Monday, August 17

Updated List of Garden Tasks and Next Work Session!

Hey guys,

I hope everyone is enjoying themselves, and staying cool despite the sweltering weather. There a lot of things that need to get done in the garden, and although the next day I will be able to come in is Saturday the 22nd, it would be great if you guys could get out there sooner than that!

List of tasks:
1) Cut off brown dead leaves on pumpkin plants.
The pumpkins are inflicted with a white powdery mildew, and we are trying to save the plants that still have some green leaves (by applying organic fungicide), but the completely dead ones cannot be saved and just make the garden look ugly.

**Tip for the future: do NOT water squash or pumpkin foliage, this causes mildew. Although we could not prevent this, due to rain we have had, not watering the leaves will certainly help!**

2) Separate pumpkin vines from the surrounding plants.
This mostly applies to the plants in the northeast plot, but it is also an issue in the west plot. Try to untangle the squash (pumpkins) from the colorful impatient flowers and tomatoes in the northeast plot, as well as the herbs, chard, etc. in the west plot. After you untangle the vines, move them slightly over to an emptier.

3) Prune off yellow leaves of tomato plants, and try to fix stakes that have fallen over.
Do the best you can with this!

4) Weed all plots.
Focus on northeast plot, which is becoming full of grass again.

5) Harvest ripe tomatoes, and fully grown peppers.
Some cherry tomatoes in the southeast plot are ripe at yellow/gold colors, but most tomatoes are ripe when they are red. Take them as they ripen, they are delicious! There are also many small hot chili peppers and sweet peppers that are ready, but they must be CUT off of the stem when harvested.

6) Prune herbs.
Make sure they are at least 6 inches tall before you take leaves from the tops.

7) Help compost!
The compost that we are adding too has gotten moldy, because people were not mixing in their materials when they added them, and is to wet. To help this, add shredded newspaper to the bin, and mix as best as you can with hand shovels.

Please let me know if and when you complete these tasks, and thanks so much in advance to anyone who tackles some of this stuff!

If you don't get to this stuff before Saturday, it would also be great to have you guys at the next organized work session, this Saturday, August 22nd, at 12:00 PM. We will be continuing the tasks that do not get completed before then.

I hope to hear from/see you guys soon!

--Kristina