News of Our Circular Gardens

November 20, 2008: Gardeners, We're planning an abbreviated planting session starting at 8 AM on Sunday morning to get the rest of the vegetables planted, and maybe even some wheat, and some cover crop. It will be a bit cool that early (we're accommodating the Friend's meeting which meets at 10 AM), so come prepared wearing layers. I just checked the garden, and was excited to find there is quite a bit up from our previous planting. See you there, Pearl

November 12, 2008: Gardeners, We plan to work in the garden again this Friday morning, 8:30. We have a little planting to finish, plus lots of other activities for everyone--raking up mulch, tilling, digging, transferring compost, etc. Thanks for your help! Pearl

November 5, 2008: Gardeners, we will be planting the vegetable beds on Friday morning, starting at around 8:30. Planting is always enjoyable, and even more so if we have a lot of help! Come if you can. Pearl

October 30, 2008: Gardeners, We want to harvest the dry corn tomorrow, plus we need to start preparing for planting, since grasshoppers numbers have sharply declined. There is actually quite a bit of work to be done, including general clean-up, moving some soil from the new asparagus bed to holes that have formed, tilling, moving the compost piles, and more. So the more who can come the better. If you can bring rakes and/or forks that would be good. There are a number of shovels already there, but if you have a favorite, bring that too. Start time: 8:30-9:00 AM. Good news items: ~The retired hens from Sitting Tree Community are doing well, and seem to be enjoying life in the garden. ~David got the Troybilt tiller running (with a lot of work, but not too much expense), so now it will be available for tilling the garden. Hope to see a lot of you tomorrow, Pearl

October 22, 2008: Hi Gardeners, This past Wednesday, Oct.15 evening we met at the CCC talked and enjoyed a potluck meal together. Meeting attendees: Erik, Gail, Jim F., Pearl, David O. and Jess. Here are some of the plans that came from our talk.

-CHICKENS/GRASSHOPPERS. First we will experiment with chickens in the garden to help rid us of plant eating insects, especially grasshoppers. There is no point in planting till we get rid of the grasshoppers. Sitting Tree Community (in Tucson) is donating their coop and 5 chickens. Saturday the coop and chickens were placed in garden. Monday morning the chickens' primary wing feathers were clipped (this does not harm birds and done to keep birds from flying out of 6' electrified fence) and their coop door opened for them to come in and out of and to begin eating and scratching in the garden.

-COMPOSTING. We plan to move composting piles to centers of each of the 3 Planting Circles. This will solve the problem of compost piles staying moist enough to break down. Erik will be sure ABS pipe will be slipped over the irrigation pipe in center of each circle to prevent rusting of irrigation pipe.

-TILLER. David O. is repairing the large Troybuilt tiller and a part is on order. I'm amazed he got the wheel off. This was only possible after getting some heavy heavy metal stuff from Dave Parsons "resource yard" to help pull it off.

-IRRIGATION (summary). David O. to draw irrigation plan for new areas in garden: asparagus, fruit trees, herb bed and circle 4. David O. is lead person on irrigation installation.

-WINTER PLANTING. In Circle 1 plant a cover crop. In Circle 2 plant grain. In Circle 3 plant half or more in veggies and rest cover crop.

-ASPARAGUS BED. Move out extra soil and use it to fill in sink holes. Erik has some plants to donate and we will purchase additional plants.

-SHADE. Put in a ramada in the center of garden.

-PLANT PROTECTION. If chickens prove useful for grasshhopper control, try a removable perimeter fence of poly net around one circle to protect emerging plants from chickens.

-HERBS. Prepare another triangular bed for herbs and other perennials.

-FRUIT TREES. Put in irrigation for 6-12 trees. These trees will help provide shade in the garden and give us some fruit.

-ORCHARD. (previous notes and concerns from Sept.'08 CCC Board Mtg.) There has been discussion for an orchard on CCC property. If we decide to pursue this further an overall plan still needs to be developed for an orchard with a whole system approach including: defining orchard group/responsible entity (CHA); time line plans/phases; Barbara Clark checking out borders of CCC land; expense plan; roof water/water shed havesting; integrate plan with existing native plants; make orchard a recreational asset (ramada, seats, paths, etc.); seek resources available through NRCD, USDA, etc.

(Above: Circle 1, August 13, 2007 Photo by Karen McKelvey)

October 9, 2008: Gardeners, please join us this Wednesday 10/15 5PM at the CCC to share a pot luck meal and conversation about the Garden/Orchard. Some exciting ideas have been bubbling up and by coming together we'll talk things through into what to do next. I hope you can come--don't think you need to bring anything. I know Erik, Pearl and David will be there. You are what make it a Community Garden--your support has kept the garden going year after year. You're part of the bigger picture of this community project. Help us continue creating. Looking forward to seeing you then, Gail

October 3, 2008: Gardeners, It was great to read about the garden happenings while we were away, and to hear about all the food that was harvested. Thanks to all who helped, especially to Gail and Jim for jumping in and coordinating. The grasshoppers are still very thick in the garden, so we won't be planting just yet, but we would like to continue preparations, so that when the time is right we'll be ready. Tomorrow we'd like to work on the new asparagus bed, moving soil aside to make room for manure, perhaps move the compost piles, also sort through the row covers and other "stuff" in the shed, and do general clean-up. Since the weather is cooling somewhat, we'd like to accommodate the yoga class, by starting at 10 AM, so those folks can come over after the class. Looking forward to seeing you then, Pearl

September 19, 2008: Hi Gardeners, Come join us this Sunday morning to prepare for an asparagus bed by moving some soil out of the bed to holes in the garden area. And need help in tilling Circle 2 for couple of hours. Jim will be there at 6:30AM to get the tilling started. Remember there is a party for Arlo and Bob at noon. Reminder, outstanding garden activities: winnowing wheat and oats; and harvesting corn. Last Sunday we provided care to corn ears to prevent worm damage, started tilling Circle 2 and marked out location for asparagus bed. See you in the garden. Gail

September 1, 2008: Hi Gardeners, Come join us this Wednesday evening around 5pm to do corn care and weed and harvest from circle 2. And if there is the appetite for watermelon we'll cut one open. This past Sunday morning we weeded and harvested from Circle 2. See you in the garden. Gail

August 28, 2005 Hi Gardeners, Come join us this Sunday morning to finish mulching Circle 3. We could use pumpkin seeds to replant Circle 1 with pumpkin. We'll also weed Circle 2 and harvest watermelon and any winter squash that's ready. See you in the garden. Gail

August 25, 2008: Hi Gardeners, We mulched some 6-7 bales of straw Thursday morning and then feasted on the most delicious watermelon that was 3 feet long. Please go to the garden and pick a watermelon (if the tendrils near the melon are dried and brown it is ripe). There are lots of ripe ones. However do not wear green the swarms of insects may chew on you. That is what they are doing with all the squash plants and they are starting to chew on the fruit. Please pick the squash from any of the dead plants, those squash aren't growing anymore. The delicata squash plants are near dead and there are other winter squash plants that are dead and their fruit needs to be harvested. The winter squash harvested last some 3 weeks at room temperature. Something has been eating our new little pumpkin plants only six have made it so far. It looks like we'll need to replant pumpkins in Circle 1. We're still watching for pinto bean plants in Circle 1. This week we'll be getting more mulch to finish mulching the Circle 3. Circle 3 has the latest planting of pumpkin and pinto beans. I'll put out a message when we get the mulch for help putting it down. See you in the garden. Gail

