Fall is Here!

Hello all,

Fall is upon us. I just have a few little updates for you.

PARSo far, this season, we've donated 187 lbs of produce to the Whitehorse Foodbank through our Plant -A- Row initiative. If anyone has any of their harvest they would like to donate for the program, mark it in your garden with a marker from the shed and I will collect it or feel free to harvest it yourself and drop off at the Foodbank. If you do drop it off yourself, I ask that you let me know the weight so I can add it on to our grand total. On a side note, in case anyone has marked their lettuce and wondered why I haven't taken it, it is likely that it is just too bitter. Summer heat (not an issue for us!), not enough water, plant maturation and too little/too much nitrogen can all lead to a bitter crop. I've heard, but not tested, that leaving the lettuce in your fridge for a couple days can help take away the bitter taste.

Bed Clean Up
When you harvest your crops be sure to put all compostable waste into the main compost. If you have a really weedy bed, please do not put the weeds into the main compost but rather into the weed compost. Even better, separate the two and put them in their respective spots. After you've cleaned out your plot turn the soil about a shovel's depth and leave it to breath for the winter. This also helps if you've had any problem with root maggots or other pests by exposing the larvae to the colder temperatures, and hopefully killing them, over winter. The deadline for bed clean out is September 30th especially if you plan to not return and wish to claim your bed deposit. I must be notified prior to the end of the month if this is your intention.

Volunteer Hours
All volunteer hours have been tracked and recorded and totals can be found here. These numbers are all based from what you've written down in the shed on the record sheets. If you feel your total is incorrect or if you worked hours that you did not write down, please let me know and I will get it sorted.

Work Bees
Work Bees will continue until the end of the month and I will likely hold one final Saturday work bee to put the garden away for the winter and as a chance for those of you who still need hours to redeem yourselves. This usually ends up being weather dependant so I will let everyone know as we get a bit closer to the end of the month.

 If people are looking for extra tasks, the compost always needs attention. Whatever is in the bins needs to be spread on top of the pile. If there is any early season compost by the sifter, it needs to be sifted. All the common trench areas should be free of weeds and grass. The water will likely be shut off in the next week or so as the colder temps move in.

That's all for now. Enjoy your weekend!

Harvest Social, Volunteer Appreciation & Rhubarb Rendezvous

Attention Gardeners!
Mark your calendars!

Harvest Social, Volunteer Appreciation &a Rhubarb Rendezvous Event!

The great “Rhubarb Rendezvous” is returning as the theme for this year’s Harvest Social. This is our way to show our appreciation for our many gardeners, volunteers and friends.

~ Three events have been rolled into one! ~

Plan to drop by for a rhubarb-themed snack and beverage, and to take home some rhubarb recipes. Take a break from the usual Wednesday work bee, have a nibble and socialize!

When: 7:00 – 8:00 pm on Wednesday, August 15th

Where: Whitehorse Community Garden,

in the main (north) garden, over by the shed

Why: To socialize and to show our appreciation for our

gardeners, volunteers and friends of the garden.

~ For more info contact Randy at 633-4379 ~

Plant a Row and things...

Hello Everyone,

I hope everyone is staying warm in this cool windy weather which feels like a really strange thing to say in the middle of July!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've started dropping of veggies at the Food Bank. Last week was my first drop off with 3 lbs of spinach and 3 of radishes. Small but welcome!

If any of you have any produce that you don't think you'll use or have just planted too much than you can handle or just want to donate, mark your plot with one of the PAR (Plant a Row) markers in the shed and I will see that it gets there. Typically, I will be collecting on Wednesday nights at the work bee, sorting, weighing and then dropping off on Thursday mornings. Of course you are always welcome to drop off your own donation. If you do, and if it is convenient, weigh it and let me know as we always like to track our donations from the garden in weight. We don't have a lot of PAR markers but we do have a volunteer working on more for us. If we run out I'll have to come up with something creative. Also feel free to send me an email if there is something really specific in your plot that you would like to donate.

Those of you with plants in the greenhouse, don't forget to water. Even though it is cool outside it can still get pretty warm in the greenhouse and plants, especially as they get larger, will need to be watered regularly.

