Sunshine Weekly Weeder Newsletter
13 November 2013
www.sunshinecommunitygarden.org
Work Day Scheduled
Saturday 23rd November, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm, Meet at the office trailer.
Tasks include:
- Cleaning the trailer
- Mowing
- Weeding, and more.
If you have suggestions, please contact the work coordinators:
Irina Kadukova at irina@austinshrooms.com
Mary Gifford at mgifford@austin.rr.com
Katy Davis at katydavis@austin.rr.com
Come help keep our garden beautiful & fulfill your work hours.
Compost piles are heating up!
We have started a new compost pile to the south of the existing one. Please put your compostables in the small pile and do not add anything to the large pile or take away any compost. It needs to cook. We will soon be getting a few hundred pounds of compostable materials each week from the East Side Compost Pedallers. Also, please take all the inorganic material to the dumpster when screening and taking compost for your plot.
Which Vegetables Tolerate Frost and Which Don't?
Cold tolerance depends somewhat on preconditioning. For instance, if broccoli has been growing in warm conditions and temperatures drop below 22 degrees F., it will probably be killed. If these same broccoli plants had already experienced cool weather, they would probably survive the sudden cold.
A frost (31-33 degrees F.) will kill beans, cantaloupe, corn, cucumber, eggplant, okra, peas, pepper, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, tomatoes and watermelon.
Colder temperatures (26-31 degrees F.) may burn foliage but will not kill: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, lettuce, mustard, onion, radish, and turnip.
The real cold weather champs are beets, Brussel Sprouts, carrots, collards, kale, parsley, and spinach.
Service Hours
Service Hours must be completed on or before Dec. 31, 2013. Please check the site rules for information.
If you prefer company while you do your service hours, there is a workday scheduled for Nov. 23, 2013 from 10:00 am -12:00 pm. Additionally, there will be two work days scheduled for December. Watch this space!
Seed Saving
A Sunshine garden member forwarded the following from the Sustainable Food Center:
I wanted to invite you to the Seed Saving Basics class we are hosting this weekend at the Sustainable Food Center. Ellen and a few guest speakers will discuss the basics of seed saving including the fundamental reasons for saving seed, seed saving guidelines and processes, easy seeds to save, and an introduction to a new seed exchange program hosted by SFC's Grow Local.
There is still space to register if you or anyone you know is interested. You can register on our website. Let me know if you have any questions, and I hope to see you at this exciting event!
First Frost of the Season
Now we've had the first frost of the 2013-2014 season we can expect more, maybe. Winter temperatures can vary widely but usually we get plenty of warning when a frost is due. It's rare that freezing temperatures are low enough or long enough to cause much damage so it's worth taking precautions.
Here are some plant protection techniques.
Water can help plants in two ways. One is that drought stressed plants are more susceptible to cold damage. Watering plants a few days before cold weather threatens will relieve the plants of one stressor. The second way water helps it that is a great "heat sink" that is it holds warmth and releases it more slowly than plants or air, thereby creating a small warmer zone around the plants. Watering your plants right before a freeze creates a source of warmth that will slowly loose heat over a cold night. It will not protect from a hard freeze.
Covering plants is the simplest, most practical way to protect against a frost or freeze. Wrapping a plant in a blanket or other cover doesn't in itself keep the plant warm. You have to cover the plant down to the ground. In effect the cover forms a tent over the plant and works to retain the warmth from the soil within it. Even cold soil is significantly warmer than freezing and every little bit helps. It is important to secure the cover with stones, boards, or anything to weight down the cover. It is important to eliminate the wind as that can reduce temperatures quickly by just blowing cold air in and the heat out. You can use cardboard boxes, large garbage cans, or row/frost cover. Don't use plastic or any material that radiates heat out quickly. Remove cover during the day to allow the sun to warm the soil and cover if it is going to freeze the next night. Mulch is a great insulator and can be mounded up around a plant but be sure to remove it after the freeze. A jug or bucket of water under the cover will also help keep the temperatures above freezing.
The above information was taken from an article by Skip Richter and published on the AgriLife Extension part of tamu/horticulture site.
Some Useful Sites for Organic Vegetable Gardening:
- organic-center.org -- The Organic Center bringing y0u the science behind organic
- dirtdoctor.com -- Howard Garret's site about Texas organic gardening
- gardeninglaunchpad.com -- A list of sites for the home gardener
- aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu -- Texas A & M horticulture site
- fadr.msu.ru/rodale -- The Rodale Institute and Organic Gardening Magazine
- texasgardener.com -- A magazine for Texas gardeners
- acresusa.com -- A voice for Eco-Agriculture
What to Plant in November:
Early - Mid Month: Carrot, Mustard, Chard, and Turnip
All Month: Lettuce Kale, Spinach, Radish.
Thought for the week
With apologies to Clare Leighton who wrote about dandelions, I've used poetic license and replaced it with henbit an equally obnoxious weed but more profuse.
The massacre of henbit is a peculiarly satisfying occupation, a harmless and comforting outlet for the destructive element in our natures. It should be available as a safety valve for everybody.
Officer and Zone Coordinator Contacts - Sunshine Garden
Officers
- President - Ila Falvey ila.falvey@gmail.com
- Vice-President - Janet Adams jartdaht@gmail.com
- Secretary - Berk Bettis dolrsdad@aol.com
- Treasurer - Jack Reynolds scgtreasurer1@gmail.com
- Director - Michael Hall fibercable@austin.rr.com
- Director - Kay McMurry scg.plots@gmail.com
- Director - Emily Tisinger etisinger@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