August 20, 2008: Hi Gardeners, We will have straw to mulch on the garden tomorrow morning. We will be unloading straw from Linda's truck by the garden and carting it into the garden. We will need strong backs to get it off the truck over the fence. Jim will need to move gently since he hurt his back last week. So those of you with hardy backs would be much appreciated. Be sure to bring an appetite for some watermelon since we'll be cutting one open in the morning. See you in the garden. Gail

August 18, 2008: Hi Gardeners, Come join us this Thursday morning to hoe in Circle 3. We haven't gotten straw to put in Circle 3 yet and hoeing should help out till we get the mulch. We'll also check the watermelon and winter squash to see what can be harvested. Per "Extreme Gardening" book, winter squash is mature when it passes the fingernail test. If your fingernail cannot puncture the rind, it's ripe. Cut (don't pull) it off the vine, leaving 5-6 inches of stem. Let it cure in a dry place for 10 days before storing in a cool, dry place.Is anyone interested in getting straw for mulch? let me know (the garden group has funds to reimburse for it).This past Sunday we finished planting pinto beans in Circle 3 and did some harvesting of cucumbers. A 6 foot extension was put on Circle one's overhead sprinkler. We needed to water the corn this week and the corn is over 6 foot now and still growing. See you in the garden. Gail

August 11, 2008: Hi Gardeners, Come join us this Tuesday morning to mulch between the rows planted with pumpkin and pinto beans in Circle 1 and we'll give a final till to Circle 3 and add soil sulphur. Jim and I won't be able to be there so we'll check in with Erik to find out if the tilling and mulching were finished Tuesday morning. If not we'll call another gardening time for Wednesday morning for folks who would like to help then. We hope to be ready to plant pinto beans and pumpkin/squash this Sunday morning using the seeder in Circle 3. In Circle 1 there is only about 3/10s of the circle planted with pumpkin and 2/10s pinto beans. Half the circle is corn which is almost 6 feet tall now. Reminder get your elephant garlic at the Community Center. And check the frig for some veggies. This past Sunday morning we tilled Circle 3 and weeded Circle 2 and harvested cucumber. See you in the garden. Gail

August 5, 2008: Hi Gardeners, Come join us this Wednesday morning to plant pumpkins seeds and clean up the harvested garlic. And of course there is always weeding, some mulching and harvesting veggies. The grasshoppers are here and have eaten up the green pepper plants, eggplant, basil, and beans. The good news is we have summer squash and cucumber (slicing, pickling and Armenian) to harvest now. And still growing and looking good are winter squash and melons. And there is a chili plant and some okra that may survive the grasshoppers. This past Sunday morning we chopped and tilled in old veggies in circle 1 prepping it for planting pumpkin, weeded, mulched, and harvested onions (they're in the shed drying), squash and cucumber. See you in the garden. Gail

August 1, 2008: Hi Gardeners, Come join us this Sunday morning to clean up the harvested garlic, mow, till and plant pumpkin seeds. And of course there is always weeding, mulching and harvesting veggies. GO TO THE CCC there's some summer squash in the Community Center frig please help yourself to it. I'm sure there is more squash in the garden ready to harvest, too. (The summer squash is in the West quadrant of Circle 2.) We still haven't seen any rattlers since the first and second sighting but still be on the alert. This past Thursday morning we weeded, mulched, mowed and harvested squash and cucumber. See you in the garden. Gail

July 28, 2008: Hi Gardeners, Come join us this Thursday morning to weed, mulch and harvesting veggies. Maybe we will do some tilling too. There's a question if we will be planting pinto beans, since we are needing more help in the garden. The pinto bean process requires more people power like the wheat. But we plan on tilling in Circle 1 to plant pumpkins (the pumpkins don't require much people power for harvesting). In Circle 1 we are still harvesting: onions, kale, chard and broccoli. Please come to the garden and harvest summer squash. (The summer squash is in the West quadrant of Circle 2.) Still be on the alert in the garden even though we did not see any rattlers this past Sunday morning. This past Sunday morning we weeded, mulched, mowed and harvested squash, eggplant and cucumber. See you in the garden. Gail

July 22, 2008: Hi Gardeners, To keep up with the weeding we'll meet this coming Sunday morning. We'll also mulch and maybe till. If you get the urge to weed before Sunday please do and harvest some summer squash. The summer squash is in the West quadrant of Circle 2. Be alert in the garden we do have a resident rattler who was not seen this morning. Hopefully he is hanging out in some gopher tunnel. Threshed wheat was screened and next is winnowing. The winnowing will be a last minute call dependent on the wind. Bob Evans has offered his hilltop to winnow from. Something else we will be doing is some tilling in Circle 1. In Circle 1 we are still harvesting: onions, kale, chard and broccoli (there's also some lettuce if you enjoy it's bitterness). After tilling we'll be planting pumpkins. This morning we weeded and mulched. And did more wheat work. Some folks harvested squash. The rain gage indicated 3/10" of rain on Tuesday. See you in the garden. Gail

July 22, 2008: Dear Folks, Three kinds of summer squash are sarting to come in (yellow, zucchini and that round, flat light green kind). I picked two bags full on Sunday and Monday mornings...and took only the biggest ones. We should try to keep them harvested so that they'll keep producing, so don't be shy about harvesting baby veggies. I grilled some that tasted great, and made a onion/cheese/egg casserole out of some others. Passed on about 20 more to Erik and Allen to spread around...... Gail says the young ones are great with a light
marinade. I've been using them instead of chips for guacomole. Come to the garden party on Tuesday morning and pick some little, tender ones..... Cheers, Lynn

July 21, 2008: Hi All, Below is the recordings from the rain gage located by the garden irrigation control box. If anyone happens to drop by the garden after a rain it would be much appreciated if you note the reading, dump the water, and forward on the info to Gail or Jim. We are trying to keep a running tally on the measurable rain in the garden and will post the info.

Rain report from the garden.

7/10: 1.6"
7/12: .1"
7/13: .3" (Woody)
7/16: .1"
7/20: .6" (Lynn) Total for July so far: 2.7" (?)

July 20, 2008: Hi Gardeners, This Tuesday morning come to the garden for threshing wheat. If you prefer to do something else there is weeding, mulching and tilling to do. We would like to finish threshing wheat. If it's too damp for threshing wheat on Tuesday or we haven't finished threshing we probably will meet the next morning, Wednesday, to thresh then. The rain gage in the garden showed 6/10" this Sunday morning (thanks Lynn for checking it). This past Saturday morning we harvested most of the wheat left in Circle 3. And we did some stumping of wheat heads. See you in the garden. Gail

July 17, 2008: Hi Gardeners, We put a good dent in thrashing the wheat this evening. This Saturday morning we hope to finish up thrashing wheat. There's a tarp in the shed that contains thrashed wheat that needs to be screened. And the final 10% of wheat remaining in the circle needs to be cut and thrashed. There's some tilling to be done in circle one. Mulching around the rest of the corn plants is needed. And of course there is always weeding to do. See you in the garden.

