Garden update 11/10

-I have a feeling this wind will bring down the mulberry leaves so hopefully we can fit a couple of hours of leaf bagging into our busy schedule this week…..or next.
-Do you have canning jars??? Especially pints and 1/2 pints???? Bring them to the garden tomorrow for our canning session on Saturday. We have about 8 people who are coming to my house to put up green tomato relish and red tomato sauce.
-Going to the Quivira Coalition conference?

What we did on Saturday. Six of us did more garden organizing. I checked to make sure the valves to the circle watering system were open while Steve and Ron drained and rolled hoses. The three of us fixed up a temporary storage area behind the greenhouse for our lumber materials, wagons, and wheel barrels. If you need a wheel barrel look for them between the horse fence and the north side of the greenhouse. Patricia took down the shade cloth in the green house while Geri harvested radishes and lettuce. Suzanne checked our canning supplies in the shed. We have cleared our garden equipment from around George’s barn so it will be clear for him to enclose the south wall.
What we need to do on Wed. Debbie would like to plant more cover crops since we have the seeds so be prepared to dig Bermuda grass, haul compost, and level plots. Someone needs to pull down the bean vines and pull out the squash plants. The vines can go on one of the tomato plant piles that are layered with compost and chips. Someone can cut or dig out the marigold plants around the garden and tie them upside down in black plastic bags. We’ll figure out a place to hang them. During the winter the seeds will collect in the bag and we can scattered them next season. The more marigolds in the garden the better….they add lovely color and mean insects don’t like them.
Notice:
Unless we have something urgent to do let’s drop our Saturday workday after this weekend, but continue with Wed workdays until we have completed all our “bedding” chores.

Garden update Nov. 6

There was a flurry of activity in the garden last Wednesday, until the curtain of rain descended. I found myself in the greenhouse with Debbie and Geri making a list of things to do, all three of us looking like drowned cats. So here is what got done….
Ron and Steve hooked up and tested our electric pump. Ingrid, Jeany, Erin and kids, plus Deb and Suzanne picked the last of the green tomatoes for our canning session, Nov. 14. Then we pulled more tomatoes, and piled the vines in two areas, then layered them with compost and manure. We’ll let the piles break down over the winter. Geri worked in the greenhouse.
Saturday may be one of our last workdays if we can get everything finished. Someone needs to take down or pull back the shade cloth in the greenhouse. We need to prep a place north of the greenhouse and move the rest of our materials and equipment from around George’s barn. Could either Ron or Steve get the electric pump going and fill the fish tank so Geri will have water available for the greenhouse?

Announcements.
Barry Wood (the Branch owner and master coffee roaster) said to be on mulberry leaf alert. His leaves may fall any day now. My cousin Jim brings his trailer and we rake up all the mulberry leaves and bag them for mulch on the plots. (Mulberry leaves make great mulch because their leaves are not as waxy as cottonwood leaves) The more people we can get to help, the faster the job.

Quivera Coalition: 2015, Wed. Nov. 11-Friday, Nov. 13. ABQ This is a wonderful conference that brings speakers on farming, sustainability, and conservation from all over the world. This year Paul Hawken will be speaking. He is a world renowned author and lecturer. Several of us will be attending at least parts of this conference. Join us if you are interested. Google it!

Canning Workshop, Green tomato relish/red tomato sauce. Nov. 14, 9:00-1:30 Saturday,
90 Valencia Rd. Call for directions. Let Suzanne or I know if you are coming….jjh 414-8693
Suz 916-6578

Garden Update Nov. 3

Looks like we may have only one more workday before the first hard frost. Although the trees are not showing much color it has been lovely working in the garden.
What we did on Saturday.
Steve transported the chipper to the garden and they used it right on his trailer in the garden. Rick ran the chipper while Molly and Ron gathered material to run through it. Steve kept the operation flowing. Geri moved the tomato cages to the back fence while Molly, Ingrid, Suzanne, and Debbie prepped and planted cover crops in another two plots in the enclosed tomato area. Ron moved some old concrete to the dumpster. A few more green tomatoes and beans were picked by Kathy who also harvested herbs and put them in the greenhouse dryer.
We had a lively meeting, talking over the chipper noise and patting ourselves on our backs for a great season of gardening. The garden looks better every year.
What we need to do on Wed.
We need to figure out how to hang our harvesting baskets in the greenhouse. A couple of people can drain and roll the hoses and maybe hang them on the east fence by the greenhouse. If we have enough people we can prep and cover a few more plots. We want every plot leveled and either composted and covered in chips or planted in cover crops.

