NEW DATE: AG COMM MEETING MOVED TO NOV. 15 @ 7:30 P.M. at TOWN HALL

Apparently, there was a schedule conflict that caused the meeting to be moved from this date to today's -- and the scheduling conflict was removed. So the meeting, with the review of the garden, is moved back to Thursday night.

Thank you, Elizabeth!

Year-end meeting, Tuesday Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

The Agricultural Commission invites you to their meeting on Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Sargent Memorial Library for the year-end discussion regarding the Flerra Community Garden.

Meeting time has been changed to NOV. 15 @ 7:30 P.M. at TOWN HALL.
You're encouraged to attend this meeting, where you can offer feedback on your experience at the garden, offer suggestions, or just show support. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Michelle and Jesse, the garden managers, at flerragarden@gmail.com, or Elizabeth Hughes, our town planner, at elizabeth.hughes@town.boxborough.ma.us. 

If you can't be there, please feel free to submit feedback in writing (or email) to the managers, Elizabeth Hughes, or the Agricultural Commission members.

Thank you all for your fine work at the garden this year! We hope everyone had a great experience, and we welcome any feedback.

The garden looks excellent this year - neat and well-tended. We're into July and have started taking cucumbers and beets with squash and some eggplant to follow soon. Hope everyone else is finding the same success.

Some notes:

Pumpkins

 

We have planted a pair of pumpkin plants in the final plot on the street side opposite the entrance. They were pretty sketchy to start, but seem to be picking up steam. The goal is to have everyone contribute to the upkeep [watering - pumpkins are thirsty] and in October, take home a jack 'o lantern for Halloween.

 Mint

Some people have planted mint in their plots. Mint will take over the universe if allowed to roam. Please keep it contained in its bed - or better yet, a pot - and please be sure it gets taken up in October.
Mint is most aggressive, but this post holds true for any perennial. Thanks! 

Weeds

Please don't toss pulled weeds over the fence into the field. There's a waste pile to the left of the entrance path where we try to compost stuff. Right now, there's a huge heap of stuff from the corn plots.

 Tools

Time and wear has ended the career of the few tools we had access to. If anyone has old, unused garden tools  OR if they see them at a yard sale and feel altruistic, we'd love the donations.

Deer

We had our first documented deer invasion this week. We added some height to part of the back fence and spread repellant. So far, that's slowed Bambi, but deer are persistent. If anyone sees evidence of further invasions [hoof prints, gnawed plants, droppings], please let us know and we'll add more fence. Thanks.

 

Corn

Michelle sent an email on corn this week. If you didn't get it, let us know and we'll resend it. If you've decided to join late, let us know - we still have a bit of space for some added rows.

AG Fair

The fair is in early September and it's always fun to have gardeners submit entries. We'll post a link when it's available, but keep it in mind. Last year was a bust because of the August hurricane, but that won't happen this year, right?

Please read this - it's important!

There back! Cucumber beetles like the one in this picture. They are damaging, nasty, horrid little things. Getting rid of them is an all-hands-on deck proposal - please check cukes and squash frequently. If they are driven from one plot, they'll just move to the next.

The beetles damage things badly, leaving scars, like the leaves above. 

Using Neem Oil, [organic], hot pepper spray, planting pungent varieties of marigold [French of Mexican] can help. However, the most efficient way to get rid of them is to squash them by hand and clear the eggs off the underside of cuke and squash leaves. The eggs look like the picture above. Don't just scrape them off - scrape them off into a bottle of water and dish soap. They'll still hatch if they are on the ground. It can take some time to get rid of them, but persistence pays off. 

It's time to plant the corn

Need a show of hands of anyone interested in growing a row of corn in the communal corn plot this summer.
Corn does best in close rows, which allows pollination.
Because the corn is cheap, there's no charge, but please keep to these guidelines:
Use the seed we provide, it helps with pollination
Please remember corn is thirsty and requires frequent watering.
If you'd like more than one row, let us know and we'll accommodate those requests as space allows.

Finally, the arrival of corn means the manure pile will be vanishing. Saturday morning, we're going to spread it onto the corn plot and run the cultivator over it to mix it in well.

Thanks much.

Organic pesticide sites -- good info

Our fellow gardener, Christina, sent me a few very good links with information on organic pesticides. Check out these sites!

Extensive List of Organic Pest Control Remedies

http://www.smartgardener.com/

My favorite remedy is pepper spray, which the first link provides a recipie for. Basically, get a whole bunch of pepper flakes from the Christmas Tree Shop, and make a tea. Then strain it (important) and spray it on your plants. It works very well on corn worms!

Thank you, Christina!

A beautiful weekend for gardening! Hope everyone is having fun and doing well. As always, any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us.

We've welcomed two new gardeners in the past week or so. Please welcome Christina and Kyle!

(You can click on the picture for a slightly larger version.)

Jesse found a terrific-looking, free, organic garden planning tool online today. It will let you set climate, plot size, and other variables, and then you can fill it in with plants, which will appear with their minimum space size. When you click on the i box next to the veggies in the task bar, it brings up a box with lots of info about each plant's needs and common problems. Pretty cool!

