Tuesday, September 25, 2007
CleanUp Day is Sunday, 10/14
Cleanup day is October 14th, 11:00 AM - if you have a seasonal plot all structures and woody plants must be out of your plot by this date. Plants that need to be pulled up can be put in the weed pile for hauling away. This is in preparation for tilling in the spring. Also, please show up to help with cleanup if you can. We will be picking up stakes, clearing out any abandoned plots, etc. Not cleaning up your plot can affect whether or not you get a plot next year - we have to pay for any damage to the machinery that happens when the garden is tilled.
CONGRATULATIONS AWARD WINNERS!
The following SAP Gardeners received awards at the 9/13 Annual Harvest Dinner. 
Congratulations to all!
Congratulations to all!Outstanding Newcomer: Rachel Pullman
1st Newcomer: Jane Rauenhorst
2nd Newcomer: Terry Straub
Outstanding Traditional: Lois Braun
1st Traditional: Lori Lippert
2nd Traditional: Myrna Radel
Outstanding Unique: Karen Flink/Julia Buffalohead
1st Unique: Louann Keleher 
2nd Unique: Harlan Cavert
Outstanding flowerplot: Harlan Cavert
1st flowerplot: Wayne Sisel
2nd flowerplot: Harlan Cavert (didn't look at the names when Ann, Matt and Meghan did the judging)
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Harvest Dinner -- Thursday, September 13
Come celebrate the harvest at our last big event of the season - the Harvest Dinner! This exciting event will be held Thursday, September 13, 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. at the Langford Park Rec Center, 30 Langford Park, St. Paul, MN 55108 (Please note -- this is a location change from last year; click here to view their web site: http://www.stpaul.gov/depts/parks/recprograms/langford.htm.)
Please bring a potluck item made from your garden! The Annual Garden Awards will be presented and we'll share great gardening stories from the year. Hope to see YOU there!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Garden Party August 25th
The summer garden party will be at the garden August 25th between
9:00am-11:00am, yep, it's a breakfast thing. :) There will be
homemade muffins and good company.
9:00am-11:00am, yep, it's a breakfast thing. :) There will be
homemade muffins and good company.
Tomato Bee September 1
Announcing a Tomato Bee at the SAP Community Garden
What says "Minnesota" more than the Fair? How about ripe and juicy August tomatoes? However, the abundance of tomatoes presents an annual problem - what to do with them. We think we've come up with solution. We're organizing a Tomato Bee at the Garden (weather permitting) on Sat., Sept. 1 from 11 – 5 pm.
In the spirit of the apple bees of a bygone era, when farmers and their families gathered to peel and core apples for apple butter, neighbors are invited to come together to make old-fashioned tomato catsup. Gardeners, "love-apple" enthusiasts, slow foodies, and devotees of Minn. history: all are welcome and everyone will get a jug of catsup to take home. If you have tomatoes to spare, come early and bring a peck to clean and throw in the pot.
The bee is hosted by Mark Sherman, tomato grower and community garden member, and daughter Nora, a former SAP-per and current Brooklyn resident. Nora is currently cooking and blogging her way through a year of testing and revising traditional American recipes. She's calling it the Great American Cooking Project. Visit greatamericancookingproject.blogspot.com/ to learn more.
The Garden is located on Robbins near Raymond Ave. Write mark [at] shermanhome.com if you're coming. Or just show up on September 1st. If the weather isn't cooperating, the alternate site will be at our house on the corner of Raymond and Doswell.
What says "Minnesota" more than the Fair? How about ripe and juicy August tomatoes? However, the abundance of tomatoes presents an annual problem - what to do with them. We think we've come up with solution. We're organizing a Tomato Bee at the Garden (weather permitting) on Sat., Sept. 1 from 11 – 5 pm.
In the spirit of the apple bees of a bygone era, when farmers and their families gathered to peel and core apples for apple butter, neighbors are invited to come together to make old-fashioned tomato catsup. Gardeners, "love-apple" enthusiasts, slow foodies, and devotees of Minn. history: all are welcome and everyone will get a jug of catsup to take home. If you have tomatoes to spare, come early and bring a peck to clean and throw in the pot.
The bee is hosted by Mark Sherman, tomato grower and community garden member, and daughter Nora, a former SAP-per and current Brooklyn resident. Nora is currently cooking and blogging her way through a year of testing and revising traditional American recipes. She's calling it the Great American Cooking Project. Visit greatamericancookingproject.blogspot.com/ to learn more.
