Sunshine Weekly Weeder Newsletter
25 June 2014
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org
Service Hours
Service hours entered to date have been tallied. Very few gardeners appear to have completed their hours. This message is a reminder to enter your hours and/or complete them. All hours must be completed by June 30 and reported by July 4. For reporting purposes, please use the on-line virtual green binder on Sunshine's Web Site, rather than the actual one in the trailer, if possible.
B. SERVICE HOURS
- Full plots: 8 hours per six month season. Half plots: 4 hours per six month
season. Quarter plots: 4 hours per six month season.
Unworked service hours are billed at $30 per hour for first two hours, $10 per hour for subsequent hours. - For each plot, regardless of size, one additional hour each season is due in service to the cooperation between Sunshine Community Garden and TSBVI. A $50.00 fee will be assessed for this hour of unworked service.
- While the garden seasons run from Feb. 1 to July 31 and Aug. 1 to Jan. 31, service hour periods run from Jan. 1 through June 30 and July 1 through Dec. 31.
This "Guide" will help you decide which tasks you can do that count towards service hours. It also covers tasks that count for your TSVBI hour.
Keeping pathways safe for our members and the public, including the differently enabled, is part of our SCG non-profit charter.
Get Ready for Hot Weather Gardening
There are several things a gardener can do to relieve some of the stress on plants during the summer.
Sunshine soil that has not been amended is basically black clay. Clay drains slowly, absorbs water slowly and if it dries becomes so hard that plant roots have a difficult time penetrating the soil. Compost dug in during the spring will help. If it's too late for that compost can be added to areas near established plants, (be careful not to invade established root zones). As the plants grow the roots will move into the composted area. Aeration is improved, internal drainage is enhanced and roots are able to more thoroughly fill the soil and mine its nutrients. Additionally soil will retain the moisture more easily.
The other factor to consider during summer is watering. A bed that is covered with mulch will retain the moisture much longer and help the soil stay a few degrees cooler. Water on bare soil evaporates rapidly, but water that filters through mulch will last much longer. There are many different types of mulches available but the leaves from Sunshine's leaf pile will do the trick. The advantage of the leaves (besides being free) is that they will gradually break down and add humus to your soil.
There is no way the garden will escape the hot weather in a Texas summer but by taking precautions we may alleviate some of the worst the summer has to offer.
Tomato Tasting Results
Tops for taste were:
Berkeley Tie Dye Pink Oval, Cherokee Purple, J.D.'s Special C-Tex,
Jaune Flamme, Sun Gold, Sweet Million.
Tops for Texture were:
Berkley Tie Dye Pink Oval, Cherokee Purple, J.D.'s Special C-Tex,
Juliet, Lemon Boy, Momotaro, Stupice, Sun Gold, Yellow Pear.
Tops for Looks were:
Berkley Tie Dye Pink Oval, Black and Brown Boar, Black Cherry,
Black Krim, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra Cherry, Indian Moon,
Indigo Apple, Indigo Rose, Jaune Flamme, Jubilee, Juliet, Lemon Boy,
Malakhitoraya Shkatulka, Michael Pollan, Persimmon, Pink Berkley
Tie Dye, Rhodia, Sprite, Stupice, Sweet Million, Yellow Pear.
To see a complete breakdown of the results go to the Sunshine Gardens website.
Events of Interest to Gardeners
Natural Gardener, Saturday June 28, at 9:00 am
Pat Dillon, General Manager of Submatic Drip Systems, and David Becerra, Drip Systems Specialist, teach us how to "Water Efficiently Using Drip Irrigation".
For more information check the Natural Gardener Website.
Rebates for Compost, Mulch and Aerating:
Great news! The City of Austin is offering rebates for things we should all be doing in our yards - mulching plants & trees, and aerating & topdressing our lawns. If you do all three things (according to their rules, of course) you can get as much as $180 back! Buy what you need, and be sure to keep your receipts. For rules and more details, visit the City of Austin's website.
A site with a multitude of links of interest to gardeners in Central Texas: http://gardeninglaunchpad.com/Aus.html"
Vegetables to plant in July
Early month: Pumpkin
All month: Amaranth, Okra
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