RGCF Monthly Garden Guide

This month’s topic list

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* February 2010 month-by-month gardening tips

* Digging deep inside to build a thriving community in the garden

* Sign up for your volunteer hours now

* Join the FREE “Planning Your Vegetable Garden” workshop

* Come to our Garden Orientation and potluck lunch

* Try all-purpose row covers for cool season plants

* Garden News, Views & Answers

February 2010 month-by-month gardening tips

All of these tips are taken from the book,  Month-by-Month Gardening in New Mexico by John Cretti so they are geared specifically for our area.

Planning

• Make an inventory of your supplies and make a shopping list for starting seeds indoors.  Keep in mind that you may need:  seed-starting mixes, trays, covers, water-soluble fertilizers, seed inoculant and lighting (fluorescent or full-spectrum bulbs).
• Order your seeds and remember to choose organic or non-GMO (non-genetically modified organim) seeds.  I recommend Botanical Interest seeds available locally at Sunflower Market, Vitamin Cottage and Whole Foods.  Or you can order on the internet from Seeds of Change from Santa Fe or the Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa. We’ll also have some free seeds for you from the 2009 season that were donated from Botanical Interests.  They’ll be available at the farm on Feb. 27.
• Check your supplies for organic amendments for your soil like aged manure, composted coffee grounds, straw, aged compost materials,  alfalfa meal or pellets, cottonseed meal, blood meal, rock phosphate and other minerals.  (We have bales or piles of straw available at the farm and we’re hoping to bring in some aged manure. Keep in mind that if you want to rototill, add straw afterwards because it will bind the rototiller.)
• Plan to visit your local garden stores to check out plastic flats and containers that are specifically designed to start seeds successfully.  (I like to use those opaque plastic storage bins with lids.  The ones that are about 2 ft. long  x 14 in. wide x 14”-16” high are an ideal size.  I also like to use stryofoam cups for my plant containers.  This is inexpensive and you can re-use the storage container later. It acts as a simple greenhouse and is very portable.)
• Choose a seed-starting mix that has been pasteurized or sterilized to avoid any diseases, which can be fatal to emerging seedlings.

Planting at home

It’s still a bit too early to start many vegetable and herb seeds indoors, but you can start the cool-season crops such as onions and cabbage that can be set out in your rows in April.  You can also  plant herb seeds now such as chives, cilantro-coriander, dill, fennel, salad burnet, sage, winter savory, French sorrel and thyme.

• Be sure to read the directions on each package and follow instructions carefully.
• Label your plants so that you know what each one is.  (Part of the reason I use Styrofoam cups for my planters…after  I  punch a hole in the bottom for drainage… is that you can just use a Sharpie pen and label them without having to purchase insertable plastic stick labels.)
• Gently cover your tray or plant containers with a plastic bag to maintain humidity until the seedlings begin to sprout.  (Or if you use the clear plastic bins I suggested above, just set the lid on it.)

Care

• Customize your watering schedule for your indoor environment.  Water sparingly.  It’s better to keep the plants a little dry than too wet.
• Make sure your seedlings have room and aren’t pushing against your plastic cover.
• Check for condensation on the plastic and make sure it does not produce  rot or leaf diseases.
• Try gently brushing your hand over the tops of growing seedlings daily.  It can flex their stems and help them grow stronger.  It’s good therapy for them and us.
• Watch your watering. If there is excess water in the saucer or bottom of your plastic bin after a half-hour, discard it to discourage fungus gnats and soil-borne diseases.
• Don’t fertilize your young seedlings until after you see a second set of leaves emerge.  Then use a natural 10-10-10 liquid all-purpose fertilizer.  Check your garden store or search the internet.

Getting your row(s) ready

• Be sure to go out to your row(s) to fertilize…they are all numbered now…and add some of the supplies suggested above like aged manure, composted coffee grounds, straw, aged compost materials, cottonseed meal, blood meal, rock phosphate and other minerals.  (We have bales or piles of straw available at the farm and we’re hoping to bring in some aged manure.  But DO NOT use straw if you want to rototill your soil because it binds up the tines. The other items can be purchased anywhere they sell garden supplies.)
• Start to stir these amendments into your row using shovels, spading forks or other tilling tools available in the tool shed.  We’re also working on getting the farm staff to bring over a gas-powered rototiller so that we can take turns using on our rows. I’ll let you know dates by e-mail as soon as I have them.  It only takes about 15-20 minutes to turn over your row with a rototiller.  (If you want to use the rototiller, DO NOT add straw to your row as this wraps around the tines.)

