Exposed Cable in Children's Plot

We've discovered a partially exposed cable at the south end of the children's plot. This is a cause for concern, since we don't want any kids puncturing it, etc.! Because it's in between the strawberry plants, it's a little out of the prime digging space, but please alert your children to avoid it!

What's the best way to proceed? Perhaps Com-Ed, if they are responsible for the cable, could put a protective conduit over it and bury it deeper. I would be happy to talk with Jennifer at the HPNC about the issue.

Baby bunnies and Compost on hold til June 4th

Well, yesterday at the garden I saw the first baby bunny. I guess we have a family. It took refuge in the southwest corner of the garden, but came back out again after a few minutes. I invested in some more chicken wire for our plot, but beware of the bunnies!

The compost is going well, and almost done for the first cycle. PLEASE DO NOT PUT ANY FRESH MATERIALS IN THE COMPOSTER THIS WEEK. If you have things to be composted, please put them in the wheelbarrow with the red plastic cover on it next to the composter. Thank you! And thank you to everyone who has been adding their rich kitchen scraps. We are going to have some wonderful compost.

Duck might be nesting

Hello ... When I was out there today, a female mallard duck came charging out at me from the weedy area under the classroom windows, along the north wall, just to the east of where the after-school kids have their plot. She then stood and watched me closely the whole time I was there. I wonder if she has a nest in the weeds, or at least is scoping the place out. Has anyone else seen her? I marked the location with a note. Maybe if we don't scare her too badly, we'll get to see some ducklings!

Compost clarification?

Lisa -- Thank you for managing the compost. I was wondering if you could give us a sense of how small we need to chop the fruit and vegetable waste? Thanks!

SQUASH BUGS!

*Already* there are squash bugs on my zucchini -- I guess they wintered in the wood surrounding the plot?

Help! Anyone know of effective, organic solutions? I think many of the remedies I found last year were far from organic.

Jennifer

strawberries

I picked a few strawberries outside the gate today after watering them, and it looked like many others will be ready in the next few days. Let's share them and enjoy! If you've been resisting because you didn't know who these were for, my understanding is that they are now for all of us.

watering the perimeter

Hello ... I'd been mostly ignoring Tim's former areas, because the plants seemed to be faring OK. With the heat, though, it's apparent that we need to water those areas. I did some, pretty haphazardly. Maybe if several of us water when we can, we'll end up doing a decent job of it. Same with weeding. I don't want this to add unduly to anyone's burden, but if you see something you know is a weed in those areas, please go ahead and pull it. The areas I'm talking about, in case anyone doesn't know, are: on the south side of the building, before the gate; inside the gate, along the south fence, up to the southernmost plot; and on the west wall of the building, until it hits the weedy patch. Watering along the south wall outside the gate is complicated by the fact that the very long hose at the front of the building is seriously kinked, to the point where I couldn't get it to work. So I dragged a hose under the gate, but it was too short -- so there was a portion I had to water with a watering can. So:

1) Please water and weed in those areas if/when you can.
2) Could someone who knows hoses and how to repair them please take a look at the one at the front of the building, and/or see if there's if there's some other solution? Possibly we could link hoses to water the spot I couldn't reach -- I was addled by the rest of my gardening work and wasn't thinking too swiftly.

Also, I have an exceedingly stupid question: Is the white barrel near the east wall the composter? I thought so, but it seemed to have bags and trash in it? Whatever it is, I pulled it north a bit because it was shading two rosebushes. Anything big and long-term like that, could we please check that it's not blocking anything?

Thanks!

Chives?

Did someone leave some chives at our plot? I put them in the ground -- if this was the intention, thank you so much! If not, I'm happy to return them! Please let me know!
Jennifer

Seedlings assigned, and MANY left over.

All the requested seedlings have been assigned, and there are quite a few left over! If you requested something but haven't heard from me, please let me know asap, and I apologize in advance.

By later this afternoon, the seedlings will be sitting on my plot (next to the door to the NHC) marked either "reserved" or "up for grabs." I'll give the group until Sunday to take what's left over, and then plant the rest wherever I can find to do so.

For those who requested and forgot what they get, I will leave a list of who gets what in a ziplock bag next to the reserved seedlings.

If you've already requested and received some, please feel free to take more but keep in mind what share you've already gotten and try not to deplete the remaining variety.

Enjoy!