You have to set up an account, but on a quick review, the site looks pretty useful, and it's from a good source -- Mother Earth News -- which just means it's probably safe to use, virus-wise.

Just click on the hotlink, below.

Vegetable Garden Planner — Design Your Best Garden Ever

And away we go ...

The composted manure was delivered today, and the fence and gates reset. Please feel free to use what you need, and keep in mind that there should be enough available for all of the gardeners.

A big thank you to Alden and Niki Veley, longtime Boxborough residents from Burroughs Road, who not only provided (for free) the composted manure, but delivered it personally. 

The pump is also fully functional and working beautifully. Thank you to Boxborough DPW, and Elizabeth Hughes.

ALSO: There was a car parked near the garden on the grass today. This is a big no-no. Gardeners should park parallel to the road, on the garden side.

The photo to the right is a Google Earth photo of Flerra Field. Our garden is in the red circle. The places we are allowed to park are in the yellow boxes. (All bets are off for Fifer's Day, yes, but that's the only exception.)

A quick plea: Everyone will have a different approach to how they run their plot. However, ensuring the Regulations are followed is  part of what Jesse and I agreed to do when we volunteered to manage the garden. If you have any questions about any of the rules, we're glad to talk with you about it. Please just ask.

So we will (and must) let you know if there are any problems as we go, and please, please don't worry about being singled out or feel shy about asking questions. That's what we're here for, and we're always glad to chat!

Meanwhile, happy gardening! We're all set to go!


*Parts of this entry edited for clarity and tone, 5/29/12

Compost is coming

Compost will be delivered this Sunday, which is great news. It will be deposited just to the right as you enter the gate.

You may notice this week that the giant rock at the start of the path through the woods is moved aside. This is so the tractor carrying the composted manure can get into the garden area. Please, please, please don't use this opportunity to drive any vehicles into the garden (I'm sorry to have to say this, believe me, but based on precedent, I have to, sigh.)

Still in process: Getting the pump up and working!

Please let us know if you have any questions or problems.

Some photos from setup day

Abby, Katie and Eve.

Matt, Jesse, Alexi and Ethan, installing the fence.

Groomed and ready to go!

Thanks, Linda D., for the photos!

Welcome to the 2012 season of the Flerra Community Organic Garden.

Thank you very much for showing up this weekend for setup, those of you who could. It made a huge difference, and the garden looks wonderful.

Almost ready for work: Fence is up, plots are marked.

Below is the garden "toolshed," with items available for everyone to use. We have four new watering cans this year (yay!) to increase the chances that you'll be able to get all your watering done in one haul. Back is the handy-dandy cart, and there are also some tools on their way over that will be available for everyone to use.

The garden tools section, first area on the left as you enter. 

The fence is complete, and all of the plots are marked off. Look for your tag, in the front right side of your plot. You can keep these tags or discard them. If there is any problem with your plot, you must let me know as soon as possible. I'm not able to move other people once they've started working.

Marked-off plot with ID tag. 

What remains to be done:

• Water: The pump handle has been installed, but the pump has not been charged. We'll be working with the town to get this accomplished, and we'll let you know when it's ready for use. For now, you can haul water from the pond, or carry water from home. 
• Composted manure: We should be getting a shipment of composed horse manure soon, donated from a local farm. Jesse's been trying to reach them, and when he does, we'll arrange delivery. It will be set right across from the tool area, on the right side. Anyone is welcome to use it as needed, but please keep in mind that it needs to be available for several gardeners, so don't overdo! Also, you can plant now and enrich later with manure, or you can wait for the manure before you plant -- up to you. The manure will be there for a set amount of time, then it will be spread into the corn patch.
• Corn plot: The area just after the composted manure area will be for the comminity corn. Please think about whether you'd like to participate. It won't cost extra, but you're responsible for keeping your row(s) weeded. You can do corn in your own plot only, but corn is best done this way so it can cross-pollinate. (We'll have assigned rows.) We'll only allow the butter and sugar corn variety in the garden for this reason. We'll let you know when planting time draws near. 

One more thing: Some of the regulations may seem unusual; but they were created during a long process to reach a balance between parties and to ensure the land is used properly and the property is treated respectfully.* These two are of particular note -- please follow these rules exactly, and let us know if you have any problems:

• Parking: Please park parallel to the road on the garden side, and make sure you don't park on the grass. Vehicles aren't allowed on the grass for any reason. You can run the cart between your car and the garden, though. 
• Colors: You can't leave anything at the garden that is not a dark earth-tone. If you have to leave something at the garden and have doubts about its appropriateness (like a big white and yellow and green and blue bag of potting soil), we've left some brown garden fabric in the tools area, and you are free to use and hide your stuff (temporarily) on your plot. 

You're welcome to go on over to the garden and get started! Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or problems. We'd love to hear from you!

* Edited for clarity and tone, 5/29/12