Digging deep inside to build a thriving community in the garden

Welcome to the Community Garden!  Being part of a Community Garden is more than just growing vegetables, herbs or flowers and then going back home.  To be successful as a Community Garden we all have to:

• Get to know each other

• Abide by a common set of values, policies and guidelines

• Be willing to learn from each other

• Strive to be good and helpful row neighbors

• Have current members guide new ones

• Volunteer to be responsible for the distinct parts of common areas

• Share ideas about how to collectively expand our gardening knowledge

• Work as a team and encourage each other

• Be understanding and respectful of each other and our differences

• Stay in constant touch through e-mails, newsletters, workshops and get-togethers

• Have fun and adopt the community at the garden as our extended family

In short, being part of the Community Garden is a lot like learning to live in a blended family.  It’s a little awkward and cumbersome at first but over time, if we each dig down deep inside and treat each other as we’d like to be treated, we’ll all come to a place of warmth and comfort.

As the Community Garden Coordinator, I will do my best to facilitate all of you in accomplishing these things….but I CAN’T do it alone.   I need YOUR help.  I think all of us are here at a community garden for a reason.

Many of us our tired of our jobs, tired of feeling disconnected and tired of not being seen or heard.  I hope as you prepare to plant your vegetable, herb and flower seeds, that you will also plant a seed of hope for these goals. I also hope you will stay open to having an experience of being appreciated for who you are no matter what your gardening skill level is and for seeing the goodness in those around you as we all work to connect to Mother Earth.

Sign up for your volunteer hours now

As you know, all of us have agreed to volunteer to do two hours a month to help out in the common areas of the Community Garden.  During this time of year people are transitioning in and out to the garden but we expect that there will be approximately 75 to 80 gardeners this year.  With that in mind I made a chart of the different tasks that need to be done along with a small amount of information that you will need to be aware of to choose what task you’d like to do.

Ideally, I’d like to have each of you take on one task for a period of two months so that means you’d get four hours of experience doing a task.  Then, every two-month period after that, you can opt to choose another task.  By the end of our 8-month gardening season (March through October), you’ll have learned four different tasks and have a better overall idea of what it takes to be in a community garden.  Below is a chart for you to look at and help you decide what you’d like to choose for your first task.

