July 27th, 2023

Categories:

NEWS SUMMARY:

Honey Update
Tomato Blight Reminder
Donation Plot Deliveries

CURRENT NEWS:

HONEY DISTRIBUTION FOR THIS YEAR

The bees and the bee team have been working hard this year, and we should have enough honey to distribute a bit to every gardener! Exact amounts will depend on the final harvest – but we should have some to sell at the harvest sale too!

For this year’s distro, we are going to do things a little different and we need EVERYONE’S HELP! In order to be more sustainable – both economically and environmentally, we are going to implement a BYOJ system – that’s BRING YOUR OWN JAR!

We all have little jars laying around, let’s repurpose them! Here are the instructions:

If you want to be included in the honey distribution this year, please search your cupboards for a 6-8oz glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Half-pint Mason jars work great, but it doesn’t have to be a mason jar… jelly jars, relish jars, small salsa jars, last year’s honey jars – they all work! Some examples are below.
Clean out your jar and lid really well, dry them, and remove the label only if you want to.
Label your jar with your name – make sure it won’t rub off or transfer. Masking tape will work great or use a sharpie on the lid.
Bring your jar to Rosedale and leave it in the collection box located in the big storage box under the tree just south of the gate (Lori will set it out by Friday morning). There will be extra labeling supplies if you forget to label your jar.
Do this by August 15^th, please.
After the honey harvest is done, watch your email. We will email everyone who contributed a jar and let you know your jar has been filled with honey! Come back to the box and collect it.
We will sell all excess honey at the harvest sale, so any donations of extra jars are greatly appreciated! You don’t have to label any donation jars – just leave them in the box!

TOMATO BLIGHT REMINDER

We’ve had gardeners mention this week that they have discovered tomato blight on their plants. Here’s a repeat of Cindy’s post from last week on how to identify and treat it:

TOMATO & POTATO BLIGHT

We’re starting to see some diseases on tomatoes, particularly blight, which is a fungus that resides in the soil. Quick action can save your plants, while not taking action can cause it to spread throughout the garden, not to mention losing your plants.

https://www.gardentech.com/blog/pest-id-and-prevention/fight-blight-on-your-tomatoes

If you see yellowing and die-off of lower leaves, remove them and take them home to be thrown out. DO NOT PUT DISEASED PLANTS IN THE COMPOST. Mulching, airflow through proper spacing, and correct watering to avoid splash-up can help keep your plants healthy. If you think you have blight, spraying with copper fungicide can help keep it under control (it is organic and you can still eat the produce from the plant). This is what I use but there are other products out there.
I’m happy to help identify whether you have blight or not (this is Cindy). Catch me in the garden or shoot leadership an email.

DONATION PLOT DELIVERIES

The Donation Plot made its first drop off this week to Kaizen Food Rescue! We’re also working to identify other charities that fit with what we have to offer, such as Cafe 180. The Donation Team is able to take any extra vegetables that gardeners may have, in addition to what is growing in the donation plot (please nothing you wouldn’t eat yourself such as giant zucchini or bug-eaten kale).

Designated date for donation deliveries is Tuesdays.
Gardeners can leave produce in the storage box under the tree in the front of the garden on Mondays for the team to collect. If you have delicate items such as lettuce or herbs to donate, it’s best to harvest Tuesday mornings so they’re not wilted.

Speaking of the storage box, if there is time / someone willing – the Donation Team would like help cleaning out the storage box under the tree. A battery operated vacuum would go a long way in helping to clear out the cobwebs and pollen that has collected there over the season.

Contact Donation Plot Lead Amanda Macco, amandamacco@gmail.com, for questions about donations.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Next work day: Saturday, August 12 9:00 to noon

Harvest Sale, Saturday, September 9

VOLUNTEER HOURS OPPORTUNITIES:

(record volunteer hours here)

SIGN UP TO HELP WITH BOKASHI

All gardeners are asked to participate in one Bokashi session during the season. One of the Bokashi team will be present at each session to guide the process and answer any bokashi questions you may have. Each session takes about 45 minutes. To schedule your session:

Sign in to the Hours site, https://www.trackitforward.com/site/rosedale-community-garden
Click on the Events Sign Up tab in the top menu,
Search through the listed Bokashi dates(it’s every Saturday)
Click the Bokashi date that fits your schedule.
Click on the orange Sign Up box on the right hand side and sign up.

Contacts:

Bee Hives contact: Brad Volin at bradvolin@gmail.com

Compost contact: Gary Alexander at gary.alexander99@comcast.net

Donation Plots contact: leadership@rosedalegarden.com

Perennial Team & Herb Garden: Christine Franck, christine@christinefranck.com

Plots/Membership: Priscilla at plots@rosedalegarden.org

Website: Andrea at andreagracec@gmail.com

Leadership Contacts:

Leadership@rosedalegarden.org (Priscilla, Cindy, Sarah,)

Plots@rosedalegarden.org (Priscilla)

News@rosedalegarden.org (Send your updates for the News Email)

Accounts@rosedalegarden.org (Jackie)