4 February, 2022
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org
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In this Issue:
- Resources for Your February Garden
- Sign Up to Volunteer for the Plant Sale
- Compost is Coming February 9th
- Micah 6 Totals for January
- Plant Sale Countdown: Four Weeks Out
- Garden Tasks for Service Hours
Resources for Your February Garden
It may be difficult to think about planting when we have just come through an ice storm, but there are many things that can be planted in February, weather permitting. Now is the time to plan your transitional garden, planting some cold weather crops while also preparing other beds for the spring.
Vegetables to Plant in February:
Below is a list of vegetables to plant this month in Travis County (adapted by Maria Beach from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Vegetable Garden Planting Guide compiled by Patty G. Leander, Master Gardener Extension Specialist). You can view the full planting guide here.
Artichokes (Crowns; All Month)
Asian Greens (Seeds or Transplants; All Month)
Asparagus (Crowns; All Month)
Beets (Seeds; All Month)
Broccoli (Transplants; All Month)
Cabbage (Transplants; All Month)
Carrots (Seeds; All Month)
Cauliflower (Transplants; All Month)
Chard (Seeds or Transplants; All Month)
Collards (Seeds or Transplants; All Month)
Greens, Cool Season (Seeds; All Month)
Kale (Seeds or Transplants; All Month)
Kohlrabi (Seeds or Transplants; All Month)
Leeks (Seeds or Transplants; Through the Third Week of February)
Lettuce (Seeds or Transplants; All Month)
Mustard (Seeds or Transplants; All Month)
Onions, Bulbing (Transplants; Early February Only)
Peas, English, Snap, or Snow (Seeds; First Half of February Only)
Potatoes, Irish (Seed Potato Pieces; All Month)
Radish (Seeds; All Month)
Spinach (Seeds or Transplants; All Month)
Turnips (Seeds; All Month)
Recommended article:
In the February Vegetable Garden" by Travis County Master Gardener Sheryl Williams was posted on the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension site for Travis County on February. Here is the link (thank you to Ila Falvey for sharing).
Sign Up to Volunteer for the Plant Sale
The SignUp Genius link for the Plant Sale is ready. Please click this link or go to the Sunshine Community Gardens website to access SignUp Genius, view the available tasks, and select one or more that you would be willing to do. Once you sign up you will receive a confirmation email.
There are many jobs available, both before the sale and on the day of the sale, March 5th. Thank you for supporting your community garden!
Compost is Coming February 9th
by Randy Thompson
The first delivery of compost will be Wednesday February 9th at an undetermined time. It is organic chicken compost.
It is for use by gardeners only and only at Sunshine.
Quantity Limits: 20 bucket limit for full size plot, 10 buckets for 1/2 plots and 5 for 1/4 plots.
Cost: $2 a bucket and 5 buckets for $7. Pay in the garden port and fill out the paperwork.
How to harvest compost: Measure the compost with the buckets provided. Please return the buckets when finished and please, no coins when paying. Thanks!
Micah 6 Totals for January
by Walter Kuhl
January 2022 Totals:
- Produce: 47 pounds
- Dry Goods: 41 pounds
No surprise, after the succession of freezes, donations for the food pantry are down. No problem, spring will come again. Thank you for your continued generosity.
Plant Sale Countdown: Four Weeks Out
By Janet Adams
Four Weeks to Go.
Our annual plant sale is only 4 weeks away!!
Plant descriptions for herbs, tomato, pepper, eggplant and tomatillo varieties are on the website. Plan your purchase!
Check out how great our herbs look. You can see them through the doors but please do not enter the greenhouse unless you are on the herb team. We are trying to limit pest introduction as well as regulate temperatures.
All members are expected to volunteer to make the sale a success. Also, please clean in and around your own plot as well. We want to look our best when we invite the public to Sunshine.
There are work days scheduled for February 12, 19, and 26. Lots to do.
SignUp Genius for the Plant Sale has launched. The link is included in this issue of the Weeder and on the SCG website. Please read the descriptions carefully before you volunteer. But do volunteer. This is Sunshine's only fundraiser and it has kept our membership fees steady for many years.
