reduce their water use to about half of what they would use in the summer. Freshly planted seeds need to be kept moist until they get their first set of true leaves.
Thin root crops leaving about twice the size of the mature plant between each plant.
What to plant in October
Beets, Chard, Collards, Garlic, Kale, Mustard, Multiplier Onions, Radish, Carrot, Endive, Lettuce, Spinach, Turnip.
Officer and Zone Coordinator Contacts - Sunshine Garden
Officers
- President - Jeff Monks garden@jeffmonks.com
- Vice President - Jim Willmann jhwillmann@gmail.com
- Secretary - Shannon Posern shannonposern@gmail.com
- Treasurer - Caroline Limaye 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 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
- Compost Tea - Jennifer Woertz jennifer.woertz@urs.com
- Website Coordinator - Sharon Rempert scgardenweb@gmail.com
Record Service Hours Online - the Virtual Green Binder
