Things To Do This Month
CHECK OUT THE SCARECROWS!! LOOK FOR "SNEAKY PETE" AND VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE SCARECROW - You'll know Sneaky Pete when you find him! Voting box is located in the tool shed!
- Keep an eye out for yellow jackets and report any nests to the coordinator.
 - Clean and fertilizer strawberry beds.
- Support tall flowers and vegetables with stakes to protect them against winds that will come later.
- Monitor garden irrigation closely so crops don't dry out.
- When corn silks appear, the ears will be ready to eat in 17 to 20 days
- Keep picking those beans to encourage more production.
- Start planning and planting mid-summer peas and fall crops of cabbage,beets, carrots, and Swiss and broccoli.
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August Garden Activities
Saturday, August 11 at 10a-12p at Luscher Farm
Classes at Luscher Farm
Scarecrow Sculpting
Create and decorate a spooky, dazzling, or life-like scarecrow. Scarecrows are in the farm gardens to bring inspiration to your own creation. Participants bring clothes, ideas and other items from home to personalize the scarecrow. Materials provided in the workshop: hay, PCV pipe, string and other items. To register, click here.
Saturday, August 4 at 21 at 11a-1p
Class #3325330
Family Evening Stroll
Who's out and about at the farm after dark on a summer evening? Twilight is a pleasant time to explore the farm to see or hear owls, insects, and noisy stirrings in the grasses and among the veggies, or maybe see the stars. Bring a small flashlight, sturdy shoes and something to sit on so we can spend time "listening" in the evening.
Thursday, August 23 at 7-8:30p
Class #3325474
Tilth's Top Ten Perennials
Walk Tilth's Demonstration Garden and discuss the super star perennials. From drought tolerant and beneficial to elegant and beautiful, each has a roll and function easily replicated in your garden.
Wednesday, August 1 at 6-7:30p
To register for
other classes,
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Winter Gardening
Reasons why winter gardening is so easy
- Mother Nature takes care of the watering
- Weeding is usually not a problem
- There is empty space in your plot
- There are fewer pests
- Truly fresh vegetables are not available in the stores.

Use cold tolerant (winter) varieties of plants. They are slow growing, but are much hardier and have more nutrients. Cole crops for example, when exposed to cooler weather will gather sugars in their tissues to act as anti-freeze and give us a very sweet flavor that only cool season growing brings.
Cole crops: Broccoli; Brussels sprouts; Cabbage; Cauliflower; Kale; Kohlrabi
Legumes: Fava beans; Peas
Root Crops: Beets; Carrots; Parsnips; Radishes
Alliums: Overwintering onions; Specialty onions; Topsetting onions; Multiplier onions; Leek; Garlic
Lettuce: Corn Salad; SwissChard; Spinach; Pac Choi; Oriental Greens |
Garden Tips
Some vegetables are considered heavy feeders and will preform better with an occasional feeding or two during the growing season. Below is a list from the Master Gardener Handbook. The Community Garden provides each gardener with slow acting organic fertilizer each year, eliminating the need for additional feedings, but a water soluble application can gives these plants an additional boost. If you should decide to add additional fertilizer, be certain it is organic!
Broccoli Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage Cucumber
Eggplant Pumpkin
Summer squash Winter squash
Tomato
Pruning tomatoes will increase yield and improve air circulation which will help avoid diseases. Removing unwanted shoots and leaves can also be an important part of ensuring that the majority of the nutrients are sent to the fruit, instead of being wasted on unwanted shoots. Ideally sucker shoots can be nipped off while the plants are still small. If you are doing this later in the season leave a couple inches of the "branch", don't cut/pinch right at the main stem. Pinching them off with your fingernails works great and helps eliminate diseases or you can disinfect your shears. Remove all stems below the flower producing branches. At the end of the summer you can "top" the plant to get the last growth of the season. |