RGCF Community Garden Tasks

Task	Short Description	# of Volunteers Needed	Time to Needed Complete	Tools/Equipment Needed	Persons/Hours Needed
Irrigate Garden: Irrigation of 110 Rows	Open 10 gates in 6-inch irrigation pipe.  Open system valve. Water rows. Turn off system. Close orange gates.	2 volunteers a week on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 11 or 11:30 a.m.	Approx. 2 to 2.5 hours.  Bring water to drink. Wear rubber boots or old shoes.	Wrench and end valve are in shed to turn on system. Use stick to gently open and close orange gates.	2 persons/week x 2 hrs. ea. Week= 4 hrs. Month= 16 hrs. 8 persons/2 hrs.
Water Troughs: Fill 8 Water Tanks	Use pump and hoses to extract water from irrigation ditch. Fill all 8 tanks as needed and water hedgerows as necessary.	Need 2 volunteers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  So a total of 6 volunteers each week.	Takes approximately 1 to 1.5 hours for the whole process. Volunteers should wear rubber boots or old shoes.	Pump filled with gasoline, water bucket, funnel, screwdrivers to tighten and loosen hose clamps, hoses.	6 persons/week x 1.5 hrs. Week= 9 hrs. Month = 36 hrs. 24 persons/1.5 hrs.
Main Paths & Hedgerows: Maintaining main paths and hedgerows	Use gas-powered lawn mower and hand trimmers to keep paths and hedgerows clean and neat.	Need 2 volunteers per week. One to use lawn mower. One to trim weeds in and around hedgerow that can’t be cut with the mower.	Takes 1.5 to 2 hours to complete. Wear heavy gloves and closed-toe boots or shoes. Safety goggles are also necessary.	Lawn mower filled with gas, oil  and filters checked. Hand trimmers and branch pruners are in the tool shed.	2 persons/week x 2 hrs. Week= 4 hrs. Month = 18 hrs. 9 persons/2 hrs.
Garden Paths: Maintaining garden paths	Use a gas-powered weed trimmer or the lawn mower to make sure garden paths are clean and neat for irrigation teams.	Need 1 volunteer per week.	Can take 1.5  to 2 hours. Wear gloves, closed-toe boots or shoes and safety goggles.	Gas-powered weed trimmer or lawn mower with gas, oil and string checked.	1 person x 2 hrs. Week = 2 hrs. Month = 8 hrs. 4-5 persons/2hrs.
Compost Piles: Turning compost piles	Use large pitchforks and shovels to turn over organic matter in each of three sections of both the north and south bins.	Need 2 volunteers per week.  One for the north bin; one for the south bin.	Can take 2 hours to turn over 3 sections of both the north and south bins. Wear old clothes, gloves and closed-toe boots or shoes.	Large pitchfork and shovel.	2 persons x 2 hrs. Week = 4 hrs. Month = 18 hrs. 9 persons/2 hrs.
Diseased Containers: Empty containers with diseased plants and weeds with seedheads	Use a large pitchfork and a wheel barrow to empty containers and spread plants on empty field south of the Community Garden.	Need 1 volunteer to empty containers at both the north and south end of the garden.	Can take one hour per week. Need to wear gloves.	Large pitchfork and wheel barrow.	1 person x 1 hr. Week = 1 hr. Month = 5 hrs. 5 persons/1 hr.
Education Rows: Weeding and hand watering  education rows	Use hand tools and remove all weeds from the last four rows of the garden.  Place  all the weeds in compost bins.	Need 4 volunteers a week, one for each row.	May take 2 hours per week per person.  Need to wear gloves	Use hand tools and wheel barrow.	4 persons x 2 hrs. Week = 8 hrs. Month = 36 hrs. 18 persons/2 hr.
Task	Short Description	# of Volunteers Needed	Time to Needed Complete	Tools/Equipment Needed	Persons/Hours Needed
Tool Shed: Clean the tool shed and tools	Remove all the tools & equipment from the tool shed and lean them in appropriate categories against the fence.  Clean all the tools with a wire brush or scraper. Sweep out the shelves and floor of shed and replace tools neatly. Check padlocks to see if working properly.	Need 2 volunteers twice a month.	Need one volunteer to clean all the tools and categorize.  Takes about an hour. Need a second volunteer to clean off the ceiling, walls, shelves and floor of shed.  Second volunteer also needs to inventory tools. Also takes one hour.	Will need a broom, dust pan, pen and inventory list from CG Coordinator.	2 persons x 1 hr. Every other week = 2 hrs. Month = 4-6 hrs. 4 persons/ 1 hr.
Worm Bin: Add organic vegetable matter to worm bin and water worm bin lightly.	Add food scraps in layers with shredded newspaper to the worm bin (north of shade structure).  Do not add eggshells, meat scraps, oils or fats.	Need one volunteer, twice a week.	Volunteer should have a pair of good rubber gloves.  May take about an hour, twice a week.	Small hand tools can be used to gently pull apart layer and add more veggie scraps and shredded paper.	1 person x 1 hr. x 2 times week Week = 2 hr. Month = 8-9 hrs. 9 persons/1hr.
Seed Closet: Pull boxes of seeds from shelves and clean.	Clean one side of the shelves at a time.  Carefully set the seed boxes on the benches under shade structure. Dust the shelves.  Sweep the floor of the seed closet.   Repeat procedure on other side.	Need one volunteer, twice a month.	Will need a pair of gloves and possibly goggles or mouth and nose protectors.  Can take approx. 1 hour	Need a big duster brush or rags and a dust pan.	1 person x 1 hr. x 2 times month Ev. Other Week = 2 hrs. Month = 4-5 hrs.
Equipment Compartment: Open the east-facing sliding door to the shed and remove the pump, mower and equipment.	Sweep the ceiling, walls and floor of the compartment as well as the tool bench.  Neatly organize the pump, mower and other equipment.  Close and lock the two padlocks, scrambling the locks.	Need two volunteers, twice a month.	Will need a pair of gloves and possibly goggles or mouth and nose protectors.  Can take approx. 1 hour	Need a big duster brush or rags and a dust pan.	2 person x 1 hr. x 2 times month Ev. Other Week = 4 hrs. Month = 8-9 hrs.
Clean around Irrigation Pipe	Clear 3 ft. of space on both sides of pipe	Need two volunteers, twice a month	1.5 hours, twice a month. Wear close-toe shoes.	Gloves, goggles, gas-powered weed trimmer.	2 person x 1.5 hrs. x 2 times month. Month = 6 hrs.

