April 2023

Barbara's Garden Notes

How great is it to make a salad from lettuce growing in your garden. Best time of the year. Just wish lettuce came in at the same time as tomatoes.

The 'Flower Bed Team' is working hard to get the beds surrounding the Partner’s Path ready for spring. If you have plants that you would like to donate, let Barbara know and she will get them to the right people.

Once the flower beds are producing, Gardeners will be allowed to help themselves to a bouquet. The price for these flowers will be either pulling an equivalent amount of weeds from the bed or deadheading. Only fair!

So happy to have CG’ers using the rototillers. However, it is very frustrating to pull one out of the shed to find it has weeds, strings, even rope wrapped around the tines so they can hardly touch the ground! Please clean the tiller before returning it to the shed.

When you can, please consider the garden a carry in-carry out location. Though we have a garbage bin near the shade structure, there is no pick up of the trash by the county. Charlie, Liz, and Sam have to haul it themselves to a dumpster. So please take your trash home with you, if possible. Thanks.

Summer Plant Sale

Our warm-season plant sale will be held at the front gate of the garden on Saturday, May 6 from 9-11AM. We are featuring a large variety of tomato plants, heirlooms and hybrids, big slicers, cherry tomatoes, and TONS of pepper plants, hot and spicy as well as sweet and juicy.

We will also have 2 eggplant varieties and basil plants.

Prices are as follow:

Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants 3" pots for $4

Large plants for $8, and grafted Purple Cherokee and Georgia Streak tomatoes for $10.

We will also have a large number of mystery plants being donated by FOG (Friend of the Garden) Amanda Beringer that she has raised in her greenhouse.

Complete product descriptions can be found here.

Thank you in advance for supporting the Community Garden!

April Workshop Series

April in the Garden: Layout & Design plus TOMATOES!

The Education Team, led by Jocelyn Swanson has planned a number of workshops to be held at the Garden over the summer and fall. They will be featuring topics of interest to the Community Gardeners and the public, who are also invited to attend.

When: Saturday, April 29th at 11AM (just after the CG work party, make a morning of it!).

Where: Williamsburg Community Garden, Grassy area around the shade structure.

Description:

How can we maximize garden efficiency and functionality but also consider aesthetics? As you plan for your 2023 garden, there are some things to think about to maximize the output and beauty of a small space.

Plus, let's zero in on tomatoes, rockstars of the garden, and how to grow a good, productive plant. In this tomato growing class we will discuss:

● varietal selection and what to expect

● plant support systems

● managing growth habit by training and pruning to improve health and productivity

● pest and disease mitigation

● harvesting considerations

We are delighted to welcome Vince Zangardi to share his knowledge and experience with us. Vince is a Williamsburg native who operates the Zangarden micro farm with his wife. On their suburban farm they grow about 50 varieties of fruits and veggies, hold classes and operate a local farm stand. He hopes to be an example of what is possible in a small backyard setting.

Note: Bring a chair for your comfort, extra snacks, water, and a pen/paper.

Don't forget to dress for the weather!

Spring Community Assisted Agriculture (CSA)

WELCOME TO WCG’S SPRING 2023 CSA

The vision of Williamsburg Community Growers is to grow Williamsburg’s healthy community food ecosystem.

YES! Sign me up for 10 weeks of FRESH veggies from the Williamsburg Community Growers.

DETAILS ON HOW TO SIGN UP CAN BE FOUND HERE.

I understand that my bag of veggies can be picked up at WCG (for directions, visit: www.growwilliamsburg.org) every Tuesday evening starting April 25 until June 27 from 5:30 pm to 7pm. Bags that are not picked up on Tuesday evening will be donated to one of our partner food pantries. CSA shares are available on a first come, first serve basis.

What to Plant Now

What to plant Mid-April

According to the Virginia Tech Extension, we in Zone 7b have passed the last spring frost date for our area. Keep in mind that this is a historical average, not a guarantee and keep an eye on the weather report. We could have a frost into mid-May. Watch low temperatures when planting out tender plants such as basil, which will turn brown and die at temperatures below 50 degrees. Be ready with a row cover or a bed sheet if you see a cold night coming, especially in the windy conditions that our garden offers.

Plant this now:

Transplants: Broccoli, Cabbage, Chard, Eggplant, Lettuce, Peppers, Tomatoes

Seeds: Beans (pole, bush, lima), Beets, Cucumbers, Melon, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Corn, Sweet Potatoes, Watermelon

Seeds and Transplants: Onions, Squash

The complete guide for what to plant when in our zone can be found from the Virginia Extension at Virginia Tech here.

Partners Path, New Farm, and Pollinator Fields

What is the construction going on near the Partner’s Path?

The Herb Society is funding the construction of a patio in front of the herb beds and the restoration of the path. It will really dress the place up!

Some of you may have noticed a brand-new fence around a field down the road towards the beehives.

This is our New Farm field where we have successfully grown sweet potatoes the last couple years-- about 4,000 lb of them in fact!

The new fence will hopefully do a better job in keeping out deer, groundhogs and the pesky field rodents! The cover crop you see is red clover.

Gardeners Karen Thomas and Dee Zarnowski sourced germinated milkweed seeds from a friend and have planted them in the corner of the field nearest the Partners Path. They have also seeded some wildflowers favored by pollinators on the far side of the field. Hopefully, we will soon see the result of their efforts in beautiful flowers, bees, and Monarch butterflies.

Pests in the Garden

The first Colorado Potato Beetle and cabbage moth were spotted last week. What does this mean? Beetle larvae and cabbage worms are not far behind. The Colorado Potato beetle is discussed in the May 2022 issue of this blog and can be accessed here.

How do I control this pest?

The best organic method for controlling the CPB is to hand pick and 'squoosh' the rascals. It is usually preferred to wear gloves when doing this. It is also effective to drop them into a cup of soapy water. The smaller larvae are easy to squoosh in large quantities when they first emerge and are close together on the leaves. It is very important to get rid of any eggs in the same manner. As with the harlequin bug, breaking the reproductive cycle early in the season will yield huge results longer term.

CPB are essentially resistant to all synthetic pesticides. Neem oil is effective for a few days and probably will require repeat applications. Neem is less effective on the larger larvae and the adults. Spinosad, made from soil bacterium, is effective for about 10-14 days. If you have insecticidal soap or insecticidal soap plus pyrethrins, this mixture may offer some effectiveness as well, especially on the larvae.

Future WCGers...sort of

Community Gardener Derwin Conwell was one of the lucky few to score one of the white wooden arches that were donated by Lowes. He thought it would be useful for growing plants vertically, but he found others had a better use for it. We hope to see little baby birds soon!

Swallowtail Eggs! Barbara and a few other WCGers were able to witness mama laying her eggs. If you see any of our future friends, let them be.

We will need them!

Have you spotted any future garden friends? Send us a picture to be featured!

What's Growin' On!

April in the garden is always so magical. Our pollinator perennials are slowly waking up, greens galore, and the sound of returning birds. Our garden home is glowing. Which plots are featured for this month's 'Plot-Light'? Can you find them?

Monthly Smiles

1) What did the big flower say to the little flower?

“What’s up, little bud?”

2) Why do gardeners plant bulbs?

"So that the worms can see where they are going."

Aren't these sow-hilarious?

Stay tuned for more updates in May!

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