Monday @ 9:30 the Journal News will be on site to take pictures. Come show off your garden!

Security Deposits

Please remember that the $25 security deposit is only returned to people who have completed their services hours every month.  If you haven’t been working in the garden (not on your individual plot, but for the service of the whole garden), you are in danger of losing your security deposit.  Please contact Peggy Clarke or Roseann Rutherford if you have questions.

Tomato Hornworm

It's time to be on the lookout for the tomato hornworm.  Check out the link below to see images and get important information on this destructive critter.

http://organicgardensite.com/bugs-harmful/tomato-horn-worms/

If anyone has more tips on how to keep our garden free of the hornworm please let us know!

Check out Suzi on The Patch!

http://bedford.patch.com/articles/garden-tour-and-expo-a-success#video-751207

Summer Harvest... Friday July 30th 6 – 8pm

What have you been harvesting this month? Come celebrate the early harvest of your garden, celebrate new friendships, and thank all of those who helped create the Marsh Sanctuary Community Garden.  We have extended an invitation to the Board of InterGenerate and the Rusticus Garden Club - all who have helped raise the funds to make this Community Garden come to life.  Enjoy a walk through our gardens and celebrate with us. 

Please bring a summer dish to share (4 – 6 people) and something to drink. If you have folding chairs and tables those would be helpful as well.  Biodegradable utensils, cups and paper goods will be supplied.   We will be meeting at the Garden where parking is limited so please consider car pooling. 

Garden Eyes Update 7-14-2010

Many vegies are ready to harvest.  Cukes, zucchini, some eggplants, lettuce, and greens are ready for picking.  The peppers and tomatoes are are growing rapidly and deserve careful watching.  If cukes and zucchs get too big, you can still use them, although you may want to slice them lengthwise and scrape out the large, tough, bitter seeds with a spoon before eating them.

This month’s “Garden Eyes,”  Jody B and Marion H, will periodically running through the garden and observing what is ready to be harvested in which plots, which plots are in need of tending etc.  You could also email Jody or Marion to let us know if you are away, that way, we can arrange for tending and harvests to be donated to the food pantry.

Basil, dill, greens, lettuces are also starting to flower.  Once these greens begin to flower, it begins to become bitter.  You can pinch the flowers off the basil and cut it back a bit, that way you can harvest it a bit longer.  Dill, lettuce, and greens should be harvested fully.

Jody B

Veg Out Success!

What a fantastic response we got from all of the visitor who saw the garden for the first time today on the Bedford Garden Clubs vegetable tour!  One excited visitor eloquently commented that "the good energy is palpable and the healthy crops speak for themselves!".

July- It’s all about Weed Control

Contributed by Jody Bortone, July’s “Garden Eyes”

 Source:

Bellinder, R.R., Kline, R.A., & Warholic, D.T. (n.d.).  Weed control for the home vegetable garden.  Cornell Cooperative Extension.

 Along with our beginning July harvest, come lots of weeds.  In addition to hoeing and hand        weeding, here are some tips to keep the weeds down:

·          Keep the perimeter of your garden weed free to prevent invasion into your plot.

·          Use mulch.  Some natural suggestions:

o   1” - 2” of grass clippings FREE of HERBESIDES, PESTESIDES, & FERTELIZER

o   4” – 6” salt hay or straw.  Water well before putting this down.

o   4 sheet thickness of newspaper, weighted down with rocks to prevent it from blowing all over the garden.

·           Successive planting; as soon as you harvest, plant another type of flower or vegetable.  Crowd out the weeds with plants you want to harvest or admire

·          Plant a grassy cover crop between rows and areas you are not going to re-plant.  Some suggestions include

o   Chewing fescue; Kentucky bluegrass, red fescue, tall fescue, dwarf white clover, wild white clover

·          Water only at the base of the plant—not leaves, ground, or between rows.  Water the plants you want to grow—not the weeds

See you in the garden!