We will have a canning session on Sunday, Nov. 8 in my kitchen starting at 9:00 AM. If you have any canning jars, especially 1/2 pints and pints we could sure use them. Bring them to the garden tomorrow if you can so Suzanne can sterilized them. We will can green tomato pickle relish and ripe tomato sauce.

I think we need to have a gathering at the end of the season sometime this month. How about a bonfire in the late afternoon? S’mores, hot dogs, hot chocolate? And according to Pati, a party without a cake is just a meeting. Let’s plan a bash as we put the garden to bed for the winter. Jjh

Garden Update 10/27

I’m back from South Carolina and thanks so much for keeping the communication going. The garden is looking so neat and tidy.
Ron must have snuck back to the garden to mow one more time. The cover crops are showing, pushing up the white garden cloth.
What we need to do Wed.
There will be pickups coming in with dirt to build berms so that we don’t have to use our thin but good top soil. We will be taking out tomato plants in the large north plot, dividing it into 4 smaller plots, grooming it for planting. We need to find a better place for our wheel barrels and pallets. See y’all at the garden!

This Saturday we will have lots going on. We will have a combined board/member meeting and the timing will depend on the weather. last time I looked at the forecast there might be rain. The Maddens will also be coming with their chipper.

Garden Update, 10/9

I have two qt. bags of frozen roasted Sandia Hot chile. Let me know if you want them. I’ll bring a sample of Green Tomato Relish that is very much like my mother’s Chow-Chow recipe. It will be a good way to use green tomatoes and it is delicious. And speaking of tomatoes, be sure you look under the lowest branches of the plants. We are finding half rotten tomatoes just going to waste under there.
What we did on Wed.
Ron, Steve, Kathy hit the garden first and started the harvesting, Deb took the chore of water master, Jeany reclaimed a small corn plot, Desiree and Suzanne helped harvest and water, Claudia found a few squash bugs, I found a couple of tomato worms eating an overlooked potato plant. Geri brought frozen roasted chile to distribute. Steve tested the water flow of the proposed garlic plot and Linda crawled out of the tomato patch with another basket of tomatoes after everyone had harvested.
What we need to do on Sat.
Since we are still harvesting beans, tomatoes, egg plant, and chile we’ll need to water those plots plus the plot by the shed and the chard/lettuce spinach plot. Someone can take down the last corn plot and groom the plot next to it. We’ll need to start planting garlic and shallots. Since Oct. 15 is the average first frost we need to harvest herbs. We can dry them in the greenhouse in the white hanging herb dryer. Steve has established a tool cleaning station so check your tools before you put them back in the shed.

Garden Update, 9/29

What we did on Sat.
We have climbed to a new high in the garden! We are now processing tomatoes into sauce right in the garden. We distributed 8 quart bags by the end of the session on Saturday. What fun! Thanks Suzanne for coming up with the idea. I had to leave early but the next to the last corn patch was taken down. Harvesting and selective watering was done by Ingrid, Steve, Ron, Deb, Geri. Molly, Ingrid, and Suzanne helped with the tomatoes. Molly was so excited.
What we need to do this Wed.
Harvest and water, as always. We will be starting to prep plots for planting garlic and shallots. Check with Debbie. As soon as our chores are finished we can help Suzanne set up for the potluck. I’m hearing about some wonderful dishes coming in….no rules or regulations, just bring something to share. Hope to see there! jjh

Suzanne’s Garden Update

On Wed the 23rd we were pleased to find that the garden had received about 1/2 inch of rain in the previous two days which meant that we didn’t have to water. Steve, Molly, Cathy, were all busy harvesting when I arrived, Amber and family and Erin and family also were helping with the bounty of tomatos, green beans, squash, peppers, eggplants, chard, kale, okra, and corn that we picked. Ingrid was there and picking enthusiastically as was Jeany, Desiree and Claudia, Debby, and Geri. The old corn patch was cleared and turned over to prepare for the garlic that will be planted soon. So nice to have such a large group to work with. After everyone took their produce we boxed up the surplus and Amber was gracious enough to take it to Laura Bittner at the extension office, thanks again Amber. Oh head, Linda was also there helping with the harvesting! See you Saturday, I just received the tomato mill and I will give it a test run before bringing it to the garden on Saturday. Also don’t forget the potluck on Wed. We have several melons to pick and prepare for all to share! Suzanne

Garden Update 9/25

Suzanne’s report says it all. Don’t forget our potluck on Wednesday, probably about 11:30 if we are finished with our chores. We have extension cords and an electrical outlet if you have crock pots to heat up. Please let us know if you are not getting a notice about this update from Word Press, who runs our web/blog. You should be able to click on your email address from then and go directly to the valenciacommunitygardens.com page. If you have gmail check the social and promotions folders for the notice, and lastly check your span folder. This will be the last time I will send an update to your email address. jjh

