Sunshine Weekly Weeder

10.27.11
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org


ALL GARDENERS MEETING - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 10 AM

Come out for the All Gardeners Meeting this Saturday at 10:00am at the garden trailer. New gardeners, this is an opportunity to meet other gardeners and the Sunshine Gardens officers. And there will be hot coffee and doughnuts!

Meeting topics will include: the installation of a new cover for the hoop house, creating and reclaiming plots along the fence with TSBVI, and installing water lines for the new plots.



SUNSHINE GARDENERS WATER CONSUMPTION

September-October Billing


2011
usage: 279,300 gallons
bill: $1,371

2010
usage: 190,200 gallons
bill: $858

2009
usage: 49,100 gallons
bill: $228

PLEASE REMEMBER: No unattended watering is allowed at the garden during the current drought conditions and with city of Austin water restrictions in effect.



SERVICE HOURS - 2 months left this season

The hot weather should be done for this year, so no excuses. There are two months left to complete your SCG service hours by the December 31st deadline for the fall season. Please remember to do your hours and then remember record them. There are two scheduled workdays, November 12 and December 10, or put in your time on your own schedule. If you need suggestions on what to do, check the task list in the tool shed or contact Ila Falvey, our maintenance coordinator.

TSBVI Service Hours

Also, don't forget that you need to complete your TSBVI service hour by December 31st. And there are some gardeners who need to make up their TSBVI hour from the spring season. Remember to record those hours in the physical or virtual green binder.


FACTS AND TIPS ON GROWING SPINACH

Spinach prefers a neutral or high pH. Fortunately, that shouldn't be a problem with our clay soil.

Keep the soil moist, but not soggy.

Spinach seeds will not germinate if the soil is too warm. It needs to be 75 degrees or lower for good germination.

A technique for improving germination is to put your spinach seeds in a glass with water and put them in your refrigerator to soak for 24 hours. Then plant the seeds 1/4 inch deep in a seed bed that has been watered well before you start planting. Keep the area moist and the seeds should come up in 7 to 10 days.

Plant rows about 8 - 10 inches apart, and thin seedlings to every 6 inches.

Successive plantings of 10 to 14 days let you hedge your bets and get good production all winter long. You can harvest the older leaves and let the younger leaves continue to grow and mature, or harvest entire plants.



GARDENING SEMINAR
Fruits and Berries - Planning, Pruning, & Care
Saturday, November 5, 10am-12 noon
Deep Eddy Community Garden, 300½ Atlanta Dr., Austin


Learn which varieties of apples, peaches, and berries excel in this area. Also, learn about planting and basic pruning techniques and general fruit and berry care. This seminar is sponsored by Travis County Master Gardeners Association and the Travis County AgriLife Extension and is free and open to the public.



CALENDAR OF EVENTS


Contact Information

Jack McEvoy, President - president@sunshinecommunitygarden.org
Jeff Schulz, Vice President - vice-pres@sunshinecommunitygarden.org
Suzanne Erickson, Treasurer - lacasita88@gmail.com.net
Sue Brownlee, Secretary - scgsecretary@gmail.com
Linda Booker, Director - lindaruthbooker@gmail.com
Ila Falvey, Director - ila.falvey@gmail.com
Nancy Seibert, Director - nancyrseibert@yahoo.com

Coordinators & Chairs

Zone 1, Patsy Painter - patsy_painter@yahoo.com
Zone 2, Katy Davis - katydavis@austin.rr.com
Zone 3, Sheila Bartholomew - sheilab@concrete.com
Zone 4, Alan Marburger - alanmarburger@gmail.com
Zone 5, Mary Gifford - mgifford@austin.rr.com

Zone 6, Annik Jackson - anij@aol.com
Zone 7, Diana Dworaczyk - dianadworaczyk@aol.com
Zone 8, Felicia Kongable - feliciako@yahoo.com
Zone 9, Cheryl Hazeltine - cph@austin.rr.com
Zone 10, Emily Tisinger - dtisinger@austin.rr.com

Plant Sale -Michael Hallfibercable@austin.rr.com

TSBVI Liaison & Volunteer Coordinators
Mike Meyer meyermic2001@yahoo.com and Linda Booker lindaruthbooker@gmail.com

Carpentry & Repairs - Robert Jarry - r.jarry@sbcglobal.net
Compost - Steve Uecker - steven_uecker@hotmail.com
Tools & Wheelbarrows - Bob Easter - beaster1@austin.rr.com
Maintenance Coordinator - Ila Falvey - ila.falvey@gmail.com
Website Coordinators - Kathleen Neville and Larry Olsen - lolsen@suddenlink.net

Record Service Hours Online - the Virtual Green Binder

To unsubcribe send a message to:scgsecretary@gmail.com


Sunshine Community Gardens
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org

SUNDAY WORKDAY - OCTOBER 16, 9 AM - 12 NOON

There is a Workday scheduled for this Sunday morning, October 16. If the usual Saturday morning time for workdays doesn't work for you, come on out this Sunday, put in some service hours, and help keep our garden looking good. It looks like the weather should be in the 70's before noon. Cheryl Hazeltine, Zone Coordinator for Zone 9, will be hosting this workday.