The Garden is located on Robbins near Raymond Ave. Write mark [at] shermanhome.com if you're coming. Or just show up on September 1st. If the weather isn't cooperating, the alternate site will be at our house on the corner of Raymond and Doswell.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Grab a Friend & Check out the 2nd Annual Parade of Community Gardens!
Celebrate the wealth and diversity of community gardens in the Twin Cities during the second annual Parade of Community Gardens! On Saturday, August 18 from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Free event, all welcome! Visit one garden in your neighborhood or many around the Twin Cities. Gardens will feature a variety of attractions including tasty veggies, massage, ice cream, music, art, and more! This event is coordinated by GardenWorks, a program of The Green Institute. Information, map, and garden descriptions are at www.gardenworksMN.org or (612) 278-7123.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Dry Weather
July is here and according to the National Drought Mitigation Center our area is in a "moderate drought." While our SAP Community Garden has a wonderful and convenient water supply, and many folks are mulching, our gardens can get stressed out with the lack of moisture and excessive heat. There's some great information on dry weather, heat wave and drought at the University of Minnesota Extension's website: http://www.extension.umn.edu/administrative/disasterresponse/wi_drought.htm
Check it out and help you and your plot survive the hot and dry times!
Posted by Terry
Check it out and help you and your plot survive the hot and dry times!
Posted by Terry
Friday, June 29, 2007
Before & After
One of the things I enjoy most about gardening is the total transformation it has on the landscape. Thus, I've been taking "before and after" photos for my own yard for years. I decided it would be fun to do this with our community garden as well. Below are two sets of photos -- one set is the entire plot looking east; the other is my own plot. Talk about transformation!
SAP Community Garden -- week of May6
SAP Community Garden -- week of June 25
Terry's Plot -- week of June 25
Posted by Terry
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Seed Saving
I’ve been seeing lots of elderly greens out in the garden. If your greens have started to flower or if your peas are rough and dry, don’t fret! Consider letting your plants go to seed and saving the seeds for next year. Though seed saving can be complicated for professionals (who work hard to avoid cross-pollination with related plants and want to ensure a seed “true” to its parent), it can be fun and easy as a hobby. The basics of seed saving are this: after plants flower, they produce a seed. Let the seeds fully develop and dry (either on the plant or on a dry rack) and then store them in a cool, dry place until next summer. A few easy plants to start with are lettuce and peas.
For lettuce, just let it go! Lettuce will bolt when the weather is hot and create a flower head. The seeds look white and fluffy, like dandelion seeds. When there are a bunch of fluffy seeds on the head, take a grocery bag or ice cream bucket and shake the flower head in the bag. For the next few days, come back and shake the flower heads again. The seeds can be stored and planted as is, or you can spend the time cleaning them by rubbing them between your hands, then lightly blowing the chaff off with your breath or by winnowing the seeds by lightly tossing them in the air. The fluff should fly right off!
Peas are equally as easy. Peas and beans can be left on the plant until they are brown and crispy. Pick the pods and remove the dry, wrinkly seeds.
I’m others in the community garden have saved seeds too. What advice do you have for save seeds from other plants?
--by Britt Carlson
For lettuce, just let it go! Lettuce will bolt when the weather is hot and create a flower head. The seeds look white and fluffy, like dandelion seeds. When there are a bunch of fluffy seeds on the head, take a grocery bag or ice cream bucket and shake the flower head in the bag. For the next few days, come back and shake the flower heads again. The seeds can be stored and planted as is, or you can spend the time cleaning them by rubbing them between your hands, then lightly blowing the chaff off with your breath or by winnowing the seeds by lightly tossing them in the air. The fluff should fly right off!
Peas are equally as easy. Peas and beans can be left on the plant until they are brown and crispy. Pick the pods and remove the dry, wrinkly seeds.
I’m others in the community garden have saved seeds too. What advice do you have for save seeds from other plants?