Ways to help now:
- Bring your excess flat trays to the garden. Shoppers can use those as
well. (Flat trays are those things small pots fit into, usually black.)
- Continue to collect boxes. These are used by our customers to take their
treasures home. Please try to get the most desirable types. No packing
materials please--it makes the day of the plant sale go so much better and
decreases the need to recycle those things we are not able to use. Put the
collected boxes into the green and white greenhouse, the Gardenport.
These are the best types
of boxes for the Plant Sale
These are the less
desirable types of boxes
Put the collected boxes into the green and white greenhouse, the Gardenport.
Please try to get the most desirable types. No packing materials please--it makes the day of the plant sale go so much better and decreases the need to recycle those things we are not able to use.
If you have questions contact me at jartdaht@gmail.com or 512-808-7994 or find me at the garden. - Volunteers are needed to write labels. You pick them up at the garden with
directions and do them at home. Return them as soon as you're finished for
others to place in the appropriate pot.
Contact Linda Booker at lindaruthbooker@gmail.com
As for our planning in regards to the pandemic, we ask that volunteers do all they can to protect themselves and others from exposure to the virus.
Garden Tasks
4 February, 2022
Greetings Gardeners!
Just in case you haven't gotten the message - Saturday, February 5 workday is cancelled!
The next workday will be Saturday, February 12 from 09:00-12:00.
We've accomplished quite a bit but there is always more. I believe our next priority task will be beginning to clean up for The Plant Sale. This will be the first of 3 Saturdays in a row the we will be working in preparation For the Plant Sale in March. Contact Janet Adams (jardaht@gmail.com) for details.
We are running into a problem with hose connections. Please do not connect hoses with aluminum fixtures to our brass faucets. These two metal alloys will chemically bond, effectively welding them to each other. If you have them connected now, be aware that if there are problems with the faucet, your hose may have to be cut in order to get it off. Aluminum hose hardware is generally silver in color. If unsure, ask your vendor or read any literature that comes with the hose.
Priority (Tasks specifically needed):
- Maintaining common paths and common areas. If you have plants extending into common paths, trim them. The common paths are designed to allow the biggest wheelbarrows that we own to traverse them unimpeded.
- Mowing and maintaining perimeter fence line inside and out.
- Sunshine Community Garden was fined a few weeks ago for the dumpster being
over filled. Please help us to avoid this by following a few simple
guidelines.
- Fill the dumpster from the back (under the hinges) to the front. If you put stuff in the front, it tends to stay there.
- If you think the dumpster is full, contact me (Steve Camp, I'm there a lot) or Randy Thompson. We can usually compact stuff to make more space.
- Follow the rules regarding what goes into the dumpster and what does not, there's signage close by.
- If the dumpster actually does get full before pick up day, I'm working on finding a spot where we can store a reasonable overage, to be loaded after the dumpster is emptied.
- If you're done with your project, please close the lids.
TSVBI:
- Weeding paths in TSBVI garden and wood chip areas on west side. (This is normally needed. Try to get out roots. Be sure to smooth out paths after weeding to facilitate TSBVI students moving around garden).
- Picking up trash in compost area and along fence lines.
- Cleaning street curb gutters of dirt and debris build up. (At places in the curb gutter along Sunshine Dr. and 49th St., soil and debris has built up and grass beginning to grow. Scrape off with shovel and put in wheelbarrow. If debris is gravel can be put in low places in parking lot. Otherwise, put in dumpster.)
Regular:
- Mowing (Please check area around trailer and greenhouses.
- Maintaining common paths. (Gardeners are required to maintain a 2' strip of common paths adjacent to their plot.)
- Mowing and cleaning up overgrown/messy places in common areas.
Note: TSBVI hour tasks can also count as regular hours.
Your Zone Coordinator may have more tasks than are listed here. Contact them if you feel that you have run out of things to do.
Slow Down..You're on Garden Time! Enjoy!
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