Total hours of work for combined tasks per month = 173 hours

80 gardeners x 2 hours/month = 160 hours

I have also created an online form for you to sign up to choose what you’d like to do.  You will get to select both your primary and secondary choices.  That way, if we can’t give you your first choice, we’ll do our best to give you your second choice.  This will all be done on a first-come, first-served basis so the sooner you sign up, the better chance you’ll have of getting to do what you want.  Deadline to sign up is March 1, 2010.  If you haven’t signed up, you’ll be assigned a task.

Fill out an online form

I have prepared a online form to make it easier for you to sign-up.  I will e-mail it to the group.  Just fill it out and submit it.

I’ll get back to you with training times and job descriptions probably in March.  If any of you would like to volunteer more than two hours a month, it will be greatly appreciated so just let me know by indicating your interest in that in the box where you can list your days and times of availability.

Tracking your hours

As of way of tracking your volunteer hours, I will ask you to send me an e-mail at garden@riograndefarm.org by the last day of each month telling me in a sentence or two about your experience and giving me any suggestions you’d like to make our new system work better. I look forward to working with all of you and getting to know you.

Join the FREE “Planning Your Vegetable Garden” workshop

As you may remember, we are going to be offering five gardening workshops during the 2010 garden season.  All of these workshops will be a collaboration of Rio Grande Community Farm (RGCF), The Gardeners Guild and the Action Buzz Garden near the Harwood Arts Center.  As a member of RGCF, you can attend these workshops for FREE.

We have listed the five workshops here on our website.  We have information on some of them and others still have details that need to be worked out.  You can check for updated information on these gardening workshops at any time by visiting the RGCF website.

This first one will be held on Saturday, February 13 at 10 a.m. at the Harwood Arts Center at 1117 Seventh Street NW (southeast corner of Seventh Street and Mountain Road) in Albuquerque. This workshop is for beginning and seasoned gardeners alike.  Non-member admission is $5.  (Kids are free).

Topics will include:

• Laying out your growing space

• Planting schedules

• Choosing row, raised bed and container gardening

• Using succession and companion planting

• And more!

Bring a notepad and pen.  I hope to see you there!

Come to our Garden Orientation and potlucklunch on Saturday Feb. 27

Since our garden season ended back at the end of October, many of us haven’t seen each other or maybe even thought of our rows.  Others are brand new to our Community Garden and eager to get started.  All of us would probably like to visit the garden, see our rows, get some good reminders, meet everyone and share a little food.

So mark your calendars for Saturday, Feb. 27 and come to the Community Garden from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  We’ll meet under the shade structure next to the tool shed. This is all providing the weather is good that day; meaning clear and above 40-degrees. I’ll check the weather a few days ahead and e-mail you if we’re having bad weather.

Feel free to bring your family or a friend. You may also want to bring folding chairs though we do have benches.  I’ll bring some natural sodas and waters in a cooler to share.  Each of you can bring some food or a potluck dish to share. Feel free to bring your recipes for your potluck dish, if you like.

I’ll load up a couple of tables and tablecloths from the barn and bring them up.  Would one of you volunteer to bring paper plates, napkins and plastic forks instead of food?  That should cover the basics.  Please RSVP to garden@riograndefarm.org if you are going to come. Here’s our agenda.

• 11:00 a.m.  Meet at the shade structure, set out food, fill out a name badge

• 11:10 a.m.  Short introductions of gardeners (new and current)

• 11:25 a.m.  Community garden tips, do’s and don’t’s plus sharing ideas and talking about possible foodbank donations

• Noon to 1 p.m.   Potluck lunch

At that point March will be just a day away!  Time to start gardening!

Try all-purpose row covers for cool season plants

Use row covers over rows or around vegetable cages.

If you’re planning on putting out some of your cool-season starts in the Community Garden before our last frost date of May 8 for the Albuquerque area, I strongly suggest and recommend you buy some row cover.

Row cover is a gauze-like white garden fabric that will help prevent the frost from killing off new plants.  It’s thin enough to let in water and light and air. It makes an environment similar to a lightweight greenhouse.  It’s made from spun polyester and can last for years.  It also helps protect plants to some degree from insect invasions but you do need to take it off to get pollination from bees.

You can put some wire hoops over the area of your row that has seedlings and then just drape the row cover material over the hoops fastening them on with wire ties or spring-loaded clothespins. The row cover comes in different sizes so for our garden rows, I would recommend the 60-70-inch wide row cover.

Some gardeners also get some boards like 2” x 4” boards and wrap one edge of the row cover cloth around the boards on each side of the row and let the rest loosely drape over the plants.  Since it is lightweight, it shouldn’t weight your seedlings down but do keep an eye on it.  Also make sure you secure it enough to withstand our New Mexico winds.