--by Britt Carlson
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Mulching
If reading what I’ve written about watering and weeding makes you feel like just giving up on this whole gardening endeavor, take heart—mulch helps with both! Once I get my mulch down, usually in June, I find I can relax knowing that my garden isn’t going to dehydrate overnight. And I can stop worrying about weeds almost entirely if I use a thick enough layer—one that excludes light to keep those weed seeds from germinating in the first place. The occassional escape is easily pulled. Additional benefits of mulch include that they keep my vegetables cleaner and prevent some diseases, by stopping soil from splashing onto their leaves, and over time mulches, at least organic ones, break down and build soil organic matter. I won’t go into detail about all the kinds of mulch available, but would like to recommend three:
Grass clippings are my favorite mulch for vegetables. Grass clippings are available for free from the Ramsey County Compost Site just over a mile from the garden on Pierce Butler. Go there towards the end of the day on a weekend and you can scoop up truckloads discarded by home-owners who don’t appreciate how valuable it is. According to Organic Gardening Magazine (“How to Fertilizer Your Garden”, July/August 2000, pp 46-51), a 1 to 2 inch layer of grass clippings per year, applied as a surface mulch, is enough to sustain your soil after its fertility has been built to an ideal level. The soil at SAP community garden is already high in both phosphorus and potassium, so nitrogen is our primary concern. Grass clippings are especially high in nitrogen, and supply it in a slow controlled release way which matches your vegetables’ need for it.
I am often asked whether I am concerned about the possibility of herbicide residues on the grass clippings I collect from unknown gardeners. Although I cannot completely discount this concern—I have heard of problems with herbicide residues on grass clipping mulch in other places -- I can say that I have never personally had a problem. My impression is that most home-owners here apply pre-emergent herbicides, that work by inhibiting weed seed germination when they are washed into the soil, but I don’t really know since I don’t believe in using herbicides on lawns. At any rate, residues from pre-emergent herbicides in grass clippings should be negligible since they are applied to the soil and are not taken up by the grass. However, if you are really concerned, you can stick with grass clippings from known sources, or look for grass clippings that contain clover seeds, a sign that herbicide was probably not used. Clover clippings are an even richer source of nitrogen than grass clippings!
Wood chips are a good mulch in perennial gardens or in places which will never be plowed, such as in pathways in extended season plots. I do not, however, recommend their use in plots which will be tilled every year, such as in the main part of SAP garden. The reason is that they can tie up soil nitrogen. Here’s how that happens: soil microbes require a diet that is balanced between nutrients, especially between carbon and nitrogen. Normally lack of carbon in the soil is what limits them. If you apply a carbon-rich and nitrogen-poor mulch, such as woodchips, it stimulates a population explosion of the soil microbes, which balance their diets by soaking up the free nitrogen in the soil, which takes it away from your crops. Fortunately, this is only a temporary problem, because eventually the microbes die, and when they do the nitrogen in their bodies is re-released to the soil, in a slow controlled-release fashion. But it may take a year or two for this to happen.
The reason why woodchips are okay for perennials or pathways is that this nitrogen tie-up only occurs at the interface between the soil and the woodchips. (Microbes don’t have big jaws and can’t work very effectively at the surface of large chips of wood.) So it isn’t a problem until the woodchips are incorporated into the soil. If you’ve already used a woodchip mulch in your annually-tilled vegetable plot, don’t worry. At the end of the season simply rake it off, bag it up, and save it for next year. If you or the gardener preceding you applied woodchips last year, and they are already incorporated, you might consider supplementing your nitrogen fertilization this year. (I recommend bloodmeal, or fertilizer made from fish, alfalfa or soybeans.) Take heart—in the long run your soil will be better for it.
Autumn leaves are intermediate between grass clippings and woodchips in their ratio of carbon to nitrogen. They are fine as a mulch in an annually-tilled garden, though if you use them exclusively you might have to supplement nitrogen. Leaves break down more slowly than grass clippings, so don’t have to be renewed as often. Depending on what kinds of trees they come from, they may also supply some other nutrients besides N, P and K, such as calcium and magnesium. Over a period of years they can build an excellent soil, especially if mixed with grass clippings.
I like to use leaves in the fall to cover tender perennials and overwintering annuals such as spinach. In the spring I rake them off my beds into the pathways. After several years I shovel the decomposed accumulation of leaves and grass clippings from my pathways back onto the beds so as not to let that good fertility go to waste where there are no plants to take advantage of it.
posted by Lois
Grass clippings are my favorite mulch for vegetables. Grass clippings are available for free from the Ramsey County Compost Site just over a mile from the garden on Pierce Butler. Go there towards the end of the day on a weekend and you can scoop up truckloads discarded by home-owners who don’t appreciate how valuable it is. According to Organic Gardening Magazine (“How to Fertilizer Your Garden”, July/August 2000, pp 46-51), a 1 to 2 inch layer of grass clippings per year, applied as a surface mulch, is enough to sustain your soil after its fertility has been built to an ideal level. The soil at SAP community garden is already high in both phosphorus and potassium, so nitrogen is our primary concern. Grass clippings are especially high in nitrogen, and supply it in a slow controlled release way which matches your vegetables’ need for it.