July 16, 2008: Hi Gardeners, Our wheat thrashing was so successful tonight that we hope to finish up tomorrow starting at 5pm. We have a window of dry weather and if we have a good turn out we hope to finish up on the wheat. The straw from the wheat is being put around the corn plants. In the evening moon light the green corn plants pop out from the gold straw. See you in the garden. Gail

July 13, 2008: Hi Gardeners, There's a forecast of drier weather this Wednesday. So we'll be aiming to thrash wheat then. In the morning we'll pull out the bundles of wheat from the shed to dry it out unless it's raining. Join us 5 PM to thrash and /or come in the morning to help pull out the wheat (some weeding also could be done then if you have the urge). Really it's the thrashing we need help with. Thrashing/threshing is a group effort. This past gardening day Sunday morning we weeded Circle 1 where the corn is planted, mulched some, and mowed around the circles. We started preparing the other half of circle 1 for planting pumpkin. In this half we collected lettuce seeds (the beet seeds will be collected when ready later) and pulled some weeds. In this half we are still harvesting some veggies: kale, onions, cabbage and broccoli. This morning, Sunday, no rain in the garden; however it rained later this afternoon. If anyone goes to the garden today or tomorrow, please let us know what the gage reads. See you in the garden.

July 12, 2008: Dear Gardeners, We have now had almost 2 in of 'gentle' rain since July 1 , I am wondering if the automatic irrigation can be shut off? The effect of rain v. irrigation water may be stronger if no irrigation is added at least for a week maybe more? Any discussion?? Charlie Thomas. Dear Charlie, The irrigation system has been turned off since Thursday when we received 1 6/10ths'' of rain at the garden. We've placed a rain gage next to the irrigation control box. With Erik's input we've been monitoring the water requirements on a regular basis and making adjustments as needed. Thank you for your observation, Gail. Hi Gardeners, Join us in the garden this Sunday morning to keep up with the weeding in the garden. If by chance it's dry enough we'll thrash wheat The corn is doing well and we need to weed the half circle where it is growing. Other things that could be done are: mulching; mowing the weeds around the circles and setting some gopher traps. This past garden day Thursday around 5 PM it was still too damp to thrash wheat so we did some weeding. This morning, Saturday, the rain gage indicated 1/10" of rain. See you in the garden. Gail

July 07, 2008: Hi Gardeners, We're aiming for Thursday at the end of the day around 5 PM to thrash wheat. If it's still too damp to thrash wheat we'll do some weeding and more mulching. If you want to enjoy the garden before Thursday and do some weeding, check out where the corn is growing little weeds are starting to come up there. And Circle 2 will always have some weeds to be pulled. Our plan is that some of us will go down to the garden on Thursday around 2PM and pull out the wheat bundled in the shed and bring it out to thoroughly dry. Of course this is dependent on it being sunny and dry. This past garden day, Sunday morning, since the wheat was not dry enough to thrash; we weeded all of Circle 2 and mulched it more. We had a great turn out and had a great time chatting and weeding our way around the circle. The plants are looking real good. See you in the garden. Gail

July 02, 2008: Hi Gardeners, Help us thrash wheat this Sunday morning. We were unable to do any stumping (thrashing) this morning since the wheat needed to dry out after the Tuesday rain. We're gambling with the weather that we will be able to finish up the thrashing between this Sunday and one more thrashing morning. We've dwindled down to a small few who are available to do this summer gardening, so what we can get done is very precious.

This morning, we harvested all the garlic it's drying in the shed. We have a mighty heap of garlic and it looks great.

The corn has started popping up out of the ground. And we're still keeping ahead of the weeds in Circle 2 where the veggies are growing. The mulching that has been done is making it easier to pull out those weeds. But more weeding and mulching is always much appreciated. I'm starting to dream of water melon, sweet and juicy. There are a lot of other beautiful plants growing here and home grown sure tastes best to me.

Don't forget put on your stumping shoes and come on down to the garden this Sunday. See you in the garden.
Gail

June 28, 2008: Hi Gardeners, Come join us this Wednesday morning to harvest the wheat. There is still an urgency to finish up before the rains. We have so much wheat yet to harvest. We have filled almost all the 35 gallon metal cans so we'll be going to large black garbage bags and storing them in Bob Evan's storage shed where the mice can't get at them. And also his place on the hill will be a great place to be winnowing the grains. In Circle 2 veggie garden where we have such delicious plants coming up (watermelon, eggplant, peppers, squash, cucumber, okra, etc) is being well weeded. I understand we're ahead of the weeds this summer. You know what a race that is. We always have weeding and more mulching to do here. So come on down any time to keep ahead of those weeds. There's a map in the shed to locate what's there. All the plants are growing in the trenches that circle round. In Circle 1 we have garlic to harvest (please use a shovel to keep the garlic together). We'll be harvesting Wednesday and drying them in the shed. The corn has been thoroughly watered. Now we need to be on the lookout when the plants break through the ground. Let me know if you see them and then they'll get another thorough watering. They're in half of Circle 1. If you haven't done any wheat stumping come on down Wednesday morning wearing your stumping shoes and join the party. Looking forward to seeing you in the garden. Gail

June 26, 2008 Hi Gardeners, This Sunday morning come join us to finish up harvesting the wheat. There is still an urgency to finish up before the rains. There are such wonderful ways to enjoy our wheat berries. Both Pearl and I cook them like rice and fix a delicious warm cereal. That may not sound enticing in this warm weather but I enjoy it on cool Fall and Winter mornings. Sprouting the wheat berries is what I want to try in this warmer weather. If you have any favorite wheat berry recipes I'd liked to hear about them.

Wednesday morning was another wonderful time in the garden with a dark cloudy sky, cool time and chatting while gathering wheat. We harvested 3/4's of the wheat. Andy worked his scythe to line up the cut wheat which we then bundled and stacked in shooks for drying. The wheat that was missed for bundling was raked and gathered into cloth tarps and hung to dry. The remainder of the oats that were drying from Monday were separated from stalks and collected for final winnowing.

The corn that was planted Monday still needs a thorough watering which I hope it gets this early Thursday morning. Jim and I will be checking this out tomorrow morning (Thursday morning) and Lynn said she was going to go to the garden to weed then. So we may not have a cafe in Cascabel, but the garden may be a place to gather. It sure is beautiful in the morning there.

Looking forward to seeing you in the garden. Gail

une 24, 2008: Hi Gardeners, Monday morning the garden was tilled a final time before the corn was planted. The harvested oats were whacked to remove grain (we still have more to do on Wednesday, then we will winnow, my terms may be all wrong but I'm sure having fun). Circle 2 was weeded and more mulch was put down.

This Wednesday morning Andy will do a scythe demonstration and as a result we will get the wheat harvested and stacked to dry. Will finish up processing the oats, this is if the wind cooperates and helps us winnow the oats. More weeding and mulching is also needed in Circle 2. Oh I goofed and didn't get the corn watered Tuesday morning. Instead it will get it's first long watering Wednesday morning and not watered again until we see the corn plants poking through. Circle 3 where the wheat is hasn't been getting water, making it ready to harvest. And Circle 2 is being watered every night to keep those little plants growing. Hope to see you tomorrow in the garden. Gail

June 20, 2008: Hi Gardeners, Here's the latest plan for next week:
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Monday, 6/23, 6AM: working with our harvested oats; mulching and weeding.
Wednesday, 6/25, 6AM: Andy's scythe demonstration; harvesting wheat; and planting corn.
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If everything falls into place the garden will sure be looking pretty for when the rains come. I look forward to seeing everyone in the cool cool garden.

We need to get the wheat harvested before the monsoon starts. So we really, really need your help. Your help is needed in planting corn and pumpkins in Circle 1. We've been preparing Circle 1 for this planting. This morning we mowed in where the oats where harvested. Tilling didn't happen because the tiller refused to work. However, Jimmy is going to work some magic on the tiller and do tilling on Sunday.

