Garden alert! Bugs and fences need your attention.

Bugs! 

Squash bugs are out in droves. It's very important that everyone tends to their bugs. If you spend time eradicating bugs and eggs in your garden and your neighbor is not, you'll soon have bugs again.

It's important to inspect your plants -- especially any kind of squash, but any plant they can hide in -- underneath the leaves, on the stems, and the earth around the stem for bugs. Egg bunches will be under the leaves in an area usually smaller than a nickel.

The offenders:

The squash bug, about the size of a pencil eraser:

The stink bug (may not be exactly the right bug, but looks just like this) about 3/4 of an inch long:

Stink bug nymphs, very tiny:

Eggs from both these bugs are similar, and will be grouped like the photo. They look like tiny seeds. Do not just throw them aside: Take along a small container of soapy water, remove the eggs from the leaves and put them in the solution, and dispose of them at home. 

The Fence

The fence has been torn and pushed down several times in the past week. We suspect there may be deer or racoons (or both) breaking into the garden, or becoming trapped inside and destroying the fence on their way out. 

We will be repairing the fence as soon as we can -- but do appreciate it when you look after it, too. Please take a look at the fence when you are there, and mend it if you can and let us know if it's broken.

Please don't forget to close the gate when you leave the garden. 

Also (smaller problem), please take all your equipment home and put all garden equipment back in the garden entrance before you leave. Plot owners are responsible for keeping the garden neat. If you bring helpers, please show them where things are put away. If you have any questions, please let us know!

Last But Not Least

Everything looks wonderful! You guys are doing an amazing job on your plots. It's a pleasure to walk through and see all the hard work everyone's doing. THANK YOU! :)

    

The garden is in full swing this weekend, and we walked over after Fifer's Day for a look. I was so impressed with everyone's progress! I took some pictures -- not everybody's pictures came out, but there's some beautiful stuff over there this weekend. Nice work, everyone! 

Flerra Community Garden, Fifer's Day 2014

      

 

Update for everybody

First, thanks to everyone. The garden is almost full - almost twice the number of gardeners this year - and everything looks fantastic.

We need to knock the manure pile down soon - probably on Saturday morning before Fifer's Day. I'm aiming to be over there to do the work around noon. If we can get a few people to help, we can have it done in under an hour.

There's also the option of adding a community corn plot in one of the few empty spots. If I can get a show of hands from people interested, we'll get the seed and sort our row assignments. We've done this in the past to great success. The advantage: Everyone gets corn and by combining the rows, we guarantee pollination. So wave your hands - or email - and we'll get started.

Eggs underneath the leaf.

These guys. We hate these guys.

They're back: The cucumber beetles have made their annual appearance. These little nasties are about a centimeter long and black and yellow striped. Because we are and organic garden, we can't nuke the hive from orbit, resorting instead to subtler methods. The best way is to get over and hand pick the beetles and squish them. It's oddly satisfying. Then check over the leaf for eggs. If you find them, scrape them into a jar full of dish washing detergent and water. If you knock them on the ground, they hatch and you haven't solved anything. Then spray the plant with Neem oil. This will need to be done several times to ensure we have an impact.

The pump works. Not particularly well, yet, but we're trying to make easier. We'll put some bottles over this week for priming water, although that hasn't been needed yet.

If you notice deer incursion, let me know ASAP, so we can address it before it becomes a real issue.

Finally, it's not July yet, but now's a good time to start thinking ahead to the AG Fair in September. Enter your best and brightest for ribbons and bragging rights. Abby Floyd has won the largest sunflower contest twice for plants over 12 feet tall. That's like four of her. [See, bragging rights]. We'll post a link to the sign up when it becomes available.

Progress is progress! Some start-up reading.

Some more start-up news and a new map! Two new members signed up in the last few days. If you know anyone who is interested in signing up for a plot, there is still space! Please let us know.

For your reference, here's a map of the Flerra Garden. The garden is near the entrance to Flerra Field, immediately to the left. There is a path through a small patch of woods to the garden. Parking is important. Please try to park on the garden side, by the side of the road but not on the grass. Your attention is appreciated!

