Sunshine Community Gardens

10 June, 2021

www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org

Gardener's Picture page

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If you are signed up to receive the Weekly Weeder and have not been receiving it, here is a troubleshooting page to help. If this doesn't help, please let Sharon at scgardenweb@gmail.com know. Thanks.

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Common Paths Are Sunshine's Highways

Common paths are Sunshine's highways and provide gardeners with easy wheel barrow access to their plots as well as convenient access to a hose station. With a very few exceptions, every plot is adjacent to at least one major common path. The plot map on the Sunshine website identifies these common paths. Sunshine Plot Map

The common paths work only if maintained, and gardeners are required to maintain a 2' strip of any common paths adjacent to their plot. Common paths are 4' wide, so if each gardener maintains the 2' strip all common paths would be clear and easily passable. As the first photo below shows, this is not always the case. Please check any common path adjacent to your plot and if needed clear the 2' strip. The second photo below shows what a common path looks like when gardeners do this.

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How Are Your Tomatoes?

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Request for Tomato Favorites Submissions to Weeder

In lieu of a Tomato Tasting this year, we are requesting submissions on your favorite tomato grown during this excessively wet spring. Please email your favorite to hollyjgilman@gmail.com along with a brief description of what qualities made it your first choice among the tomatoes you personally grew. We will publish the submissions in the Weeder on a weekly basis for as long as they come in.

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Tomato Diseases

Wondering what disease is affecting your tomatoes? This is a very informative article from Better Homes and Gardens with great photos to help you identify the problem.

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Needed Service Hour Tasks - June 9, 2021

To help keep gardeners aware of wha service hour tasks are needed, an attempt will be made to keep this list current.

Priority (Tasks specifically needed)

1. Maintaining common paths.
2. Mowing (A lot of mowing has been done but with the warm weather, the grass will grow fast.) Mowing outside and inside of fence line along 49th St and Sunshine Dr count as TSBVI hours.)
3. Removing hackberries fence line along 49th St. and Sunshine Dr. (TSBVI) (Try to remove as deep below ground as possible.) Weeding inside greenhouses.
4. Weeding granite paths in TSBVI garden and in raised bed area. (TSBVI)
5. Digging up khaki weed. (TSBVI) (Board has authorized to count as TSBVI hours)

TSBVI

1. Removing hackberries and Johnson grass growing in cyclone fence around Sunshine. (Please try to dig out as much of the roots as possible. Hackberries should be cut off as deep below ground level as possible.)
2. Cleaning street curb gutters of dirt and debris build up. (At places in the curb gutter along Sunshine Dr. and 49th St., soil and debris has built has up and grass beginning to grow. Scrape off with shovel and put in wheelbarrow. If debris is gravel can be put in low places in parking lot. Otherwise, put in dumpster.)
3. Weeding granite paths in raised bed area and edging border. (Try to get out roots - particularly the bermudagrass along west side by garden plots.)
4. Weeding paths in TSBVI garden and wood chip areas on west side. (This is normally needed. Try to get out roots. Be sure to smooth out paths after weeding to facilitate TSBVI students moving around garden.)
5. Mowing between fence and street along 49th St. and Sunshine Dr. along and 10' inside fence. (Frequent mowing will be needed this time of year.)
6. Picking up trash in compost area and along fence lines.

Regular

1. Mowing (Please check area around trailer and greenhouses. Frequent mowing will be needed this time of year.)
2. Maintaining common paths.
3. Mowing and cleaning up overgrown/messy areas in common areas.

Note: TSBVI hour tasks can also count as regular hours.

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Got Squash Vine Borers Destroying Your Plants?

Ila Falvey submitted the following:

This is an excellent article about preventing and controlling the squash vine borer.

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Lost and Found

Lost Ray Ban Prescription Sunglasses - Marianne Spencer reports that she lost her sunglasses on June 4, 2021 somewhere between the TSBVI garden area (south of the shed) and her half plot which is on the north side of the property. Marianne assumes they're lost in tall grass and may be smashed by foot traffic or a mower, but thought I might get lucky if I report this and someone happens to find them. If located, please contact Marianne at 512.574.1517.

Radius Digging Fork - Ila Falvey reports that her grey/purple digging fork which was resting in a prone position in her garden is missing. She would appreciate whoever finds it returning it to her plot or contacting her via email to assist with its return.

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Sunshine Waste Disposal Policies Updated

The Sunshine board has reviewed waste disposal practices at Sunshine and adopted an updated waste disposal policy. The policy addresses three areas:

1. What should be recycled or repurposed
2. What should go to the compost area to be composted
3. What should go into the dumpster

Put in its simplest terms, the policy is that the only waste which should go into the dumpster is khaki weed, branches and woody stems, diseased plants, and inorganic waste which cannot be recycled or repurposed. The goal is to reduce the amount of waste which ends up in the dumpster as much as possible since everything put in the dumpster ends up in a landfill. Kiosks are being set up at the dumpster and in the compost area providing gardeners instructions for properly disposing of waste in accordance with the updated policy.

Chop Your Plants Before Adding to Compost

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Weeder Content

Please email your article or suggestion to Holly Gilman by end of day Wednesday.

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