Circle 2's seeds are growing into plants. The circle has been mulched almost completely. More mulching and weeding is always appreciated by the plants. Be sure and check Pearl's map hanging in the shed to find out where your favorite veggies are growing. Candy planted more eggplants (for you eggplant lovers) this morning.

The garden is a happening place even the rabbits are wanting to be there. Come join the fence patrol to fill in where they are sneaking in. See you in the garden. Gail

June 15, 2008: Hi Gardeners, The oats were harvested today and are now drying. More straw was put on the 2nd circle as mulch to keep the weeds down. And in Circle 1 the center was mowed and tilled. This Wednesday morning at 6:30 AM come join us. There's mowing, tilling and planting to be done. And don't forget to check out the new little plants growing. You can see Pearl's Plant map of Circle 2 hanging in the shed. It's beautiful in the garden early in morning with cool breezes and birds singing. I look forward to seeing you there. Gail

June 03, 2008: Hello gardeners, Garden Work Party this Saturday, June 7th, 6AM. Don't let the 6AM start prevent you from coming when you can. Erik, Jim and I will be there at 6AM to get things started. We'll be mulching the newly planted garden to hold back the weeds and retain moisture.

STRAW? If you have some, we could use more straw for mulching. We'll also be mowing and tilling at the garden this Saturday morning. I look forward to seeing you at the garden. Gail PS: I'll be sending out the Garden messages while Pearl is away.

May 25, 2008: Hello gardeners, As many of you know, there is a lot of food in the garden at this time, so let's make good use of it.

It is also high time to be planting summer veggies. Several people are working on tilling Circle 2 for that purpose, and it should be ready by this weekend. It looks like the best time for Erik and us to coordinate the planting would be Sunday late afternoon. So we have scheduled a work party for then--Sunday, June 1 at 4 PM. Yes, it's an odd time, but it seemed the best we could do.

We have seeds on hand for watermelon, beans, green beans, and some squash, plus variety of flowers, but we still need seeds for Armenian cucumbers, Kubocha squash, your favorite winter squash, other vegetables you might want, plus plants of eggplant (6-12) and chiles (a dozen?) and tomatillos (6). If any of you could pick up these seeds and plants when you are in town, please let me know so I can coordinate, and then we can reimburse you.

Hope to see many of you on Sunday afternoon. Pearl

March 09, 2008: Gardeners, Gail and Jim and I spent some time in the garden on Saturday. We harvested a lot of greens: lettuce mix (a perfect mix of baby salad greens), kale, collards, and turnip greens from thinnings. Gail and I washed them up and there are still some available at my place, so stop by if you want some, or go directly to the garden. It's definitely time to stop buying greens and use our own supply. We also harvested a whole row of radishes, and we have a lot on hand here as well. There is still more work to do, so we are tentatively planning a garden workday for this coming Saturday, March 15 at 10 AM. When you come you will see that David, with assistance from Jim and Gail, put up a lovely shed for tools and supplies--just what we've all been saying we need for quite a while. It did require some money for materials, as did the seeds for fall planting, so if you've been thinking you would like to make a monetary contribution to the community garden, now would be a good time. Checks should be made to Cascabel Hermitage Association. Thanks. I'm also forwarding an email from Erik regarding the prospect of an orchard in the garden area. As he notes, there seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for an orchard, and Erik has some suggestions for how to move ahead with that. Please read it carefully, and send feedback as a reply to all if possible. Again, thanks to all, and let's start making full use of the bounty. Pearl

February 19, 2008:

Gardeners,
We had a good planting day last Saturday. The 3 circles are fully planted at this point.

The first radishes are ready. For those unfamiliar with veggie lay-out, they are in the covered bed to the far left as you enter the gate. The arugula is also big enough to start harvesting (at end of pea row, 2nd bed from left), and even the first lettuce and spinach could provide a small salad at this point (3rd bed from left).

Now, for the real question of the week. Erik has proposed dedicating the area of the garden that could have been developed into a 4th circle as an orchard instead. He figures we could put approximately 25 trees in that space. We talked about this idea at the last garden workday, and everyone present seemed enthusiastic. Charlie and Jeannine have expressed support. What do the rest of you think? We haven't figured the cost of trees and irrigation system, etc., but obviously it would require a fairly substantial investment. I proposed that we might have a "sponsor a tree" program to help cover the cost if we agree this is something we would like to pursue. Let me know what you think, and I'll send a report out in a week or so.

January 15, 2008:

Most of what we planted the last time is up and looking good despite the cold nights!

We do have quite a few more seeds available now, and Nikki and Brenda donated 18 broccoli plants that are impatiently waiting for planting day. We are planning to do that this Saturday afternoon at 1 PM. Some of the stuff that's up needs thinning, so that will be the other main task. Weeds aren't too much of a problem yet.

Elna has let many of you know, but I'll repeat here...we reorganized the freezers in Elna's barn. The small freezer in the middle is the one that has the frozen veggies from last year's garden, plus other food that folks have donated for sharing with others in the community. There are pecans (in the shell) and some dumpstered bread in addition to the vegetables. Beside that freezer are a couple 5-gallon buckets that have the wheat and the beans that have been grown in the garden as well. Help yourself (within reason of course) and thank Elna for making this space available. See you Saturday, Pearl

November 25, 2007:

Gardeners,
It's past time to get started on the fall/winter/spring garden. David and I been away or occupied with other projects, but now we're available, so let's do it! We talked with several of you recently, and decided on the Monday after the Cascabel Christmas Fair to have a work party. That's December 3, starting at 9 AM.

What we hope to do is clean up the vines and other plant matter from Circle 1, put that on the compost pile, and dig bermuda out of Circle 3. That will prepare for tilling, and then planting of course. If you can't come to the work party on that day, feel free to go over and work on clean-up in Circle 1 or digging up bermuda in Circle 3.

We're thinking to plant vegetables in Circle 1, cover crop in Circle 2 and wheat in Circle 3. I'll be going through the seeds we have on hand this week, and making a list of what else we might need. Jimmy and Elna want more spinach this year, I want more salad greens so that we can cut them off as baby greens, Lynn wants to try endamame...let me know what your desires are.

In other news...
We were feeling the need for a mower dedicated for community garden use. David and I looked around at used ones, and also at the possibility of buying a really heavy-duty walk-behind bushhog type mower. It turned out that the latter cost several thousand dollars, so that was out of the question. Then we looked at new lawn mowers and found one at Sears that is heavier duty than the one we have been using, and it was on sale for around $200. We made an executive decision to go ahead and buy it. It starts easily every time and David has already used it to do all the mowing around the garden.

We also took Elna's small rototiller that we've been using to Mescal Outdoor Power, a nice local mom-and-pop repair business that does good work. So it has new metal wheels, starts easily and works well. In addition we took in Pat's heavy-duty Troy-bilt tiller and they will be giving us an estimate soon on how much it would cost to have it refurbished.

Debbie Hawkins and friends went over to the garden during the mesquite milling and harvested the squash and pumpkins. We put them out at the community center to be taken for a donation as desired, and they all were taken, with donations of about $40.

There are still quite a few greens in the community freezer at Elna's barn (the third chest freezer back from the door), so come and partake.

Looking forward to getting back out in the soil.

Pearl

(Below: Circle 1, September 2007 -- full of ripening melons, squash, et al. Innumerable grasshoppers feasting on the old foliage. Unidentified intruder caught on film having seized a ripe Butternut Squash.)