If anyone is having issues with the gophers, please let me know. I have trapped several already but it doesn't take long for new ones to set up camp. We have a family of about 8 chipmunks living in the garden as well. They have a fondness for some plants, especially peas, but it hard to protect your plot from them short of covering the whole thing in fine mesh. Typically, the babies leave and we have the parents stick around for awhile but more or less it seems like a temporary problem.

I think the water is sorted out now. It seems touch and go. Sometimes there are no problems and then other times we can't get a drop out of the tap. I've talked to the city and they can't seem to locate any kind of disruption in service so we'll just have to deal with it. A big thank you to those volunteers who have been keeping the water barells full.

That's it for now. See you on Wednesday night!

Water

Hi Everyone,

It seems we're having some issues at the garden with the water. I was there this evening and was unable to get any water at all to come out of the taps. I will contact the city to find out what the deal is. In the mean time, I guess just keep checking until it starts to work again. I will keep everyone posted on what's happening with that and let me know if you notice anything unusual about it as well.

A quick reminder that June 10th is our cutoff date for planting so if you haven't planted yet, now is the time to get going if you want to see any results in your plots. Please let me know if you need help with your planting.

Task assignments are up (see tab above).

Other than that, things are looking really green! Happy gardening!

Greenhouse and Manure

We finally have a key for the greenhouse lock! It can be found hanging on the wall (above the volunteer hours sheet) in the shed. Please remember to put it back if you use it. I've attached it to an old sprinkler head so it's not so easy to misplace. Everyone is free to use the greenhouse. I ask anyone that does use it to mark their plants with their name so I know what belongs to who. I'll work on getting a couple of shelves as well to try and optimize the space.
The manure is now on site thanks to Morris Lamrock and his Y2C2 crew who lovingly collected and dropped off 4 truckloads for us. Yay! I have one barrel set up in the north garden for tea and is simmering as we speak. It is the one closest to the main water hookup. So if you're wondering what's up with the stinky water, that's why. I'm not sure what the weed seed content will be with the manure so sometimes it's a bit safer to water with the manure tea as opposed to mixing it in with your soil but that choice is totally yours. I'll be setting up a couple more once I get some more barrels on site. Coming soon...

Remember to record your hours in the shed if you work any time in the garden other than that on your plot. I'll have the task assignments posted on the website tomorrow.

Spring is Here!



Growing Gompanions



Just a quick update...

The water is turned on now. Those of you in the Craig Family garden please be careful to shut off all valves after you are done with the water. Anyone who does not know how to turn on the water for either garden and would like to know how, should meet me at the garden on a Wednesday night (work bee) so that I can explain it. There are a few gardeners who do already know how things operate so your other option is to ask one of them if they are there at the same time as you. It is much easier to show you than it is to try and explain it here. The city sometimes changes the setup for the water meter as well which can complicate things further even for me! Those of you with barrel filling tasks, this is your time!

We are pretty much out of usable compost for now. We do have the other pile but I don't think we'll get anything out of it for another month or so. I want to remind everyone that we do practice organic gardening methods and insist that all gardeners refrain from using any kinds of chemical fertilizers in their plots. Keep an eye on any soil you add as well as often they are "enriched" with fertilizer. If you aren't sure please ask. We should have a load of manure arriving next week. This will be a nice addition for us especially if we get some "tea" going. I'll keep you posted on that...

The weather seems to be somewhat stable so I would say we're safe to plant. If you want extra protection, invest in some of the white row cover. It's usable year after year and can be picked up at most of the garden centres in town. Make sure you pay attention to the width as some row covers only come in 3' widths and ideally you need 5' for our individual plots (not including our rather large new plots!). I have had some gardeners sew two together to make one which is an excellent idea. To those of you using plastic, be very careful that you don't leave it under too long. Your soil will be prone to dry out quicker and there is the chance that the heat may become too intense for seedlings as there really is no airflow. I also ask that everyone using any kind of extra protection , be it row cover or plastic to take it home with you when you are finished and not leave it at the garden.