I need someone to water this weekend

Hi, everyone ... I planted some seeds recently, and then realized I'll be out of town this weekend. Could someone please water for me? The seeds are mainly in the square at the north end of my plot (appears to have nothing in it -- because the seedlings haven't sprouted yet) and in a north-south line all the way down the center of my plot. Everything else could probably fend for itself unless it seems unusually dry -- my main concern is giving the seeds a little water each day. I'm going to try to get out there tomorrow, and then I'm gone from Thursday through Sunday. Thanks to any helper(s)!

natural pest control

I came across this:

Mint: plant with tomatoes and cabbage; deters ants, fleas, aphids, cabbage moths, rodents, attracts earthworms

Alfalfa: plant with lettuce, beans, and other legumes; adds nitrogen, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium

Scented marigold: plant with everything; in dense clusters this flower emits a substance that drives away nematodes; near tomatoes it can deter whiteflies

Lavender: plant with roses, alliums, fruit trees; discourages fleas and moths while drawing beneficial insects like bees, lady bugs, praying mantises

Nasturtium: plant with cabbage, cucumbers, radishes and fruit trees; repels squash bugs, whiteflies, and cucumber beetles; blooms prevent aphids from nibbling fruit trees

Garlic: plant with roses, raspberries, cucumbers, peas, lettuce, celery; keeps aphids off roses, repels Japanese beetles and spider mites

Sweet Alyssum: plant with potatoes, broccoli, beans, corn and eggplant; attracts predatory wasps and hoverflies, which devour aphids

Borage: plant with strawberries, cucumbers, squash and tomatoes; wards off tomato worms, adds trace minerals, helping boost disease resistance in nearby plants

butterflies!

All of a sudden, we have a ton of butterflies in the garden. Here is a nice pictorial overview of some of the species in our area: http://www.richard-seaman.com/Arthropods/Usa/Butterflies/Illinois/index.html. Of these, here are the ones I think I've seen in recent days: monarch, red admiral, painted lady, and satyr anglewing. I think it was a red admiral that landed on my leg today and stayed there a while -- they seem to like the color blue. Every year, I hope a monarch will come and lay its eggs on my milkweed plant (which, as you may know, is the only food its caterpillars can eat -- they eat the leaves and are then protected against predators for life, because milkweed gives other animals stomachaches). Maybe this is the year -- I have about a half dozen milkweed plants marching across in a diagonal line. I don't think I planted even one, ever -- they just found me. I do have a lot of flowers that I planted specifically because they attract butterflies. Later in the season, we should see swallowtails, too. Their caterpillars like dill, parsley, and carrots (the greens, that is). Dill and parsley grow like crazy out there. I always pull most of mine, because otherwise, they'll take over -- but I always leave a little bit just in case a swallowtail is looking for a good place to lay eggs. I would love to see a chrysalis in my plot this year!

Extras

I have some extra tomatoes, peppers, and one eggplant. Would it be ok for me to put them in the common plot for everyone to use? Are there any objections? Or any reasons I'm not thinking of why it wouldn't be a good idea? (other than the shade!)

Greencorps Seedlings!

I have our Greencorps give-away seedlings, and there is plenty of good stuff. Now to figure out who wants what and who gets what!

Here's what we got (each garden gets the same; there was no choosing):

3 each of butternut squash, eggplant, muskmelon, jalapenos, cayenne chilis, roma tomatoes, sage, acorn squash, romaine, serrano peppers, beefsteak tomatoes, big boy tomatoes, watermelon, yellow bell peppers, banana peppers, super fantastic tomatoes, celery, and okra.

6 each of kale, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes.

10 collard greens.

1 each of thyme, basil, and oregano.

2 italian parsley.

I would love to have a meeting and people can just pick what they want, but it seems unlikely that we can organize a meeting that everyone can attend soon enough. Either way, it's important to put a time limit on the distribution and I want to make sure the couple of gardeners who don't get online find out about what's available. Maybe we can do requests via email and then lottery if there isn't enough of something? I am happy to deliver the seedlings to everyone's plots in the garden. Suggestions are welcome. I wish we had been able to plan this ahead of time, but this process is new to us and I didn't know how much we would get!

I will keep the seedlings healthy and watered in the meantime :)

I will also be at the garden tomorrow (Sunday, May 16th) from 11-1.

Greencorps Vegetable Give-Away is this Saturday, May 15th

I am looking for someone with a truck or other appropriate vehicle that can help me transport plants from the Greencorps vegetable pickup day this weekend (my sedan is not an option). It's on Saturday at 9100 S. Stoney Island (St. Ailbe's Church). I haven't found out the times yet, but assume morning is best.

Then, of course, we will need to decide what to get and how to distribute them. I am thinking we'll need to arrange a time for those interested to meet at the garden and devise a system to distribute the plants fairly to those who attend. Thoughts?

