Monday, April 29, 2013

Hoping for more fair weather

Hello all--

We had some lovely spring (and somewhat summery) weather this past weekend, and there was a lot of activity in the gardens!  From casual conversations with a few of our gardeners, I know that quite a bit of spinach, lettuces, brassica (broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage), and other spring crops were sown.  Bulb flowers are popping up everywhere as well.
Crocuses blooming.


Miniature irises.

Before we know it, it will be time to plant our summertime vegetables and fruits: tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, basil, beans, and many others.

Speaking of summer crops, our second transplant sale from Garden-to-Be will take place next-next Sunday, May 12.  A list of the Garden-to-Be transplants was shown in an earlier blog posting; in case you missed it, there will be:


  • Tomatoes
    • Cherry tomatoes
      • Sungold
      • Red
      • Black
    • Roma/paste tomatoes
      • San Marzano
      • Juliet mini-roma
    • Slicing tomatoes
      • Big Beef
      • Valley Girl
      • Lemon Boy
    • Heirlooms
      • Golden Sunray
      • Brandywine
      • Striped German
      • Pruden's Purple
      • Aunt Ruby's German Green
      • Green Zebra
      • Cherokee Purple
  • Peppers
    • Sweet
      • Snapper (sweet bell)
      • Italia (Italian frying)
    • Hot
      • El Jefe (jalapeno)
      • Highlander (anaheim)
      • Habanero
  • Eggplant
    • Galine (globe)
    • Orient Express
  • Basil
    • Genovese
    • Lemon basil
    • Thai basil
    • Purple basil
    • Pistou tiny leaf
  • Herbs
    • Parsley
    • Lavender
    • Sage
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Napa cabbage
  • Cucumbers
  • Summer squash
    • Plato (zucchini)
    • Sunburst (pattypan)
  • Winter squash
    • Red Kuri
    • Butternut
  • Swiss chard
Please keep in mind that the transplants available may vary slightly from the list above due to variables out of our power (the weather, availability, etc), but all major categories will be represented.  If you would like to know more about the varieties listed, there is a wealth of information online and a google search will tell you more than you need to know.

We hope to have compost available at this sale as well, as long as the weather cooperates.  If we have another long spell of heavy rain, the extremely heavy load of compost will sink our delivery truck hopelessly into the mud.  I'll post more information when we are certain of the compost sale date and time.

Now that the season is really starting, our registrar will be sending out notices regarding work days.  As an EHCG gardener, please remember that you are obligated to either work one official EHCG workday or pay a no-workday fee ($32 for a large plot, $16 for a small plot).  Whether you decide to do the workday or pay the fee, it is better to do it earlier in the gardening season as every year many gardeners wait until it is too late.  There is a fee if you neither work nor pay the workday fee by the end-of-the-season deadline in late September or early October, so be sure to take care of this on time.

I hope to write another blog post this week regarding organic gardening practices.  One new gardener at the cool weather transplant sale had several questions regarding which soil amendments were and weren't appropriate for EHCG.  This is an important topic so I would like to devote some time to this over the next few days.

Good luck with your gardening!  Remember to wear sunscreen!


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