[Below, Karen's photos from August 13, 2007 (Click on each image to enlarge it):]

.....

September 10, 2007: Hello gardeners, The garden continues to produce an abundance of watermelon and squash, some okra, beans, cucumbers, muskmelon, cantaloupe and eggplant (yuck). We harvested seven watermelons, one large squash, twenty butternut squash and five delicata squash to donate to the CWG fund raiser. I did not keep exact records of the amount that this helped the group raise, but I think
it was just under $100. Our garden is amazing in so many ways.

If you have not had a watermelon or other melon yet, you are in for a surprise when you do. There are at least six watermelons ready at this time, so eat away.

Evie and I finished harvesting the pinto beans and checked on the drying of the ones that we harvested before. They are ready! Anyone that wants to meet at the garden on Wednesday, at around eight in the morning, can
join in on the flailing (stomping) and sifting fun. We will even have music to dance to (requests being taken now {seriously}). Also to come will be a winnowing party, but we will have to wait until an evenly briskly windy day.

I hope that everyone is doing well this fine summer. Be well, Erik

September 3, 2007: Yesterday and today, Candy, Evie and I worked in the garden, pulling at > the inexhaustable supply of weeds and harvesting beans. We cut off most of the pinto plants and put the vines in two big bundles which we hung from the tripods to dry further. I think it will be about a two weeks until they finish drying then we can stomp or flail, sift and winnow them. Looks like it will be a good harvest. Erik

August 19, 2007: Hello all, Just wanted to write a bit about watermelons and when to harvest them. Hopefuly I'll be able to get to Cascabel for a few days next week and meet up with some folks in the garden but until then perhaps this will do. If you have your eye on a particular watermelon and think that it may be ready to harvest then conduct the following test.

First, locate the stem of the watermelon, follow the stem the two inches or so to the main vine where you will see a set of leaves and a tendril. Often the end of the tendril will be eaten off or dried off or damaged, so don't expect to see the whole thing. If you do find the tendril or part of it, and it is ENTIRELY brown, right down to the vine, then the watermelon should be ready for harvest. If that tendril is missing entirely, you can go to the next set of leaves up or down the vine and examine those tendrils. If they are all brown then the watermelon should be ready to harvest. I am guessing that some watermelon are close to being harvestable. Hope you are all well, Erik

Hello all again, I hope to meet up with some folks in the garden this coming week to discuss harvesting and what to do with all those pintos (and other stuff). I should know a bit more of my schedule after a meeting with Aeyn's
doctors. Karen, I think that doubling the time and not-quite halving the frequency would be a good idea for the watering. Lets look at it this following week. Cheers, Erik

August 15, 2007: Gardeners -- Jimmy and I and Woody all had dinner from the garden tonight. Cucumber salad, delicada squash, string beans. That's not all that's ready. See Karen's note above. We need eaters at this point. Some judgement is still required about what's ready and what's not quite -- but I haven't had anything bad yet. We have a TON of pintos. Not quite ready, but we need to do something about them. Maybe just finding out more from Erik. Cheers!~ and bon apetit. Elna

August 13, 2007: I resumed the watering schedule today, though shortened the time to only one hour. Irrigation set for M/W/F and Sun so best days for weeding are Tues/Thurs/Sat Perhaps we should water longer, less frequently but I don't know about these things. Anyone? Also, I'm still hopeful that the moonsoon will provide supplemental water.

Most of the pictured items [see above] are not ready to harvest, (we novices are relying on Erik to know when things are ready) but I have been harvesting Japenese cucumbers, eggplant, burgundy beans, and sunflowers. The sunflowers are great as cut flowers, and they sure brighten up a room! The pinto beans look great, the garbanzos are iffy, and the peanuts are pretty sad looking. Bugs are munching the corn pretty heavily.

Pumkins need weeding. The tiller needs some repairs and Jimmy will try to get it fixed this week. There is room to till between the pumpkin ROWS but not between the plants so I have focused my weeding between and close to the plants. The plants are quite big and no trouble distinguishing them from everything else. If anyone can get there this week and weed it would be helpful. I will be back in the garden on Friday.
The watermelon is rampant and I was pretty ruthless about curbing it where it had overgrown the eggplant and pumpkins. Karen

July 28, 2007: [Karen] I suspended the water in the garden this morning. Too wet to weed, but I weed whacked some of the waist high salt weed around Circle 3. The squash is starting to fruit. Pumpkins, corn, and zinnias coming up. Sunflowers about to blossom. The effort to salvage garbanzos and peanuts may well pay off.
Showed Jimmy how to resume the watering and he and Elna will gauge when to do that depending on rain.
I talked to Pearl yesterday and she sends greetings. She has been experimenting with "baby greens" in the Oregon garden.

July 20, 2007: Hi everyone -- Garden continues to prosper. Pumpkins planted on 7/14 are starting to come up. And I counted 43 emerging corn plants on the south side of Circle 1 along the edges of the mulched path, but none yet on the west side. The kubocha squash does not seem to be faring very well but other types doing well.
Plugging along on Circle 3. Still needs mulching and weeding. Nikki and Brenda have provided more straw.
Heat is pretty daunting if not in the garden very early.
On 7/19 I planted additional pumpkins and zinnias.
Lots of butterflies and bees- seems to be a fair amount of pollinating going on, and alas, some insect damage as well. I am a very novice gardener, but have gotten some library books on desert gardening and am trying to educate myself about some of this stuff. Anyone who has time and can participate please do. Weeding and mulching Circle 3 is the current primary task. At this point it's very easy to distinguish plants (peanuts, pintos, garbanzo beans, from "weeds". I won't be in the garden again until Thursday morning. thanks to all, Karen

July 15, 2007: Dear Gardeners, We had 7 folks show up for the garden party Saturday morning and accomplished quite a bit. Squash and watermelon are rampant and lovely and we weeded and mulched in those beds in Circle 1. There are many blossoms.
The die hard gardeners continued to weed Circle 3. There is still much to be done there, however they have worked their way through the pintos and garbanzos.
Erik tilled the pumpkin area in Circle 1 and we planted about half before running out of seed. We also planted corn in the fallow areas between squash on the south and west sides of Circle 1. On the south side near the delicata squash the mulched path is where one should walk. The corn is planted along both sides of the mulched path.
On the west side there is no mulch but corn is planted so please don't tread in the empty tilled area there. (Reminder, garden diagram is in the metal garbage can near the gate.)
Also do not tread on the north side of Circle 1 in the small space between the sunflowers and the stakes, where the stakes are marked with pink surveyor ribbon. That little curved stretch is the flower garden!
Erik also wired blocks of wood to the gate on both sides to abort rabbit raids.
We harvested the 1st Ichiban eggplants.
I amended this e-mail list, adding a few people that I had missed previously. I will be in the garden this week on Thursday 7/19 at about 7:30. Join me if you can. Thanks to all, Karen

July 12, 2007: Dear Folks, Karen called and said that her address lists had gotten wiped out by an rnsmte problem....so, she asked me to remind everyone that there will be a garden work party to plant pumpkins and corn on Saturday morning. She didn't say what time, but given the heat I'd say the earlier the better. If you get there before anyone else, there's bound to be a little weeding and mulching that you could do while you wait. (I think that 7am has been mentioned before as a start time.) By Saturday, all of the garbanzos that are left should be "freed" of their weed cloaks. Hopefully, we'll have made some progress on the eanuts too. The pintos that were mulched are looking great, as are the veggies in Circle 1. See you Saturday, Lynn

