A place to come together to grow food and cultivate neighbors

July 2022 Newsletter

Welcome to the Community Harvest Garden's monthly newsletter.

Find out what's 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!

Hello, fellow gardeners!

June has proved to be as weather-crazy as May was with big temperature swings, heavy rains and storms, and dry spells between. The Community Harvest Garden is looking good despite all that. We're proud of what has been accomplished so far in the Shared Harvest and adopted beds. Even professional growers have had their share of struggles and failures this year.

Moving into July, a high priority will be watering and weeding the garden beds, whether vegetables, flowers, or containers. Gardens ideally need the equivalent of 1 inch of rain per week. With hot, summer weather upon us, it's a safe bet that we'll need do some hand watering!

Guest Gardeners, if you are going on vacation it would be wise to ask friends to keep an eye on your adopted bed for watering and harvesting. It would be a shame to have your hard work dry up or to ‘spoil on the vine’ so to speak.

The Community Harvest Garden needs YOUR help!

It takes a team of people to tend to the garden. Planting is finished until cooler weather returns, but the coming weeks bring the fun and satisfaction of harvesting produce for local food pantries. And, as described above, weeding and watering are important tasks throughout the hot summer months.

The good news is that NO EXPERIENCE IS NEEDED to help in the garden. ALL AGES AND ABILITIES ARE WELCOME!

You can work in the garden anytime you like, however, if you'd like to join in a group activity, please come out for any of the upcoming Garden Volunteers Workdays. These workdays take place every other Wednesday and Saturday from 9:30-11:30 am. Upcoming dates are June 29, July 2, 13, 16, 27, and 30. We have tools available for you to use, but you're welcome to bring your own. Contact us for more information. 

Ramona's Garden Tips

July is when tomatoes seem to ripen all at once. Keep in mind, they are easily canned or frozen for winter meals. Look to your local library or favorite book seller for the Ball Blue Ribbon Canning Book or other books on the subject of preserving food.

Zucchini bread is a favorite treat to make this month, especially when you find a giant zucchini hiding amongst the large leaves! 

If you haven’t yet, it would be a good idea to mulch your vegetable and herb plants (after weeding) using dry straw at least 3 to 4 inches thick. This helps to retain moisture, as well as reduces weed growth by shading the soil. The straw also seems to reduce insects. The more ground you mulch, the more beneficial it is. Watering just your plants and leaving the unmulched surrounding soil dry will only serve to stress your plants. The surrounding dry soil wicks away the water meaning that you will be watering much more often.

Go out there and harvest your beautiful vegetables and herbs and create some wonderful meals for your families. Try your hand at preserving if you have a bumper crop or want to share the bounty!