Lets all get our plots ready...we're on the tour!

http://bedford.patch.com/articles/get-ready-to-get-your-veggie-on

Some watering tips to remember

It is not the leaves that need water, it is the plants roots. The leaves collect sunlight and can actually be damaged by watering during the middle of the day. The roots gather water and nutrients from the soil. It is a waste of water to "spray" plants because water evaporates quicker on the leaves, and water droplets take longer to get to the base of the plant and to the roots.

It is easier, takes less time, and uses less water to water just around the base of the plant so that the roots are getting the water. This is harder to do with a spray nozzle, so a "shower" nozzle is much better, or just an open-ended hose that can be placed at the bottom of the plant for a few seconds.

Doug

It's not too late to plant!

Up to mid-July sow chard, beets, peas, & bush bean seeds directly into the soil. 
You can also set out cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage plants that were started indoors back in May.  Make sure all these little plants are protected from the heat.
Looking forward to the first week of August, sow directly into the soil lettuce, radish, & spinach seeds.
Re-seeding is a great way to use the space vacated by your harvest, grow more food for longer and prevent converting that empty space into a weed patch. 
See you in the garden!
Jody B-with the hat :)

Summer Program at The Bedford Audubon

Tomorrow starts our second season of summer programming in the beautiful gardens at the ByLane Farm Bedford Audubon in Katonah.  We are still accepting both children and adults into the program which runs from 9-12 on Tuesdays in July.  It is a great opportunity to grow vegetables and new friendships in the garden.  For more information and registration forms please visit www.intergenerateny.org (click on the summer programs tab) or email me at beckysimkhai@aol.com

A few reminders...

Please keep the mulch path next to the fencing clear...gardeners need this section free of plants in order to get the hoses to their plots without injuring their neighbors garden.  This means no planting on the fence.  Also please remember to use only the front gate near the shed, the back gate does not have access steps and the hill is very steep and dangerous.

On behalf of all the InterGenerate members, we wish you all a very safe and fun 4th!

No water yet this morning

Again today gardeners are finding the tank empty in the morning.  With all the new plants going in we have been using more water than in days past.  As soon as the sun hits the solar panels the tank will begin to fill and we will again have water available (yesterday we had water by 10).  Unfortunately this is one of the downsides of having a solar system and a full garden, but we are working on solutions that will solve this issue.
Thanks for your patience in this matter!

Mulching the communal plots

We have almost completed planting our communal plots!  Salt hay has been placed by the gate...If you have extra time please mulch all communal plots.  We have 2 trays of tomatoes left over and no more room to plant them.  If anyone has room in their bed and would like to be a "foster family" for the plants, please feel free to take them (they are sitting in the shade near the compost pile).

Our MVP, Most Valuable Planter!

A huge thank you goes out to Danny who worked all day long getting our plants into the communal plots!

A great day for the communal plot!

What a perfect day we had for our communal plot planting party!  Thanks to the generous donations  from many local nurseries we were able to add hundreds of new plants to our communal plots.  We worked tirelessly for more than 10 hours and we still have dozens of plants to get in the ground.  New signs have been placed throughout the garden to identify which plots are now communal.  Back by Alberto's field we added 2 new plots of peppers.  We also planted hundreds of tomato plants, butternut squash, cucumbers, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage and lots of herbs.  If you have any extra time tomorrow to help, we still have more planting to do!
Several sprinklers were brought into the garden today...please feel free to use them to water the communal plots while you work in your own garden.
Thanks to all who have worked so hard over the past few days to get all the communal plots completed!

Late blight management Webinar from eOrganic on July 1st

Subject: eOrganic Updates: Reminder: Late blight management Webinar from eOrganic on July 1st

Late Blight Management on Organic Farms 2010
July 1, 2010 at 8 PM Eastern Time (7 PM Central, 6 PM Mountain, 5 PM Pacific)

Space is limited.

