A place to come together to grow food and cultivate neighbors

June 2022 Newsletter


Welcome to the Community Harvest Garden's monthly newsletter.

Find out what is happening in the garden and how you can join us in growing fresh food for yourself and local food pantries. Learn timely garden tips as we go through the year. Happy gardening!

Waiting for the Harvest

By now most, if not all, of the vegetable plants have been planted in the garden. The anticipation of those wonderful vegetables begins! In the meantime, it's important to keep the garden watered and clear of weeds. There a few simple things we are doing at the Community Harvest Garden to help keep the garden beds in good shape. YOU are invited to join us and help care for the garden.

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In the Shared Harvest bed, we're using clean straw as a mulch to help retain moisture and reduce weeds.

Helpful hint: You can use untreated grass clippings for this purpose in your own vegetable beds.

Most gardens need, on average, an inch of water each week. We're using a rain gauge in garden to measure rainfall and will supplement with hand watering, as needed.

Helpful hint: When you hand water, try to do it early in the day or later in the evening and water near the base of your plants rather than just over the top. First, the plant is likely to get a more thorough watering that way and second, water drops sitting on leaves on sunny, hot days can scald the leaves putting the plants in stress, reducing production of your vegetables.

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We pull weeds before they get too big and start competing with the vegetable plants for soil moisture and nutrients.

Helpful hint: Weeds are easiest to pull after a rain or after a good hand watering. Pull weeds by hand or use the various long handled or hand-held garden hoes that are available. Never allow weeds to bloom and then set seed before removing them, or you will have potentially hundreds more in your garden. If they have not bloomed yet, the compost pile is a good place for the weeds you pull.

Garden Volunteers Workdays

Every other Wednesday & Saturday

9:30-11:30 am

Upcoming dates: June 3, 15, 18, 29

Join us in the garden as we finish planting vegetables, work on garden pathways, and prepared beds for guest gardeners. No experience is needed, and all ages and abilities are welcome. In case of rain, the workday will be cancelled. Bring a rake, garden trowel, and garden gloves, if you have them.

See detailed Garden To-Do List

You're wanted on the COMPOST TEAM!

Learn more by coming to the Composting Workshop or contacting us.

Composting Workshop

Wednesday, June 8 @ 7:00 pm

You'll find out how compost is made, what materials can be placed in the pile, how to choose the right compost system for your own yard, and how you can be part of the Community Harvest Garden's Composting Team. All ages are welcome!

Register for Composting Workshop

You are invited to bring your green and brown organic material to be composted into "Black Gold" and used in the gardens.

Need Some Garden Therapy?

You're invited to spend some relaxing time in our forest to help remove small invasive plants that are sprouting from previously cleared areas. Dates and times are negotiable. Contact us for more information.

Food Forest News

Our native food forest continues to fill out with more and more plants added each week according to the design submitted to the Permaculture Institute of North America 2022 design contest. Several hundred common blue violets and wild strawberry plants were donated by members and friends and planted as edible ground covers that will hold back weeds and keep the ground cool under the tree saplings. Other edibles planted in May include rhubarb, ground cherries and tradescantia. More perennial plants will be installed each week in the fruit tree “guilds” as the winter sown seedlings become mature enough for transplant. Each of these plants will provide some benefit to the young trees. Want to help plant? Let us know

Do you enjoy art? Young Paw Paw saplings have tender leaves that can be scorched by hot sun. To protect them we are weaving some homemade jute ribbons through the southwest side of the tree cages. To dress them up we are using paint pens to decorate the ribbon. Why? Why not! If you would enjoy decorating one of the seven long ribbons we need please let us know. Doodles and scribbles are just fine with us!

Have great handwriting? We could use your help. As part of the grant we were awarded for our food forest, we were given money to purchase 200 heavy duty zinc plant labels on stainless steel posts. These labels will help serve as educational resources for people visiting our food forest. If you would enjoy helping to write out plant names on the labels please let us know

Monarch Fest 2022

Saturday, June 4 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Christ the King's parking lot


You can make a difference in the effort to help pollinators thrive in our community! 

Come to this fun, family-friendly event where you will learn how to create a pollinator-friendly habitat in your own yard. Get FREE milkweed and other native plants that are best for your yard. Participate in creative kids' activities and take a tour of our 8 acre grounds. Check out the pollinator plant sale and visit the naturalist from MetroParks of Butler County, Chris Simpson Nature Images, Treeyo Permaculture, and the Community Harvest Garden. Grab a bite to eat from the Caveman Crepes food truck and listen to live music in the food tent. Learn more

The Community Harvest Garden is located at

Christ the King Lutheran Church

7393 Dimmick Road, West Chester, Ohio

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