Some reminders:

Please read the rules and regulations. The rules and regs may have some twists and turns in them; keep in mind they were carefully crafted when the garden was started to keep the garden organic, orderly and to make sure it blends in with our surroundings. If rules are not followed, chances are good we will get a complaint. This makes us sad. We dread having to be "the heavy." So keep in mind, rules are usually good. But if you have a question, please don't hesitate to ask us.

Be careful with invasive plants: There is a great deal of literature on the Web about invasive plants and why it's important not to encourage them. We are gardening in a meadow, and we want to preserve the original grasses there. Plants like mint or pansies, that are perennial and/or will spread, should not be planted directly in the garden earth (if they are in a pot, that's OK).

Be thoughtful about pollination: If both you and your neighbor are planting tomatoes (or other flowering plants), please don't plant yours directly adjacent to them, to cut down on the risk of cross-pollination.

Be sure to leave space for your neighbors: We are always surprised every year when that cute little baby squash plant turns into a giant, gaping four-foot wide monster. Every year. Be sure to read the guidance on your plants, and plan accordingly.

About corn: We will most likely be planting corn in a communal space (in assigned rows). Everyone will have the opportunity to have a row or two -- and it works great because corn grows better in larger plantings. If you want to plant corn in your plot you can, but please only use butter-and-sugar varieties -- corn pollen gets airborne easily and can contaminate other plants, so we select one variety only. No ornamental corn, please.

Don't discard things over the fence: When you pull weeds, remove them to the compost heap, on the left side of the path as it re-enters the woods. Rocks go just inside the woods on the right side, so others can find them and use them if needed.

Keep it clean: Leave your plot neat and clean. Take all your equipment home. Put any communal tools back. Pull your weeds so bugs have no hiding spots -- this is vital for you and for your neighbors, too.

Have fun!! Don't worry: We don't hover like this all season. We're just getting started, so we need to make sure everyone's oriented and knows what to do. So don't worry, it really is all about fun. :) We like it here and we want you to like it too!

Last but not least, here's the latest garden map!

Share! Share your stuff, share your thoughts, share your ideas!

Comments are enabled on this blog.

Here's a spot for you to leave comments about sharing stuff. 

If you have extra squash plants -- share! 

Extra bean seeds? Share!

If you needs some gardening supplies but not the whole package, ask if someone wants to go in on the purchase with you.

Get the idea?

Anyway -- you may need to actually go to the blog (and not the RSS email) to see the comments. 

Opening weekend

The garden is open! I've just sent an email out to gardeners who've signed up and registered, with a map of the plots. The garden is twice-tilled, fenced and laid out.

If you're behind the curve and still want to sign up, never fear. You're still welcome, as long as there's space. We just got an email from a new arrival who might want a big plot, so don't wait too long. But as of today, we are about 60% full, with four 20x20 plots still open. 

The pump is installed, but we're not sure it's primed yet. And we are still arranging delivery of our composted manure. Jesse brought over the garden cart and watering cans today. If you happen to see some good tools at a yard sale this summer and want to donate them to the garden, please let us know. We'll watch over them.

In case it's helpful, here's a link to the Gardener's online garden planner. Very useful if you're headed out to buy some seedlings! http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Page-KGPJS

Calling one and all

We're starting to see applications drift into the Town Hall offices. We need to know, by show of hands, how many will be back this summer - we hope that's everyone. If we don't hear from you by Saturday, we'll assume you're going to opt out this summer and start planning for other gardeners.
If you want to garden this summer, follow this link and fill out the application.
We're hoping to have a full census this summer - it's always more fun that way.

Finally, we've got the plowing planned for sometime in the next week. Once that's done, keep you eyes open for an email announcing the annual fence-building day. With just us, it takes three or four hours, minimum, to install. With four or five people, it's an hour, maybe two tops. So please be willing to pitch in.

Thanks and happy spring.

Jesse and Michelle