Garden Update 9/22

What we did on Sat.
Ron and I harvested tomatoes and thought we found them all but Suzanne found a bunch more. Since there were only six of us we all watered and harvested. Suzanne agreed to study several catalogs and Amazon to find the best tomato mill, which can use in the garden and we can save buying canning jars. Patricia, Deb, and Geri watered, tended plots, and found more to harvest, including a sweet little cantaloupe in the compost. Cover crop seeds have been ordered.
What we need to do On Wed.
I’m wondering if Tomé got rain last night and today. Extensive watering may not needed but harvesting tomatoes, corn, squash, green beans, melons, Padron chiles is needed. Suzanne will be taking my place. I may be bringing back the green tomatoes I have been hatching since I didn’t have time to freeze them this weekend. Check In with Suzanne or Deb. jjh
PS. THIS UPDATE WILL BE POSTED ON OUR WEB BLOG, valenciacommunitygardens.com and all of the above should be getting a notice of a new posting.

Garden Update 9/18

What we did on Wed.
Ron, Steve, and Kathy were harvesting when I arrived and the table was almost covered with tomatoes. We are all so amazed at how much the garden is still producing: corn, squash, tomatoes, green beans, still even a little broccoli, a few eggplants, Big Jim chiles, Padron chiles and a few melons.
Claudia found a few more squash bugs. Those guys do not give up….nor does Claudia. When Debbie and Jeany arrived the watering began. Kathy decided she could sort out and stack the tomato cages while I retrieved the donated cages from Jan’s yard. Ron and Steve carefully rolled up our plastic grid fencing. Suzanne found more things to harvest and Steve took out more of the old corn patch. Even though we are still harvesting and the days are warm, Fall is in the air. We need to think about planting garlic and shallots in a few weeks, And what do we want to plant for cover crops……and where?
What we need to do Sat.
We need to decide if we can afford a food mill to process tomatoes. We could use it right in the garden and send workers home with plastic bags of tomato paste to freeze and use at home. Or people could take it home to process tomatoes. BTW, we also have a dehydrator and canning equipment that people can borrow.
More equipment can be moved to the other side of the garden. Harvest and water, as always.
Our Padron Chiles traveled all the way to Austin, TX via Ingrid to share with her friends.
And one last thing. This update will be on our web page, valenciacommunitygardens.com
Eventually, if you subscribe, you will all get an email message that there is a posting on the web page and I won’t be sending these messages through email. See you at the garden! jjh

Garden Update 6/2

Our garden is gradually moving into a new set of chores. We have a few more circle plots to prep for corn. We need to replant corn in the large circle plot. We realized that the cold May kept the corn from sprouting. There are a few blades showing and we weeded carefully around them Sat. “This time let’s put 3 kernels in each hole,” Debbie says. Suzanne will replant the small carrot plot. Linda has a chart that tells which plants like to be planted together and those that don’t like each other. We planted the carrots in a plot that is surrounded by dill and they are incompatible. We can top off the scapes on the shallots and dry them for planting next year. Someone can thin the cosmos. Do we have marigolds? They make the overall look of the garden so charming. We need lots of help planting chiles in the next few work days, as well as eggplant and bell peppers. Deb and Geri will direct that operation.

Now here’s the thing about how our garden grows…..now that the days are hot we need to water every workday. It takes a minimum of 4 people to water and five are even better. Here’s why. We have a shallow irrigation well with no way to control the pressure. It is either on or off. At least one blue 2″ hose should be set to water a plot and at least 4 circle hoses should have the valves turned on and set in plots. Then the pump can be turned on. We’ll ruin the pump if we turn it on and the valves to the hoses are turned off. On the other hand, if we turn on the pump without checking the hose valves and they are all on but the hoses aren’t set we’ll have water everywhere, except in the plots. Sooooo, we have several people who are good water masters and they recruit hapless workers who stroll into the garden. Unfortunately, Ingrid, chief water master, is out of the state for a while. If you are recruited to watch and move a hose, thank you, the thirsty little plants will thank you too. The next few workdays will be very hectic, trying to get the last few plots planted and everything watered.

The hotter weather forces us to start working at least by 9:00 AM ( Suzanne will be there earlier on Wed.) so we can leave before noon. This Sunday as I was drying the dill Michael carefully saved from his weeding, I was pleasantly surprised to find the man from KD Farms bringing us some small tomato and chile starts for our members to take home. They were extra and he hoped we could use them. Come to the garden! We need all the help we can get!!! If it gets too hot we’ll just turn a hose on you. jjh