July 02, 2007: Greetings Gardeners Thanks to all who participated in the push to preserve the garden over the past week! Especially those who toiled and did not give up on Circle 3! There is still much weeding and mulching to do (though we need more straw to proceed with the mulching) but many of the plants are prospering. The shredder still awaits anyone who has time to go at the sunflower stalk pile, but once the rain starts it will have to go back under cover in Elna's barn. Anyone who provides straw can be reimbursed through CHA. You do not have to cart it in. Just kick it off a truck bed at the garden stile. The more the better. It saves hours and hours of labor. The wheat is threshed and Erik did a preliminary tilling of the "pumpkin patch." Thanks to Lynn and Elna's sleuthing the "missing" okra was discovered and liberated. (43 plants of 2 varieties!)
There will be 2 work parties coming up: SATURDAY JULY 7, and SATURDAY JULY 14 . Start time: 7am
I will be in Tucson for the next 2 weeks doing a house sitting stint but will be here for both work days.
Anyone who can get to the garden mid-week please do. The watering schedule is still Su/M/ W/F early am.
I sent some photos to the errant gardeners in Oregon. If it weren't for the record breaking heat they might actually feel like they were missing something!
Carry on -- Karen

June 28, 2007: Hello there, I'll be down at the garden between five and six this evening.... looks like clouds are starting to come up the valley, reminding me that rain is near. Hopefully we can get those bundles of wheat thrashed and sifted. Regards, Erik

June 27, 2007: Hi all Nikki and I spent several hours yesterday morning weeding and mulching in Circle 1. It's starting to shape up. Thank you Erik for tilling. It made the task much less daunting. I went again this morning and weed whacked the salt weed around Circles 1 & 3 manually. It had gotten too high to mow. (Where are you Jimmy??!!) Went back this afternoon and weeded and mulched around eggplant, peppers and watermelon. Still much more to do. Thanks to everyone who harvested wheat.
Erik- I could wheat stomp with you tomorrow late afternoon/early evening, and maybe you could show me how to work the machines? Tiller and shredder.
I will be in the garden again tomorrow by around 6:30 AM as well.
Could really use some help. I believe Nikki is dropping off more straw today. Mulching is the ticket! There is lots of watermelon and squash. Still no sign of corn or okra, though not sure I'd know okra.
I have pretty much adopted only Circle 1. It is as much as one person can focus on. Don't know what to say about Circle 3. Unless the peanut and hummus lovers come on down it's going to turn into a cover crop.
Talked to Pearl this morning. She says new gardeners always tend to become more ambitious than endurance/time allow.
Started a new weed/compost pile near Circle 4 so that we are not putting new stuff on top of that which is ready to shred.
Regardless of whether one or preferably several of you rescue Circle 3, I am up for pumpkins in Circle 1, and have eyed a sight on the north side of Circle 1 between the sunflowers and the stakes in which I plan to put some zinnias. I will mark the stakes with some pink surveyors ribbon so that stretch does not get tilled. Anyone with a case of the guilties for not being available, you can redeem yourself by dropping a few bales of straw near the garden stile.
best Karen

June 24, 2007: Hello gardening friends,

Yesterday, Daniel, Maddison, Sara, Candy and I finished up harvesting the
Wheat. The wheat that we harvested the past Saturday was ready to thrash
(stomp into oblivion), so we did just that. After sifting (and before
winnowing), we ended up with almost two garbage cans full of chafe and
wheat. The new wheat we harvested we folded up into two big bundles and
hung it from the two tripods that we have errected there in the garden.
This works very well and the drying process finishes real fast. In order
to beat the rain, I'd like to go to the garden and thrash it before this
Saturday but the only time I have to do it is in the late afternoons.
Anyone want to join me for a wheat-stomping good time? Should be about
two hours for two people or less with more.

Karen is right about circle one looking like a big field of bermuda grass.
This is newly sprouted grass, not the old, established hard-to-erradicate
kind. However, it will be just that very soon. Candy stayed and weeded
around some watermelons and spread some mulch where she weeded. I went
back yesterday evening for a few hours and hula-hoed and tilled around the
plants that I could. Lots of weeds and grass remain in circle one and
circle two is untouched. Following are some suggestions if anyone can
work at anytime.
Weed around and close to plants that you can find, leaving the weeds in
between the rows. Then, mulch close to the plants. Later, we can till
between the rows and spread mulch on the tilled areas. Also, that
chipper/shreader just waits to lay to waste that pile of semi-composted
debris.

Pumpkins! Yesterday evening I also tilled that area where more squash was
going to go. This Saturday I will till the old cover crop area. This
will leave about one quarter of circle one available for the Big Cascabel
Pumpkin Field (if we are up to it).

So, please let me know if you want to join me to finish up the wheat, and
I'll look forward to seeing some of you on Saturday morning (I get there
around seven).

Be well, gentle people,
Erik

June 22, 2007: Garden SOS! Dear Gardeners Erik and I had an impromptu meeting yesterday about the garden and I agreed to send out this all points bulletin.
As a group we decided to be ambitious and have 3 circles going at once, but now the weeding and the wheat harvesting have coincided at the hottest, driest time of year and we are in danger of having all our previous hard work be for nothing unless we can get more hands involved.
Erik will be at the garden Saturday by 7 to work on wheat. If that is too late for cool weather gardeners please come earlier and weed.
I spent 4 hours weeding yesterday. Even in the hot part of the day if I soaked my shirt a few times it was not particularly uncomfortable. Circles 1 and 3 both need weeding and mulching badly. I bought a couple new tools that I left at the garden that make an easier go of it. At first glance Circle 1 looks like a bermuda field but there are plenty of great plants growing there that need to be liberated. There are 2 bales of straw (thank you Brenda and Nikki ) that can be used for mulch after we get a handle on weeds.
I changed the battery on the Rainbird and in consultation with Erik set the watering days as S-M-W-F. Circle 1 waters from 1-3am, and Circle 3 from 3-5am. This means that most mornings it will not be too wet to weed somewhere.
I will be in the garden this afternoon/evening from about 5-7. Next week I have a lot more time and will be there T-W-Th for several hours each morning until we can get things under control.
Other tasks:
Mow the salt weed around Circles 1 and 2
Chip/shred the large pile of stalks. The chipper/shredder is there near the pile.
Provide more bales of STRAW (not hay) for mulch.
The good news: we have LOTS of, and a great variety of watermelon, cukes and squash in Circle 1. No sign of any corn at all (?) Everything came up great in Circle 3, but the peanuts especially will succumb to weeds soon if not given some help.
A reminder that there is nothing in the pie labeled pumpkins yet. We may just be able to till that part again, rather than weed, before planting in July.
Also be sure to identify Devil's claw. Like all devils it disguises itself as something one might want! Someone has carefully weeded around several healthy looking plants in the cuke patch above the delicato squash. It has a more tan/purple shaded leaf than the squashes and other plants. There is a lot of it and it needs to be banished!
Thanks for any effort that you can put forth.
Think ice cold watermelon in August!
Carry on
Karen