What else...Oh yes, the porta-potty is now on site. Use at your own risk. It is scheduled for clean out every 2 weeks but if you find its conditions unacceptable, please contact me and I'll have it dealt with.
The greenhouse will be sorted in the next couple of weeks. I think we are going to keep a lock on it with a common key kept in the shed. I have to get a copy of the key made first but will keep you all posted on that.

I think that's it for now. Don't forget to mark your volunteer hours down in the shed. Also, don't forget to volunteer! Just to clarify, any work done in the garden, other than that in your own plot, counts as volunteer time. This includes your hours spent on task assignments. If you still can't figure out your task assignment or haven't been assigned one,  please contact me and I will explain/assign. I'm in the process of posting the assignments on one of the tabs above but haven't quite got that completed. Coming soon...

Have a great weekend everyone. Happy planting!

Work Bees

Hello Everyone and welcome to a new year of gardening, hopefully warm and fruitful!

Getting down to business, I just want everyone to be aware of the upcoming work bees. These are a great chance to make a dent in your 16 hours of "communal service" in the garden (volunteer work). Our first work bee will be this coming Saturday from 9-3pm. You can come for part of it or all of it, the choice is yours. We have a mountain of preseason tasks to deal with so naturally the more hands we have the easier the work will be. Some of the things we will be trying to conquer include:

• oiling the new beds
• general cleanup
• sorting the compost pile
• gopher proofing in the Craig garden
• cleaning and organizing the shed
• lining and filling the new beds - this is a large task and I'm not sure I'll be prepared material wise but I might be, so be prepared...

Please bring a pair of gloves to wear (if not only for warmth!). Hopefully the port-a-potty will be on site as well.
The Wednesday night work bee will start next week. These start at 6pm and go to 8pm. Once school is out and my time is a bit more my own, I will likely bump the time back to 7-9pm.
There will be one more Saturday work bee on May 19th, 9-3pm.

That's it for now. Remember to enter your email address in the space over on the right hand side of the page to ensure you get the blog posts.

See you Saturday!

May 5th - Bed Assignment and Orientation

Saturday, May 5th, from 12-2pm will be our bed assignment and garden orientation held at the Community Garden site. You will find out what plot you have been assigned, what task you have been assigned and receive your shed key. For those of you will fees outstanding, this is also a good time to pay.

Our first workbee will be Saturday, May 12th, from 9am-3pm. We'll be doing mainly spring cleanup and hopefully, depending on turnout, getting this year's compost pile in order. Everybody is encouraged to attend. You do not have to attend for the full day and any time you can spend to help out is appreciated. Any time worked applies toward your seasonal 16 hours of communal work in the garden.

After this work bee, our weekly Wednesday night work bees (6-8pm) will resume starting May 16th. We will also have one final weekend workbee on Saturday, May 19th from 9am-3pm.

Finally, we do have a few beds still available. They will be assigned on a first come, first serve basis at the bed assignment on May 5th.

2012 Garden Signup

Hello All!

Welcome to the 2012 growing season!

The annual garden signup will be March 31/2012 from 12 noon - 2pm. As always, the sign up is on a first come first serve basis after the last year's gardeners (who fulfilled their volunteer hours) have had their choice on wether they would like to return.


The costs are as follows:

Returning gardeners pay $20 annual membership fee. $20 bed deposit fee is rolled over from previous year.
New gardeners pay $20 annual membership fee and $20 bed deposit fee.
Garden shed key deposit is $5 and must be paid by anyone, returning or not, who would like to have a key to the shed.

In conjunction with these fees, every gardener is expected to volunteer at least 16 hours back to the garden. This works out to 1 hour per week over the growing season. There are always tasks to be done, wether they be weeding or watering, building or composting. We offer a work bee on Wednesday nights throughout the season to give those an opportunity to help out with various tasks and to meet some of your fellow gardeners. We also have at least two early season Saturday work bees which is an excellent way to get a head start on your 16 hours!

The location for the sign up has yet to be determined but should be announced in the next week.

Great News! We'll be holding our sign up this year at the Whitehorse Food Bank. You can find it downtown at 306 Alexander Street. I look forward to meeting and/or seeing you all!