Click here to register
http://www.extension.org/article/28346

Late blight reached epidemic proportions on U.S. farms in 2009. Join eOrganic presenters Dr. Sally Miller of Ohio State University and Dr. Meg McGrath of Cornell University for a free Webinar to hear an update on late blight in 2010. Learn about the late blight disease cycle, how to scout and diagnose the disease, and how to manage late blight on organic farms.

Maryann's Tomato Zucchini Soup Recipe

1- 28oz can tomatoes

1- 13 3/4 can chicken broth (can use vegetable)

2-3 zucchini diced

1 med-lg. onion diced

butter, olive oil (not too much)

garlic powder or use 2-3 minced cloves

marjoram and basil (dried or fresh) to taste

cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

Saute onions in butter and olive oil until translucent (medium heat for about 5 minutes).  Sprinkle zucchini with garlic power or just add zucchini and minced garlic to onions.  Saute until tender.  Add tomato and broth and spices except the salt and pepper (do this at the end).  Simmer together for half hour or so, taste and adjust.  Soup will be very chunky.  Tale half and puree it in a blender, then add it back to the rest.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

If after cooking taste is not strong enough, add 1 14oz can of "Italian Style" stewed tomatoes.

Enjoy!

Maryann's Kitchen

PS You can play with this recipe quite a lot and get very different results!

Giving Garden

If you're in the garden on Wednesday, we need help weeding plot numbers 1,2,4,6, + 32.  If you have a few extra minutes, see if you can help us get that done before we plant on Thursday.  We have a tiller we'll try to get over there in case anyone is really motivated!
If you're available on Thursday, we're going to plant new crops to help feed the food pantry.  We'll begin at 9:00.  Any and all help you can provide would be most wonderful!
And we're still taking donations although today Perennial Gardens brought us 60 habanera plants!!  So, it's safe to assume we don't need any more of those.  Everything else is welcome and needed.
Thank-you all for your generosity!
Peggy

Important information on late blight!

10 tips to prevent late blight in home gardens

• Kill volunteer potatoes. Dig up, bag and trash any volunteer potato plants that pop up in gardens or compost piles. It may take repeated efforts to get them all.
• Use only certified seed potatoes. Don't use leftovers from last year or table stock from the grocery store.
• Buy healthy tomato plants. Learn what late blight looks like. Report any infected plants while shopping or grow your own plants. (Late blight isn't spread on tomato seeds.)
• Keep plants dry. If plants need watering, water the soil -- not the foliage.
• Inspect plants at least once a week, more often if weather is cool and wet. Immediately remove and bag any foliage you suspect might be infected.
• If symptoms continue despite removing infected foliage, consider removing plants entirely -- sooner rather than later. The longer you wait to remove plants, the more spores will be blown to other gardens and farms.
• Warn neighbors and local Cooperative Extension if you find late blight in your garden.
• Remove infected plants during the middle of a sunny day after leaves have dried. But don't wait for these conditions. Seal plants in garbage bags and leave them in the sun for a few days to kill plants and the pathogen before placing in the trash or burying underground or deep in a compost pile.
• Keep an eye on other tomato-family plants. Some strains of late blight can infect other tomato-family plants, including weeds such as hairy nightshade and bittersweet nightshade. Control them early so that late blight on these plants doesn't go unnoticed. Petunias and tomatillos are also vulnerable to attack.
• Fungicides -- chlorothalonil and copper-based products can control late blight. They require a regular preventive spray schedule and thorough spray coverage. Follow all label directions, including use of respirator, waterproof gloves and protective eyewear.

  If late blight does occur among plants - those plants should be removed (the organic approach).
  Here are a couple articles including photographs of what late blight looks like so you know what to be on the lookout for.
     http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/April10/LateBlight.html
     http://www.longislandhort.cornell.edu/vegpath/photos/lateblight_tomato.htm
     http://www.umassvegetable.org/LateBlightAlertforTomatoandPotato.html
  

Welcome to the blog!

