Sunshine Community Gardens

24 June, 2021

www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org

Gardener's Picture page

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Sunshine Waste Disposal Policies Updated

Jim Willmann reports to All Gardeners on Waste at Sunshine

The Sunshine board has reviewed waste disposal practices at Sunshine and adopted an updated waste disposal policy. The policy addresses three areas:

1. What should be recycled or repurposed
2. What should go to the compost area to be composted
3. What should go into the dumpster

Put in its simplest terms, the policy is that the only waste which should go into the dumpster is khaki weed, branches and woody stems, diseased plants, and inorganic waste which cannot be recycled or repurposed. The goal is to reduce the amount of waste which ends up in the dumpster as much as possible since everything put in the dumpster ends up in a landfill. Kiosks are being set up at the dumpster and in the compost area providing gardeners instructions for properly disposing of waste in accordance with the updated policy.

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Needed Service Hour Tasks - June 23, 2021

To help keep gardeners aware of wha service hour tasks are needed, an attempt will be made to keep this list current.

Priority (Tasks specifically needed)

1. Weeding and putting down wood chips on north side of the garden on right as drive into Sunshine (under desert willow).
2. Cleaning curb gutter on 49th St. (TSBVI) (Remove bermudagrass which has grown up in gutter - particularly on east end.)
3. Weeding inside south greenhouse
4. Removing hackberries fence line along 49th St. and Sunshine Dr. (TSBVI) (Try to remove as deep below ground as possible.) Weeding inside greenhouses.
5. Digging up khaki weed. (TSBVI) (Board has authorized to count as TSBVI hours)
6. Maintaining common paths.

TSBVI

1. Removing hackberries and Johnson grass growing in cyclone fence around Sunshine. (Please try to dig out as much of the roots as possible. Hackberries should be cut off as deep below ground level as possible.)
2. 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 has 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.)
3. Weeding granite paths in raised bed area and edging border. (Try to get out roots - particularly the bermudagrass along west side by garden plots.)
4. 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.)
5. Mowing between fence and street along 49th St. and Sunshine Dr. along and 10' inside fence. (Frequent mowing will be needed this time of year.)
6. Picking up trash in compost area and along fence lines.

Regular

1. Mowing (Please check area around trailer and greenhouses. Frequent mowing will be needed this time of year.)
2. Maintaining common paths.
3. Mowing and cleaning up overgrown/messy areas in common areas.

Note: TSBVI hour tasks can also count as regular hours.

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What is that Smell Near the Chicken Coop?

The smell is from Fly Traps to trap flies around the chicken coop

How does it work?

The yeast contained in the bag are grown in the water solution of yeast food and nutrients (viz. sucrose, whole egg solids). The yeast synthesize and release volatile chemicals (chemoattractants) which attract flies (and many other flying insects) by binding to their odor receptors. Yeast colonize plants and add these chemicals to the ones that the plant makes to augment the attraction of pollinators. In return, the pollinator not only disperses the pollen but also disperses the yeast. The ability of yeast to produce chemical insect attractants evolved long before it did in plants. Among the chemical attractants produced by the yeast are 2-phenyl-ethanol (has pleasant floral odor) and acetoin (pleasant buttery smell). Flies are also attracted to the volatiles produced by rotting flesh. After the first week the trap begins to stink. That is because the contents of the dead flies in the trap are fermented by the fungus to produce other types of volatile chemicals (e.g., putrescine generated from fat degradation-"putrid smell") which also attract flies.

Reference: Chemical signaling and insect attraction is a conserved trait in yeasts. Becher et al., Ecology and Evolution. 2018;8:2962-2974

Article by: Debra Mariano

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Andalusian Gazpacho

adapted from Fine Cooking by Kerry Drake

Kerry says: "A long time ago I spent a summer in Spain. I was amazed when I watched a woman making gazpacho and putting a hard baguette into the blend of tomatoes. I was even more amazed when I tasted the results. A few years later, I found a gazpacho recipe in Fine Cooking that created the taste I remembered and loved. With all the tomatoes ripening, I thought I'd share the recipe here:"

• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped (to yield 2 cups)
• 1-1/2 lb. very red, ripe tomatoes (about 4 large), cut into large pieces
• 3-inch-long piece of baguette, sliced and dried overnight or until hard
• 1/2 cup good-quality extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbs. sherry vinegar or red-wine vinegar; more to taste
• 2 tsp. coarse salt; more to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper (optional)
• Half a cucumber, coursely chopped (optional)
• After chilling, add in diced cucumber and onion, if desired

I throw all of this in the Vitamix blender. Often, I still pass it through a fine mesh strainer after blending just to make it silky smooth. Alternatively, you can use a food processor and make it a little more chunky. Let it chill in the fridge, or pour it over ice.

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