June17, 2007: Hi all I work in Tucson Mon-Tue-Wed and so will not be in the garden until THURSDAY morning this week.(The summer solstice, a very long day for working outside!) Will try to get some STRAW out here by then. Will focus on weeding and mulching and probably thinning in Circle 1.
BE AWARE that there is a rattlesnake in the garden. Noticed originally in Circle 2, though I hardly think he recognizes our human made boundaries. Daniel put a stake near its hole. He's a biggy, reportedly large enough to devour rabbits and gophers, which means he is our friend if given a wide berth!
Anyone who knows about the chipper/shredder and wants to turn that pile of stalks into mulch, please do. (Hint, hint JIMMY!) Best

June 14, 2007: Hi all -I spent about 2 hours in the garden weeding in Circle 1 on Wed morning and feel like I barely made a dent in what needs to be done. The good news is that it is getting fairly easy to distinguish what we have planted from the weeds and to discern the actual rows. The amaranth, saltweed and Devil's claw definately want to take over. Without mulch, or many hands weeding this will definately happen.
For anyone who is not a morning person, the evening is a very pleasant time to be in the garden and it is dry enough to negotiate at that point in the day regardless of whether it was watered. For anyone who wants to contribute but lacks time/inclination to weed you could drop off a bale or 2 of hay for mulching. I don't have a vehicle conducive to hauling hay. I am enjoying all the green, growing things. I like looking up from the work to see the sturdiness of the mountains and the clarity of the sky. The sum of the experience feels like an antidote to all the death I deal with the rest of the week. Karen

June 11, 2007: Hello garden friends! Wow, that garden is looking good! Jimmy and I spent awhile on Saturday hoeing down the young amaranth and digging bermuda in circle three. After that, we went to Elna's and managed, with some small effort, to get the chipper shredder working (actually, it started up after only 20 or so pulls and some starter fluid). We think it would be nice to run that "compost" pile through it so future generatations will not have to wonder at all the sunflower stalks ending up in one place. Also, it should make a fine mulch. The yellowish peanuts do not seem to be too yellow to me. I think that part of the color alarm is their proximity to the very green pinto beans. They look moderately healthy to me now so my recomendation is to do nothing for the time being. I'm not sure what to make of the comments on the use of sulphur. Perhaps we can talk about this at a garden meeting? I reset the timers so that they will only come on for two hours Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings, leaving Wednesday and Saturday mornings water-free so we can work in the circles. And on to the main purpose of this message! Thanks to the dry, windy and hot weather, the wheat is ready to harvest! I feel that we should harvest it as soon as possible so I propose that we harvest it this following Saturday (the 16th). If you plan to come, please bring what you have of the following items: clean large canvas tarp, five gallon bucket, hedge trimmers, clean shoes. If you have none of the above, please come anyway! Hope to see you all there. Warm Regards, Erik

June 6, 2007: Hi Gardeners: I finally got around to setting up an official garden e-mail list for myself by perusing the various garden e-mail addressees. If you got this e-mail and don't want to be included in this group please let me know. Please don't feel that you have to be "working" in the garden to be on the list.
Regarding the rabbit. He/she was in the garden early this am and Daniel and I actually saw it leave by squeezing itself through the fence netting. I reattached the wooden board when I left but I'm not sure it will be much of a deterrent since there is a similar gap on the other side of the gate, and we now know there are a number of options. I set the Hav-a-Hart trap near the lettuce with bait of carrots and pine nuts.
Five of us were there this morning and we did a reasonable job of weeding Circle 3 (peanuts, garbanzos, pintos) of salt weed. Everything in Circle 3 is coming up rapidly. The peanuts look a little pale or yellow compared to the beans. I have never seen peanuts growing so don't know if this is normal or they need something nutritionally. Anyone? Water is off in Circle 2 so the wheat will dry. The kale is still looking good and was watered by hand. Erik, what about the garlic in that circle- How often should it be watered? When will we know it's ready?
There are a number of things beginning to come up in Circle 1. The Delicato squash look especially healthy. Things are not up enough to be walking around in there yet and I'm not sure I have a handle on identification, but am working on it. Those things that were put in as plants rather than seeds ( marigolds, eggplant, peppers) are holding their own but it is a struggle in this hot, windy weather. A reminder that Pearl's drawing of the garden layout is in the metal garbage can.
I was wondering if we should think about mulching, and if so with what?
I think another mowing of the saltweed surrounding the circles is about due again.
I will check the garden most days when I am here, but I am in Tucson 3 days a week and the more eyes there are on the status of things the better our chances of not having any major glitches, like the javelina incursion or the Rainbird battery failure. If anyone notices anything questionable I would suggest it be run by Erik or the errant gardeners in Oregon.
No question is too stupid..this from the woman who thought the Devil's claw was okra!
I believe Erik is planning a bit of time in the garden on Saturday and I will plan on being there to work again next Wednesday June 13. Carry on, Karen

June 3, 2007:

Hi Gardeners. I checked the garden Saturday AM and PM and put in 6 Black Beauty and 2 Ichiban eggplants and a couple of bell pepper plants. It's very wet in the AM but seems to need to be that way to sustain enough moisture for germination through these hot, dry days. I deadheaded the marigolds and expect that more will survive than we originally thought. The pinto beans have sprouted, but nothing else yet.
I plan to be at the garden WEDNESDAY morning by 6:30. I will check Tuesday evening and suspend the water if need be so it is not too wet to work. Watering daily for now. I took the instructions for the Rainbird for my edification but will return them Tuesday evening.
I made a copy of Pearl's schematic drawing of circles 1 and 3, put it in a plastic cover and left it in the metal garbage can.
Always plenty to do. Join me if you can. Karen

May 27, 2007:

Thanks to all 15 people who showed up yesterday to help with spring planting. We got 2 circles planted with beans, garbanzos, peanuts, corn, lots of squash, beans, okra, and gobs of watermelons. Karen will be marking the beds, identifying what is where. As most of you know, David & I will be taking off for Oregon this coming week. Erik has agreed to coordinate garden work parties every other Saturday, and Karen will coordinate Wednesday mornings when she isn't working, but if someone else can help with this, please let her know (212-POET). Wish I could see the sprouting plants, but enjoy it for me, and we'll look forward to seeing you all and the garden when we return. Pearl

May 24, 2007:

Gardeners, A major planting work party is shaping up for Saturday morning. David & I plan to be there by 7 or shortly thereafter. If you have seeds, this is the time to bring them, as well as receipts for reimbursement from the garden fund. Hope to see many of you there. Pearl

May 22, 2007

Gardeners, Tomorrow, Wed. 7 AM would be a regularly scheduled workday. David & I will have to be in Tucson for an appointment, so won't be available once again. Circles 1 & 3 are ready to plant, and while somewhat overgrown, the vegetables in Circle 2 are mostly still being harvested, so we don't want to pull them out yet. So I'm going to suggest that you concentrate on harvesting if you have time to show up tomorrow morning. As of yesterday when I was there, the peas needed picking quite badly, and there was broccoli and cauliflower as well. Plus, lots of kale--if someone wants to pick the outer leaves there would be enough to freeze again. We're looking at Saturday morning as a possibility for major summer planting. How does this sound for everyone? Hope to see you all soon -- Pearl

May 7, 2007

Gardeners, We've had a couple productive workdays recently. The cover crop in CIrcle 1 has been mowed and tilled in, all areas surrounding circles have been mowed, and we've marked the circles with stakes, so you can see what is in and what is out! Erik and Karen are gathering seeds and plants for the spring planting.