Now that the weather has started to cool off, this is a good time to get your service hours in before you get busy with holiday activities in November and December. Workdays are also scheduled for October 22, November 12, and December 10. The last day for completing and logging Fall Season service work is December 31.

REMEMBER to log your hours in the green binder in the tool shed, or in the Virtual Green Binder online, and please indicate whether the hours are regular service hours or TSBVI service hours.



TSBVI SERVICE HOURS

Remember to work your TBSVI Service Hour obligation for this season. Each gardener is required to contribute one hour of service work (per plot, regardless of size) for TSBVI tasks during each 6-month garden season. Contact Mike Meyer, meyermic2001@yahoo.com, our TSBVI Liaison & Volunteer Coordinator, to find out what tasks can be done to fulfill the TBSVI Service Hour requirement and also support the TSBVI horticulture program.

Some of you (you know who you are) are past due on your spring-season TSBVI hour. You must complete any outstanding spring TSBVI service hours and your fall service hour (2 hours total) by December 31 to be eligible to continue gardening at Sunshine Gardens next spring.



ALL GARDENERS MEETING - OCTOBER 29

The next All Gardeners Meeting is scheduled for October 29, 10:00 am, at the garden trailer.

The agenda items will include the project to install a new cover for the hoop house, setting up new plots and water lines along the new TSBVI fence, and more.


LEAKY FAUCETS OR WATER PIPES?


Report any leaky faucets or water pipes in your area to your zone coordinator. They will forward the information to Stewart Nichols, our resident water leak repairs person so we can get the problem fixed and keep our water bills down.

Don't know how to contact your Zone Coordinator?

All the Zone Coordinators with their contact information are listed at the end of this message, including our newest zone coordinator for Zone 6, Anick Jackson.

Don't know who your Zone Coordinator is?

We've had some changes recently in our roster of Zone Coordinators. If you're not sure who your zone coordinator is, check the latest version of the Sunshine Garden Plot Map(pdf), attached to this newsletter.


VEGETABLES TO PLANT - LATE OCTOBER

Beets
Carrots
Collards
Garlic
Kale
Kohlrabi
Lettuce
Mustard
Onion Seeds
Parsley
Garden Peas
Radishes
Spinach
Turnips



BEETS - Growing Tips from Texas A&M



SEMINAR: Fruits and Berries - Planning, Pruning, & Care
Saturday, November 5, 10am-12 noon
Deep Eddy Community Garden, 300½ Atlanta Dr., Austin


Learn which varieties of apples, peaches, and berries excel in this area. Also, planting and basic pruning techniques and general fruit and berry care will be included in this seminar. Sponsored by Travis County Master Gardeners Association and the Travis County AgriLife Extension. Free and open to the public.



CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Contact Information

Jack McEvoy, President - president@sunshinecommunitygarden.org
Jeff Schulz, Vice President - vice-pres@sunshinecommunitygarden.org
Suzanne Erickson, Treasurer - lacasita88@gmail.com.net
Sue Brownlee, Secretary - scgsecretary@gmail.com
Linda Booker, Director - lindaruthbooker@gmail.com
Ila Falvey, Director - ila.falvey@gmail.com
Nancy Seibert, Director - nancyrseibert@yahoo.com

Coordinators & Chairs

Zone 1, Patsy Painter - patsy_painter@yahoo.com
Zone 2, Katy Davis - katydavis@austin.rr.com
Zone 3, Sheila Bartholomew -
Zone 4, Alan Marburger - alanmarburger@gmail.com
Zone 5, Mary Gifford - mgifford@austin.rr.com

Zone 6, Annik Jackson - anij@aol.com
Zone 7, Diana Dworaczyk - dianadworaczyk@aol.com
Zone 8, Felicia Kongable - feliciako@yahoo.com
Zone 9, Cheryl Hazeltine - cph@austin.rr.com
Zone 10, Emily Tisinger - dtisinger@austin.rr.com

Plant Sale
Nancy Seibert nancyrseibert@yahoo.com and Sharon Flournoy saflournoy@att.net

TSBVI Liaison & Volunteer Coordinators
Linda Booker lindaruthbooker@gmail.com and Mike Meyer meyermic2001@yahoo.com

Carpentry & Repairs - Robert Jarry - r.jarry@sbcglobal.net
Compost - Steve Uecker - steven_uecker@hotmail.com
Tools & Wheelbarrows - Bob Easter - beaster1@austin.rr.com
Maintenance Coordinator - Ila Falvey - ila.falvey@gmail.com
Website Coordinators - Kathleen Neville and Larry Olsen - lolsen@suddenlink.net

Record Service Hours Online - the Virtual Green Binder

To unsubcribe send a message to:scgsecretary@gmail.com


Sunshine Community Gardens
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org