January 2023

Planting Trap Crops to Help in the Control of Garden Pests.

Sally Hewitt

Many of us have had problems with pests injuring our crops to the extent it directly affects our produce in its quantity, as well as quality. Below I have a list of main crop pests and some of the ways we can mitigate their effect on our crops. Planting another crop nearby is called companion planting. Some of these plants are crop traps (say that fast 5 times!) some of which attract the pest, some which repel the pest. Using a trap crop enables you to allow the trap crop to be eaten by the target insect, which you can then remove, allowing your main crop to grow mostly unharmed. Some trap crops are more attractive to the pest, and some are the same as the main crop but planted earlier. Some trap crops also attract beneficial insects that are predators of the pests you are trying to remove, and some plants can actually repel some pests. And finally, the extra bonus for the gardener is getting fruit, leaves or flowers from the extra plants in the garden.

Plan to plant your trap crop 1-2 weeks before your real crop, planting them in a circle around where you wish to plant your main crop. This can be hard in a small plot but fit in as many as you can. Planting early allows the pest to attack the trap crop where you can easily dispose of them. Hand picking pests and placing them in a cup of water with a drop of dish soap is an easy way to remove them. Some people use a small battery powered vac to collect the insects. Eggs and small pests can be easily removed by placing a strip of duct tape over the egg mass and pulling the tape off along with the eggs.

Worms in bins working on leaves and food scraps.

2,000 Red Wigglers in a box! And equipment and materials for making worm food.

Worm Work

Charlie Morse

This past October Charlie Morse and William & Mary Intern Eli Fulcher attended a conference on vermicomposting in Raleigh, North Carolina. Over one weekend they learned everything one would ever want to know about how to use worms to turn food waste into a high-end fertilizer called vermicast.

When they got back, they quickly ordered a couple thousand red wrigglers from a supplier and set up a couple bins to begin experimenting. Using a woodchipper Charlie and Eli pre-composted a mix of 2 parts leaves with 1 part food scraps to make a delicious, macerated blend of organic material that serves as both bedding and food for the hungry wigglers. Imagine sleeping in a bed of delicious pizzas… no don’t!! Giving them a starting “bed” of 10 pounds of material they estimated that the worms would munch through that in about a month based on the reports that 1,000 worms can “process” up to ½ pound of material a day.

The two bins now are in high gear and will each contain close to 2,000 worms per bin. That’s because worms are reproducing as well as working. The first harvest of vermicompost is nearly ready. Charlie and Eli hope to use the first batch to test out in the garden and on the farm. One particularly intriguing feature of vermicompost is the finding that the castings contain microbes and fungi that can suppress disease in plants, like fusarium wilt in tomatoes. In time, production of vermicompost could also be a source of income for the WCG Teaching Farm.

Note: This project was supported by a $1,000 award from askHRgreen.

Plant Sales for the 2023

Isn’t it a hassle to plow through all those seed catalogs, trying to decide what to plant? Then you have to buy more seeds than you need and pay for shipping. Then you have to buy soil and pots and find enough light to grow the seeds and the cycle continues.... whew! What about when you are stuck with the regular old varieties that you can find at the Big Box stores. 🥱

Well, we have done all that work for you! We are pleased to be able to offer spring plants for you to purchase! As we did last year, there will be a sale Saturday Mar 4, 2023, of cold season crops only. The warm-season plants will be ready and for sale on May 6, 2023. Simply click Mr. Gosling to see available plants.

So, save the hassle and support the Community Garden, too. We hope you found some favorites from last year’s sale that you want to try again or something new that you would love to have in your Garden next spring.

If anyone would like to help with the effort of growing plants for the sales, please e-mail Barbara.

Barbara's Garden Notes

Hello Fellow Returning Gardeners!

Welcome back to the Community Garden for the 2023 season! I hope this season will be as productive as last year was.

I am linking you to the 2023 Guidelines/Application for you to read. Please print out the last 3 pages, complete, and sign. Changes are minor, with the exception of the dues structure.

As our garden matures from a start-up towards an established organization, it has become necessary for us to begin escrowing money for the eventual replacement of capital items, such as the fence, the cisterns, and the irrigation system, that were initially installed using start-up grant money. In addition, we will no longer be able to obtain free compost, which is necessary for our gardeners to be able to improve the soil to make their plots more productive. And our program to eliminate the rat population in the garden has been very successful but it needs to be continuous if we want to control the problem into the future. As a result of these and other expenses, the Board has decided to increase dues for next year to $50 for a 10 x 10 and $80 for a 10 X 20 for the entire season. While this is a substantial increase over last year, when looked at as a monthly rate, $4.17 for small and $6.67 for large, it does not seem unreasonable. Future dues increases will be incremental. If any gardener would like to be considered for a scholarship to help defray costs, please let the CG Coordinator know. For more detailed information about the dues increase or capital planning, please contact our President, Jessica Stephens.

We have set up meetings at 11AM on Saturday, January 21st and Saturday, February 11th for returning gardeners to come out and meet with the leadership of the Garden. You can say “Hey” to your neighbors and friends and bring in pages 4,5, and 6 (the emergency contact, the liability waiver, and the Application), signed, along with your payment for the season. It is easier for us to collect the new contracts all at once. If it is not possible for you to make one of these meetings, you can mail your paperwork (last 3 pages) and payment to the P.O.Box for WCG listed in the Agreement. Please make sure to update your emergency contact information. The deadline for renewing your plot is February 15, 2023, but if you have decided not to return to the Garden, please advise me as soon as possible as there are more people on the waiting list than our available plots.

I look forward to seeing you all at one of the meetings and having a great season working together in the Garden.

Best regards,

Barbara Arnold

Community Garden Coordinator

Charlie Morse

Operations Manager

Williamsburg Community Growers

Jessica Stephens

President