As most of you know, David and I will be away for 2 weeks, leaving this morning. Just a reminder--we planned work parties each Wednesday at 7 AM, and every other Saturday at 7 AM, the next one of which would be May 19. Circle 1 would be ready to plant by then (May 19). Meanwhile if in doubt about what to do, you can always dig out bermuda grass, especially around the south rim of Circle 2--or continue to harvest and freeze the greens that are still so abundant. Also, I just picked a handful of peas, so they will need picking a couple times a week, and there is cauliflower coming on as well.

Enjoy, and see you in a couple weeks,
Pearl

April 17, 2007

Harvesting, and even and some clean-up, has continued. The spinach is fabulous again this year. Elna & I froze 20 packs of it last week, and are planning to do more today. Lynn, we need you to lead the way with the collards, which are becoming quite expansive. Meanwhile, spring is advancing toward summer, and it's time to talk about what we plan for the summer. I've chatted with some of you individually, but would like to get as many of us together as possible to talk it over. So, in consulting with some of you, I've concluded that this Thursday at 1 PM is the best we can do. This will coincide with Erik's and David's lunch hour, both of whom are working on projects on Canyon Rd, so we'll meet on Miller's porch, and I'll bring a big taco salad for everyone. Then some of us can go over to the garden afterward. (Pearl Mast)

For more images (the one directly above, and all these on the link that follows, taken by Karen McKelvey), click here.

[Apologies for the gap in coverage during this time -- DH]

August 30, 2006

Our garden has a good news/bad news scenario. Bad news is that with the rain and our not having tilled, we have a gigantic crop of weeds that will have to be knocked down somewhat before we can even think about tilling, and grasshoppers are in abundance. Good news is that despite this we still have a good crop of eggplants, peppers and some onions. I weeded just enough to give the peppers the room they need. I picked most of the eggplant because I love it and so many of them have gone to rot that I didn't feel I had to spare them for others. Water is still on suspend and with rain expected this week I just left it that way. Ratatouille on the menu tonight!
The garden truly is a pleasant spot and an easy walk from the ridgehouse where I now reside. Perhaps we can do something there between October and December if we put the covers back up. We need our master gardeners to return from Oregon to provide some direction and butt kicking!!
Cheers, Karen

June 26, 2006 We managed to harvest about half the circle of wheat on Sunday, leaving just a half circle to go! Unless we get more rain on Tuesday (it rained over a half inch here this afternoon), I'll be at the garden at around six on Wednesday morning to harvest more. We now have over 50 gallons of wheat and chaff mixed stored at the knoll awaiting winnowing. Anyone that wants to help out or participate is welcome at any time. There are three ways to help:
Show up as you please - there is plenty of weeding and organizing that needs to be done.
Come to a work party - harvest wheat, rototill, plant and work with your friends
Plan another day - for planting, rototilling, etc. give Karen or me a call or e-mail (Erik)

June 16, 2006 Hello Fellow Gardeners,

Looks like we are going to be able to harvest some wheat! It is fairly important to harvest it at the appropriate time, when it is dry but has not sat around too long to tempt the critters. According to my best guess it should be ready in about ten days. After talking with several people, we have set a date for Sunday, June 25th and anticipate starting very early in the morning (around six). If you can come, please bring some very clean shoes to change into (old tennis shoes, freshly washed work well), and any of the following items, if you have them: big canvas tarps (or large heavy duty sheets), hedge-pruning shears (the kind with scissors-type blades that are about a foot long, not including the handles) and very big wide-mouth (2-3 feet across) containers. The process could take quite awhile so you may also want to bring lunch, if you plan to stay. We may even get around to hoeing out those nighshade plants and collecting seeds from the winter garden. So far, the late spring planting of beans looks wonderful, as do the pepper plants. Erik

May 14, 2006 There is now a railroad tie and a half waiting to be installed under the garden gate. I will get to this this week, before the planting. Jimmy and I tilled most of circle one today in preperation for Saturday's planting and Linda removed all the row covers, rocks and what remained of the hoops and hold down rods. There is still quite a bit that is harvestable and palatable - lots of onions, lettuce, spinach and some peas. Share with your friends! I would like to let the radish, spinach, broccoli and lettuce that is going to seed, go to seed so we can have fresh seeds for next year.
Erik

May 13, 2006 Here is an update on the community garden as of our last planning session that took place before David's departure at the end of April.
Erik and Jimmy will be tilling the wheat in Circle 1 (nearest the gate) Sunday May 14 beginning at 7AM. We decided to till one circle, which isn't doing as well, in order to build up the soil fertility. We will harvest the wheat in Circle 2. It is forming good seed heads and should be ready to harvest about mid June. Erik reports that there are other misc. tasks to be done if you wish to join them tomorrow.
On Saturday May 20 beginning at 7AM there will be a work party for planting. We will be planting pinto beans in circle one. This first crop will be tilled under in preparation for the 2nd planting of beans which will hopefully coincide with the monsoon rains and be ready for harvesting in October.
The suggested items for planting in the beds are winter squash, pumpkins, okra, zinnias, and sunflowers. These will be planted from seed. We will also plant peppers and eggplant, but starting with small plants instead of seed. Please bring any of the above seeds (or others you have a hankering to plant) that you may have on hand and we can make decisions at the time of planting.
We have 25 lbs of organic pinto beans which were purchased at Tucson Cooperative warehouse. I will be responsible for obtaining the plants.
At Erik's suggestion we nixed trying tomatoes due to the need for more attentive care than we can provide, and a pesky fungus which we want to avoid.
We have had a bit of a problem with small critters which we have trapped in the Hav-a-hart and relocated, however this is a no win proposition, as they have access under the gate. The plan is to place several railroad ties there which will serve as a sweep. We have had no incursions of larger critters such as deer, javalina, or jack rabbits now that the new fencing is installed.
If you can't participate in the work party and would like to make a monetary contribution to the garden, that would be greatly appreciated.
An FYI for anyone going into the garden. A rattlesnake has been sited nestled under the stile, so use caution there and elsewhere in the tall vegetation. Jeannine will be putting a snake catcher and garbage can inside the garden gate for anyone with the skill and/or fortitude to capture and relocate.
Lastly, there is still an abundance of spinach. Please come and pick! I understand that Pearl and Elna blanched and froze a lot of it and it is still coming on like gangbusters, however, the heat will soon take its toll. The watering time has been increased by about 30 minutes each scheduled day due to the heat and drought.
Hope you can join us
Karen

May 11, 2006 The gardens at this point are in states of growth and ripening. The images below give a brief indication of what's here: at left, an overview showing the two circles of wheat from a distance; in the middle, rows of Kale, lettuce, and (out of sight to the right) onions, and at right, spinach. (Click on each image to enlarge it.)

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If you're interested in any of the ripe garden produce, you should stop by and pick some now, because this produce will soon go to seed. As you can see with the spinach, it is beginning this process. Last week we picked a pile of it, and it was the best spinach we've ever tasted. The wheat, as you can see, is almost waist-high.

February 22, 2006 On this day the gardens were weeded and chicken wire was run around the fence periphery to keep out the javelina. Below, from left to right: a general view; spinach; peas; bok choy. (Click on each image to enlarge it.)

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Below, a view of the fenceworkers.

February 16, 2006 Gardeners,
We thought we'd set up and plant a couple more tunnels tomorrow morning around the usual time of 9:00 AM (sorry for the short notice, but we got hung up and extra day in town). We purchased some more garden tools from Jane Matson, so you shouldn't need to bring any tools. We've been eating some salad greens recently and they're great, so stop by the garden and help yourself. Hope to see you tomorrow.-- Pearl and David