I am often asked whether I am concerned about the possibility of herbicide residues on the grass clippings I collect from unknown gardeners. Although I cannot completely discount this concern—I have heard of problems with herbicide residues on grass clipping mulch in other places -- I can say that I have never personally had a problem. My impression is that most home-owners here apply pre-emergent herbicides, that work by inhibiting weed seed germination when they are washed into the soil, but I don’t really know since I don’t believe in using herbicides on lawns. At any rate, residues from pre-emergent herbicides in grass clippings should be negligible since they are applied to the soil and are not taken up by the grass. However, if you are really concerned, you can stick with grass clippings from known sources, or look for grass clippings that contain clover seeds, a sign that herbicide was probably not used. Clover clippings are an even richer source of nitrogen than grass clippings!
Wood chips are a good mulch in perennial gardens or in places which will never be plowed, such as in pathways in extended season plots. I do not, however, recommend their use in plots which will be tilled every year, such as in the main part of SAP garden. The reason is that they can tie up soil nitrogen. Here’s how that happens: soil microbes require a diet that is balanced between nutrients, especially between carbon and nitrogen. Normally lack of carbon in the soil is what limits them. If you apply a carbon-rich and nitrogen-poor mulch, such as woodchips, it stimulates a population explosion of the soil microbes, which balance their diets by soaking up the free nitrogen in the soil, which takes it away from your crops. Fortunately, this is only a temporary problem, because eventually the microbes die, and when they do the nitrogen in their bodies is re-released to the soil, in a slow controlled-release fashion. But it may take a year or two for this to happen.
The reason why woodchips are okay for perennials or pathways is that this nitrogen tie-up only occurs at the interface between the soil and the woodchips. (Microbes don’t have big jaws and can’t work very effectively at the surface of large chips of wood.) So it isn’t a problem until the woodchips are incorporated into the soil. If you’ve already used a woodchip mulch in your annually-tilled vegetable plot, don’t worry. At the end of the season simply rake it off, bag it up, and save it for next year. If you or the gardener preceding you applied woodchips last year, and they are already incorporated, you might consider supplementing your nitrogen fertilization this year. (I recommend bloodmeal, or fertilizer made from fish, alfalfa or soybeans.) Take heart—in the long run your soil will be better for it.
Autumn leaves are intermediate between grass clippings and woodchips in their ratio of carbon to nitrogen. They are fine as a mulch in an annually-tilled garden, though if you use them exclusively you might have to supplement nitrogen. Leaves break down more slowly than grass clippings, so don’t have to be renewed as often. Depending on what kinds of trees they come from, they may also supply some other nutrients besides N, P and K, such as calcium and magnesium. Over a period of years they can build an excellent soil, especially if mixed with grass clippings.
I like to use leaves in the fall to cover tender perennials and overwintering annuals such as spinach. In the spring I rake them off my beds into the pathways. After several years I shovel the decomposed accumulation of leaves and grass clippings from my pathways back onto the beds so as not to let that good fertility go to waste where there are no plants to take advantage of it.
posted by Lois
Weeding
Now that our gardens are mostly planted, this is the time to focus our attention on weeding and mulching. Now that it is warm, weeds are growing fast.
The best time to get weeds is when they are small. Then all it takes to eliminate them is a quick swipe with a sharp hoe. The idea of hoeing is to sever the weed shoot from the root by cutting it off at ground level, disturbing the soil as little as possible. The reason for not disturbing the soil is that many buried weed seeds are actually stimulated to germinate by a little disturbance. More precicely, many small-seeded weed cannot germinate without light: disturbing the soil excavates them and exposes them to light. That is why you may find a lush carpet of young weed seedlings a week or so after you’ve done a thorough hoeing. But hoeing without disturbing the soil is easier said than done, especially if the hoe is blunt or if the weeds are getting a little big and tough. All is not lost. Just do the best you can and be prepared to repeat the job soon. Eventually the weed “seed bank” is depleted and the weeds stop coming so fast.
