Sunshine Community Gardens

2 September, 2021

www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org

Gardener's Picture page

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In this Issue:

• Resources for Your September Garden
• Micah 6 Totals for August
• Upcoming Gardening Events
• Second Fall Compost Delivery on 9/2/21
• Tool Sharpening
• Garden Tasks for Service Hours

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Resources for Your September Garden

September may still feel like summer in Central Texas, but it is the time to plant many fall crops. Below is a list of vegetables to plant this month in Travis County (adapted by Maria Beach from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Vegetable Garden Planting Guide).

Vegetables to Plant in September:

Artichoke (Transplants - starting second week of September)
Asian Greens (Seeds or Transplants - All Month)
Beans, Snap and Lima (Seeds - Through mid-September)
Beets (Seeds - All Month)
Broccoli (Transplants - All Month)
Brussels Sprouts (Transplants - All Month)
Cabbage (Transplants - All Month)
Carrots (Seeds - All Month)
Cauliflower (Transplants - All Month)
Chard (Seeds or Transplants - All Month)
Collards (Seeds or Transplants - All Month)
Cucumber (Seeds - Through mid-September)
Garlic (Cloves - Starting mid-September)
Greens, Cool Season (Seeds - Starting last week of September)
Kale (Seeds or Transplants - All Month)
Kohlrabi (Seeds or Transplants - All Month)
Leeks (Seeds only - Starting mid-September)
Lettuce (Seeds or Transplants - Starting mid-September)
Mustard (Seeds or Transplants - All Month)
Onions, Bunching or Multiplying (Seeds - All Month)
Peas, English, Snap, or Snow (Seeds - All Month)
Potato, Irish (Potato Pieces - First week of September only)
Radish (Seeds - All Month)
Shallots (Cloves - Starting last week of September)
Spinach (Seeds or Transplants - Starting late September)
Squash, Summer (Seeds - Through mid-September)
Turnip (Seeds - All Month)

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Here is an excellent blog article on the September Garden by Patty G. Leander, submitted to the Weeder by Ila Falvey

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Frog and Toad Together

Debra Mariano was delighted to find a toad under her zucchini and a green frog resting among her friend's Seminole pumpkin vines recently. Debra notes that both amphibians consume a large variety of garden insects, making them very welcome in Sunshine plots!

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Micah 6 Update: August Totals

Walter Kuhl reports the Micah 6 Food Pantry is very appreciative of the generous donations by Sunshine gardeners. For the most part Micah 6 clients are employed but struggling financially in our expensive city. Our produce is a popular item.

August totals:

• Produce - 351 pounds
• Dry goods - 42 pounds

Year to date totals:

• Produce - 3353.5 pounds
• Dry goods - 257 pounds

Reminder: Currently delivery is once a week - Saturday around 9am. Please place your donations in the cool room or the refrigerator in the trailer. You may also use the cooler on the porch if you are not comfortable entering the trailer.

Thank you!

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Upcoming Garden Events

Ila Falvey shared these upcoming events that should be of interest to gardeners.

Rodent Webinar

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension's next offering in its Backyard Bug Hunt Webinar series will be on Rodents.

When: Sep 3, 2021 10:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Planning Your Fall Garden Class

The next event is an online class free for members of the Austin Organic Gardeners club on Monday, September 13. (Not a member? You may join for just $10 a year and all proceeds go to Zilker Botanical Garden.)

Planning Your Fall Garden with Liz Cardinal

• Date: Monday, September 13, 2021
• Time: 6:00 PM CST
• Location: Online

Join us next month with Liz Cardinal as we plan our fall gardens together. This free class will give you the tools to get organized this fall. Walk away with the understanding of:

1. How to pick a site that gets correct sunlight in all seasons
2. How to test your soil, prep it with the right amendments and where to buy
3. How to get your timing and plant varieties right for central Texas
4. Transplants versus direct seed and where to buy
5. How to create plan that includes crop rotation, companion and succession planting
6. Importance of planning and staying organized

Bring some graph paper. If you don't have it click the link below to download graph paper to print out and use during the class.

Download Graph Paper (PDF)

About the guest speaker:

Liz Cardinal is a landscape designer and edible garden mentor. She is a self-proclaimed nature addict and wants to help others connect with the wonders of the natural world through backyard gardens. She has been designing and building gardens for sixteen years, beginning in Portland, Oregon in 2004 and then in Austin in 2015. She has a B.S. in Environmental Communication from The Ohio State University and a M.S. in Teaching Science from Portland State University. She began her Central Texas gardening journey as the Teaching Garden Manager at the Sustainable Food Center in 2015, where she quickly fell in love with growing food gardens. In 2019, she left SFC to start her second landscape design business, Austin Edible Gardens. This venture allows her to work one-on-one with aspiring gardeners in their home gardens. Her philosophy for growing food gardens is this: "It's not about the harvest. I believe that vegetable gardening as a practice allows us to reconnect with nature and our food source. I believe that having the space and knowledge to grow our own food allows us to feel a sense of place, enables us to eat a healthy diet, and encourages us to participate in our local food system.

Get online event link

Become a member

All of our events are FREE and we are always looking for new members to help us support our mission. Visit AustinOrganicGardeners.org to become a member of the oldest organic garden club in America. Memberships are only $10 a year and 100% of dues go to the Zilker Botanical Garden.

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Garden Humor: Green Power!

Susan Van Haitsma noticed that this pepper looks like a little green fist. Power to the peppers!

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Second Fall Compost Delivered Thursday 9/2/21

by Randy Thompson

The second of several compost deliveries was Thursday, 9/2. It is organic compost. It is for use by gardeners only and only at Sunshine.

Cost: $2 a bucket and 5 buckets for $7. Pay in the garden port and fill out the paperwork.

Quantity Limits: 20 bucket limit for full size plot, 10 buckets for 1/2 plots and 5 for 1/4 plots.

How to Harvest Compost: Measure the compost with the buckets provided. Please return the buckets when finished and please, no coins when paying.

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Thanks Bob for our sharp tools. Here is a article on it.

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Needed Service Hour Tasks - Wednesday, 1 September, 2021

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

Please observe our 3 mph speed limit! The garden road is not a ranch road!

Priority (Tasks specifically needed):

1. Digging up khaki weed, wherever you find it (Counts as TSVBI hours).
2. Maintaining common paths and common areas. If you have plants extending into common paths, trim them. The common paths are designed to allow the biggest wheelbarrows that we own to traverse them unimpeded.
3. Mowing and maintaining perimeter fence line inside and out

TSBVI:

1. 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.)
2. Mowing between fence and street along 49th St. and Sunshine Dr. along and 10' inside fence. (Frequent mowing will be needed this timeof year.)
3. Picking up trash in compost area and along fencelines.

Regular:

1. Mowing (Please check area around trailer and greenhouses. Frequent mowing will be needed this time of year.)
2. Maintaining common paths. (Gardeners are required to maintain a 2' strip of common paths adjacent to their plot.)
3. Mowing and cleaning up overgrown/messy places in common areas.
4. 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.)

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

I know that everyone is eager to get to the Garden to pull khaki weed and perform other tasks, but please try to subdue that eagerness by keepingy our speed limit to 3 MPH or less..

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Weeder Content

Please submit weekly weeder articles, photos, and recipes by Wednesday to both Co-Editors:
Holly Gilman at hollyjgilman@gmail.com and
Maria Beach at dr.maria.beach@gmail.com

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