Peter Rabbit

My little pea sprouts have also been munched. My friend Lianne tells me that one can buy dried blood at garden stores, and that sprinkling this around your plants repels rabbits. An old trick of her father's. It may be worth trying? Has anyone heard of this method?

Compost

I think we should begin working on our compost. I am inserting some excerpts from the instruction manual below. Anyone who wants to read the manual in its entirety (:-)) can find it online at: http://www.planetnatural.com/planetnatural/images/superior-compost.pdf

I began loading the CompostTumbler today and gave it 5 long turns. We can choose to do fast (14-day) or slow composting. Right now, we don't have a sufficiently large load of mixed materials to do fast composting. Please place materials for composting in the wheelbarrow by the composter. For the time being, the compost committee will manage loading and turning the composter to monitor its progress. When we get a good system going, we'll post instructions, so everyone can take part:-)

Good materials for the composter (materials from home are welcome!):

NITROGEN

fresh grass clippings

(cut within 24 hours)

green yard & garden waste*

coffee grounds & tea bags

egg shells (rinsed & crushed)

uncooked fruit & vegetable

waste*

farm manure

hair trimmings

CARBON

dead leaves*

sawdust & wood shavings

straw or hay*

wood ash

black & white newsprint

(shredded, premeasured &

soaked in water)

dead garden waste*

* Remember to chop or shred these materials before loading if you

are using the 14-day hot composting method.

Do not use branches, twigs, pine needles, redwood, cedar, walnut or

treated wood. Do not use any cooked foods, dairy products, meat or

bones. Do not use pet waste or untreated human waste. Do not use

anything you know or suspect to be poisonous or diseased.

At least four times each week go out to your ComposTumbler,

check the moisture and smell the materials. Make any needed

adjustments (see Adjustments for these two categories under

14-Day Hot Composting) and then rotate the drum five full

revolutions. Rotating the drum every day will speed up your

process even more.

Plantings in Kids' Plot

We planted some abandoned strawberry plants, some flower seeds, and a mint transplant (albeit a sad one!) along the south edge of the kids' plot. Hopefully, these will add some interest and entertainment for the kids. If you'd like to help your kids watch out for the growing seedlings, that'd be great! Hopefully, some of them will survive to maturity....

Garden Fair is coming

Don't forget the annual Hyde Park Garden Fair, which will be May 14 and 15, 9-6 on Friday and 9-4 on Saturday, in the plaza outside the post office, toy store, Treasure Island, etc. They have all kinds of plants: flowers (perennial -- including lots of native plants -- and annual), fruits, vegetables, herbs, and houseplants. The people working the sale are very knowledgeable. This is where I get most of my stuff this year.

If you want to go at the very beginning of the sale, for best selection, be aware that people start lining up at least half an hour in advance and are very, very intent on getting their stuff. It's a little crazy! Maybe not the best if you have your children with you? If you want to wait until it's more low-key, you really can still find most things on Saturday.

I'm an adrenaline junkie, so this year, I'm going on Friday morning. Will you be in line with me when the whistle blows? :)

Op Shop is open another month

Hello ...

I just found out that the Op Shop, in the old Hollywood Video just off Lake Park on 53rd, will be open until early June. They have a really lovely little garden section. Not the hugest variety, but everything they have seems like it's been carefully selected. I've gotten some really pretty and unusual things there, as I mentioned earlier. They also have compost by the bag, gardening books, supplies, etc. And they take trades, so it could be an option if you have extra plants, seeds, etc.

What should we do about rabbits?

Hello ... I was at the garden this afternoon and ran into Jackie Gant. She said she's having a lot of trouble with the rabbits this year. She was using red pepper to try to keep them at bay, but she also wondered if we could clear out the one remaining patch of weeds that is along the west wall of the building, to the south of where a few people have their plots/just north of where Tim had some of his stuff. (Can you visualize where I mean?) She has seen a rabbit darting in and out of there and suspects it has a burrow under the weeds. The weeds are quite large, and she said she would need someone else to do this task because she's not up to it.

At first, I thought this was a simple volunteer request, but then I thought that given the time of year, it's entirely possible that we're dealing with a mother rabbit and a nest of babies. Would the babies die if we did this? Like, would the mom freak out, and then the babies would die of exposure/starvation/predators? What if they're really tiny and she can't move them to a better spot? Does anyone know rabbit behavior? :) What is the best way to manage this problem?

Thanks!

Thank you to Jennifer Spruill

Jennifer did us all a big favor by taking the initiative to fix one of the (really bad) hose leaks. That should help us conserve a lot of water -- and I'm also looking forward to not getting soaked while watering anymore.

Thanks, Jennifer!