A place to come together to grow food and cultivate neighbors

September 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!

The Community Harvest Garden has had a very successful summer! With the help of a team of dedicated volunteer gardeners, we have currently harvested more than 140 pounds of herbs and vegetables for the food pantry at Faith Community United Methodist Church. Thanks to everyone who has made this possible! From preparing the soil and planting seedlings to maintaining the bed and harvesting ripe veggies - we couldn't do this with you. 

Our six Guest Gardeners have learned much from our garden mentors this summer as they have continued to care for their adopted garden beds. They have produced a bounty of vegetables for their own use.

We are in the process of creating NEW adoptable beds, so that we can offer more Guest Gardeners to opportunity to grow with us next year. Are you interested in adopting a bed in 2023? NO EXPERIENCE IS NEEDED. Contact us to learn how easy it is!

Join us in the Garden!

It takes a team of people to tend to the garden - watering plants, maintaining the garden beds, harvesting ripe produce, and sowing seeds for fall crops. 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 August 27, September 7, 10, 21, 24. 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

Garden Cleanup

There is still plenty of life in most vegetable gardens, but September is a good time to start cleaning up the garden as you get it ready for winter and to reduce the cleanup time in the spring. Start by removing any dead, dying, or unproductive plants. If you have a compost pile, cut the pulled plants into 6- to 8-inch sections for faster composting. If you know you have diseased plants, put them in the trash instead of the compost pile.

Sow Cool-Weather Plants

Now through the middle of September is time to sow seeds for turnips, beets, kale, leaf lettuces, radishes, and swiss chard. Once the seedlings are 3 to 4 inches tall, mulch them with a layer of straw. As we near October, you can cover the seedlings with a frost blanket to help retain the heat in the soil longer and to protect them from a sudden frost. They can take cooler weather, but can suffer during an early hard freeze. A side note - the Farmer's Almanac is predicting colder than normal temperatures and above normal moisture. In other words, more snow. Snow actually helps insulate plants.

We hope you've had a successful garden so far. Consider sowing fall crops to extend your garden and maybe try something new in the process.