If the weeds do get away from you it is okay to pull them. Try to do this on a hot sunny day, when the sun will dry out their roots quickly. There is no need to remove the weeds from the garden unless they are a type that re-roots easily, such as creeping Charlie, quackgrass, or purslane, though even those will dry out and die if it is hot and dry enough. The rest of the weeds can be laid on the soil surface to act as a mulch. When they decay their nutrients are returned to the soil where they belong.
However you should remove from the garden weeds that have gone to seed, unless you are prepared to deal with their offspring next year. Better yet, don’t let them go to seed in the first place. And keep in mind that some kinds of weed flowers, such as dandelions, can finish maturing seeds even after you’ve pulled them! Vigilance is in order, especially against Galinsoga, a weed that goes from seed to seed in just 17 days. See http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/galci.htm for photos.
If weed control sounds like a never-ending battle, the solution is mulch. I’ll write more about mulch in my next installment.
Lois
The best time to get weeds is when they are small. Then all it takes to eliminate them is a quick swipe with a sharp hoe. The idea of hoeing is to sever the weed shoot from the root by cutting it off at ground level, disturbing the soil as little as possible. The reason for not disturbing the soil is that many buried weed seeds are actually stimulated to germinate by a little disturbance. More precicely, many small-seeded weed cannot germinate without light: disturbing the soil excavates them and exposes them to light. That is why you may find a lush carpet of young weed seedlings a week or so after you’ve done a thorough hoeing. But hoeing without disturbing the soil is easier said than done, especially if the hoe is blunt or if the weeds are getting a little big and tough. All is not lost. Just do the best you can and be prepared to repeat the job soon. Eventually the weed “seed bank” is depleted and the weeds stop coming so fast.
If the weeds do get away from you it is okay to pull them. Try to do this on a hot sunny day, when the sun will dry out their roots quickly. There is no need to remove the weeds from the garden unless they are a type that re-roots easily, such as creeping Charlie, quackgrass, or purslane, though even those will dry out and die if it is hot and dry enough. The rest of the weeds can be laid on the soil surface to act as a mulch. When they decay their nutrients are returned to the soil where they belong.
However you should remove from the garden weeds that have gone to seed, unless you are prepared to deal with their offspring next year. Better yet, don’t let them go to seed in the first place. And keep in mind that some kinds of weed flowers, such as dandelions, can finish maturing seeds even after you’ve pulled them! Vigilance is in order, especially against Galinsoga, a weed that goes from seed to seed in just 17 days. See http://www.ppws.vt.edu/scott/weed_id/galci.htm for photos.
If weed control sounds like a never-ending battle, the solution is mulch. I’ll write more about mulch in my next installment.
Lois
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Something weird and wonderful
Here is something weird and wonderful I found in my garden last year. :)
Looking forward to another wonderful year, thanks to all the hard work each gardener puts into their plots.
It really is a wonderful retreat in the middle of the summer - when you can walk into the middle of garden the tomato plants are so tall you can't even see the road.
Megan
Sunday, June 3, 2007
June 2
Master Gardener
Myrna has plot number 1
- submitted by Mark
I've decided to keep track of how much time I spend in my own garden to see what time investment I make over the summer. With yesterday's work, I've put in 8 hours -- at the garden -- this year. My plot isn't one of the pretty ones but I'm okay with that. My goal is to get the maximum harvest for the least amount of work. When I went to finish my planting last Saturday I found some interesting phenomena. The two expert gardeners I photoed were struggling with the early season weed build up.
Both were a bit embarrassed about their plots being behind the curve, so I explained my theory and added one other element: After a particularly busy July, I had the distinction receiving a warning to clean up my plot. That embarassed me more than I'd like to admit. Anyway, I don't take picture of their plots so you won't find weeds in this posting.
The strawberries are coming in pretty hard now. And people have been picking lettuce for a while, but most of the crops are just getting started.
Myrna has plot number 1
- submitted by Mark
Planting May 20th
I stopped by the garden on May 20th to get my tomatoes in and I found a couple of other people there. Yawo, originally from Togo, now a French teacher in Minneapolis was digging away at his plot with a pickaxe and shovel. He inspired me to start taking pictures of people in their plots as part of this project. He's using the "French method" of intensive gardening, that is, he's building up raised plots for planting.
The second person I saw was Gino who came with his gardening partner to plant another row of seeds. His plot is near Yawo's but he's following a more traditional model, at least around here, of using string to demarcate the row, digging a trench and plopping the seeds down.submitted by Mark
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