I am hopeful that the blog will be a great online meeting place for our gardeners where they can stay connected.   If you have any questions or are looking for more information about what is happening in the garden this is the place to check in.  Please send me questions, comments, pictures and stories about the garden and I will happily post them.  Also check in regularly for updates on events we are planning in the garden.
Have a great weekend!
Becky
beckysimkhai@aol.com

Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there. ~Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732

This week in bloom...

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, 
under whose shade you do not expect to sit.-  Nelson Henderson

Rainy days & sunny rays

It was a hot, muggy & extremely wet week in the garden.  Despite some minor setbacks from the torrential rain storms, the garden is really taking shape as more plots are filled.

Hilltop Hanover came to the garden on Saturday to plant one of their seedling kits in the communal plot.  Our resident expert Suzi began planting our communal pumpkin patch which will include Indian corn & birdhouse gourds.  

Little moments of beauty are in bloom all throughout the garden!

6.1.2010

One of the most delightful things about gardening is the freemasonry it gives with other gardeners, and the interest and pleasure all gardeners get by visiting other people's gardens. We all have a lot to learn and in every new garden there is a chance of finding inspiration - new flowers, different arrangement or fresh treatment for old subjects. Even if it is a garden you know by heart there are twelve months in the year and every month means a different garden, and the discovery of things unexpected all the rest of the year.   Margery Fish, We Made a Garden, 1956

Saving "Snappy"

This mornings adventures in the garden included removing a huge snapping turtle from the vegetable beds.    Lovingly named Snappy by the kids, getting him safely back to the pond was a team effort!

Looking back...early spring preparations

Back in the early spring, I started dreaming about my garden plot...I spent many nights falling asleep and waking up to the thoughts of what I wanted to do there.  I didn't know what it looked like, but I was told it would be 12' X 8' with full sun and more than ample protection against the deer that make gardening in my own back yard nearly impossible.  First I needed to figure out what it was that I really wanted to get out of my patch of dirt.  Putting fresh food on my table, making a fun garden for my children to learn and play in, and experimenting with new sustainable practices and materials were my main priorities.  I started by searching on the internet for a book that might set me on my path.

I found "The Sustainable Vegetable Garden: A Backyard Guide to Healthy Soil and Higher Yields". Getting as much food as possible while improving the soil conditions sounded like a good direction.  The idea is that by putting a large initial investment into the soil preparation, you can create dense beds that are low on maintenance and water consumption and high on yield.   

The next step was deciding what I would actually want to plant in my garden.   I wanted to start as much as I could handle from seed, but with little good space to grow seedlings I knew I would have to make careful choices.  I purchased a seed kit from Bountiful Gardens, a company that distributes heirloom, untreated, open pollenated seeds. http://www.bountifulgardens.org   The tomatoes seedlings did well despite the fact that I planted them about a month too late.  I think I got about viable 35 seedlings, which really saved a lot of money when it finally came time to get plants into the ground. 

5.24.10

Gardens, scholars say, are the first sign of a commitment to a community.  When people plant corn, they are saying, lets stay here.  And by their connection to the land, they are connected to one another.    Anne Raver

A week of hard work & big rewards

This was a big week for us in the garden.  As fears of frost past, many set out to tackle the job of getting the beds ready for planting.  Thankfully some of the work was made easier with Alberto's roto tiller, but most of us still ended up with a handful of blisters.  Martha's black gold arrived just in time to help amend the beds.

Many  headed to Hilltop Hanover to pick up their seedling kits and learn how to address some common problems that gardeners in our neck of the woods should be on the lookout for.  One of the greatest successes of the week was the completion of the irrigation system.  Having to lug heavy water jugs through the garden for the last few days has made the convenience  of a plot-side spigot that much sweeter!

As the week came to a close, many families and friends enjoyed the beautiful weather and came together to plant, share, and learn in the garden...a great week full of exciting changes!

Building the garden

Over the past 6 weeks, there has been a lot of work going on in the field behind the old barn and stable at the Marsh Sanctuary.  I will fill you in later on all the details of how this garden actually went from a great idea to a reality, but in the mean time, here are some pictures to show how it all looked a few weeks ago, and how the transformation happened.