2013 Garden Sign Up

Our annual sign up date has been set! April 6th at the Whitehorse Food Bank (306 Alexander Street) from 12 noon - 2pm.
This is a sign up only. Bed assignment and orientation will follow at a later date in May (to be announced). Fees required for sign up for a new members are as follows:
$20.00 annual membership fee,
$20.00 bed deposit,
 and $5.00 key deposit (for shed)
For a total of $45.00

If you are a returnng member from last year, you need only pay the annual membership fee of $20.00 and possibly the key deposit if you require another key.

Sign up is first come, first serve and each gardener is allowed to sign up for one plot only. Those gardeners who fulfilled their volunteer hours from last season and wish to return, are given first choice and preference to their existing plots or a new plot if they choose to move.

Any questions can be directed to me, Kathryn, at dugsyukon@hotmail.com.

Look forward to seeing both new and familiar faces! See you then.

2012 AGM

We're a little late but we will be holding our 2012 AGM on Wednesday, January 30th at Maryhouse (506 Cook Street). It will be the usual potluck affair at 6 p.m. followed by the meeting at 7 p.m. Everyone is welcome. Come meet the board! Come join the board! Or just stop in to say hi!

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.