I have checked both Lowe’s and The Home Depot locally and they don’t have any in stock right now.  You can watch and see if they get any later or check other local nurseries near you.  Otherwise, your best bet is to do an online search for:  garden fabric, row cover, frost and winter plant blanket or reemay to see what deals you can get.  Since it is not a heavy item, shipping should be reasonable.  If you have row neighbors who are also interested perhaps you can pool your money together and order some, making it more cost efficient for each of you.

Here are a couple of links I found online so you can get a better idea of what I’m talking about:  Grower’s Solution and Territorial Seed Company.

Garden News, Views & Answers

Tomatoes, Squash and Bean Questions

Turning in Your Row Maps

Bring Empty Plastic Jugs & Bottles

Make sure the padlock to tool shed is locked securely

Tomatoes, Squash and Bean Questions

Many of you seemed to be confused about my recommendation to NOT grow these plants this year.  We are a Community Garden.  Since I am the coordinator, it’s my job to see that we do what is best for all of us as a community.  I don’t want to dictate what goes on so I’m doing my best to make recommendations that I think would benefit all of us.

I said I recommend that you not plant tomatoes (due to the curly top virus) and also that you not plant any squash family plants (like cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins or other squash due to squash bugs) and no beans (green beans, pinto, scarlet beans, etc. due to Mexican bean beetles).

If you choose to plant them and they become hosts to viruses or insects, I will ask you to remove the plants. I would hate to have to do that after someone has done all the work of planting, watering, weeding and caring.  I am hoping not to have to play the bad guy and that all of you will willingly agree to my recommendations as I feel it’s best for all the gardeners as a whole community.  Certainly, it will also be better for the soil and the Earth.  Please watch each other’s rows for these plants and let me know if you see any problems.

After talking to an acquaintance at the NM Organic Commodities Commission, she said that if we would all agree NOT to plant those type plants, we’ll have a much better chance of having those same plants be healthier in 2011. If we keep those plants out of our garden, those viruses and bugs won’t have a chance to repopulate because they have no hosts to live off and hopefully this will make them die off naturally.

We also need to work on using more organic amendments in our rows to get our soils healthier.  They say the symptoms we’re having in our rows are the same ones traditional farmers have when they grow the same crops over and over in the same area. Weakened plants that don’t have enough nutrition from the soil become more susceptible to viruses and insects.  If our soil is healthier, the plants won’t be weak and susceptible but they really need a rest from those plants.  That’s also why I’m requesting maps so that we can build a history of what has been planted where.  I know it’s a lot of work but I think if we all do this this year, we’ll have better success in the following years.

Turning in Your Row Maps

I envision this as a very simple and quick map.  All I’m looking for is something basic like this (okay, not so squashed up like this…I had software problems…but you get the idea):

Potatoes           Sweet Potatoes             Carrots              Beets                Lettuce               Cabbage Peas                 Peas                 Peas                 Broccoli Marigolds          Thyme, Basil                 Strawberries      Strawberries      Onions              Peppers

Marika Ray: RGCF Row 55 – 2010 Season

These will be due by May 15.  We’ll need your name and row number on them. They will be put in plastic sleeves in a binder which I will keep in the equipment compartment of the shed.  If you add other plants during the growing season, just give me an updated map to put in the binder or just make notes on your current one.  Next year, they’ll be available and you can use them as a reference for how to rotate crops within your row to keep the soil and plants healthier.

Bring Empty Plastic Jugs & Bottles

If you have any empty gallon or half-gallon plastic milk jugs or juice bottles, please wash them out and bring them to the Community Garden.  I’d like to cut off the tops and bottoms and make plastic sleeves to go around the bases of our hedgerow shrubs to protect them from the mowers and gas-powered weed trimmer.

Make sure the padlock to tool shed is locked securely

Before you leave the Community Garden, especially if you are the last gardener there, make sure that the combination padlock is securely locked.  What I mean is make sure that the part that inserts into the lock is properly fastened and then scramble the tumblers to make sure that the combination (which we should all have memorized) is NOT showing on the lock.  Then, double check it by pulling on each part to make sure it’s locked.

If you (and others) are working in the garden leave the tool shed door closed with the padlock holding it shut…but not locked so that all of you can easily access tools while you’re there.  This will discourage passers-by from taking any of our tools from the shed.  If you have any problems or questions, call or leave me a message at my home office at 994-9521.