News

Pollinator Garden Work Day – June 28th

Note: Due to scheduling conflicts, the work day date has changed to June 28, 9am to noon
If June 21 is a better option for you, independent work can be arranged. Please email info@mhcommunitygarden.org to set up that work.

Your help is needed! On June 28th there will be a Pollinator Garden work day to refresh the area with wood chips after the poppies have finished their growing and blooming season.

•  New wood chips will be brought to the pollinator garden with wheelbarrows from just across the pathway (harder work)
• Wood chip spreading with a garden rake around the area (easier work)
• Other tasks as needed

Anyone who has not completed any work hours should attend this work time and/or be sure to complete at least two hours of independent work at the garden during June. (Email the garden with the tasks completed, location of the work, and how much time you worked or you can sign in and out on the sheet in the shed. This would be work outside of your own garden plots and pathways.) The maintenance of the Morgan Hill Community Garden is not a City responsibility, but it is the responsibility of every garden member.

Thanks! See you there!

New Trees!
Thanks to Mary Williams for getting the grant with CalFire- Our City Trees. (Unfortunately, they are losing their federal funding, so we were lucky to get our project funded! “Our City Trees” is looking for donations, if anyone can support them.) Thanks to the volunteers who came out and worked so hard to get most of the trees planted. There are still nine trees on drip that will probably be planted in the fall after the first rain when the soil is softer or we have use of an auger to dig the last holes. Volunteers will be needed then!

Gray Fines for Gray Pathways are here!
You probably have noticed some piles of gray fines (fine gray gravel). Take a look at the gray pathways near your plots to see if they are in need of more pathway coverage. Keep track of your time if needed and email the information to the garden email address. Thanks for your extra work if you don’t need more hours, but still want to make the garden look better.

1. If there is a lot of rock in your pathway, use a gravel rake to move some of the rock out of the way.
2. If there are still weeds in your pathway, use a hula hoe to scrape away the weeds.
3. Shovel and then rake some gray fines in your area to cover areas that are thin and need a thicker layer.

Weeding:
A lot of weeding has been completed by our garden members and by the City of Morgan Hill. There is still more to do, so perhaps everyone can pick 20-30 weeds with each garden trip. All garden plots and pathways around one’s plots should be clear of weeds at all times.

Last Seven Plots

Our garden is almost full!

1. If you have any friends or family that are thinking of getting a plot and joining us, their application, proof of residency, and payment should be turned in ASAP. Have them email us.
2. If any garden members are looking to get an additional plot (up to a total of three), reply to let us know that as well. No additional forms need to be submitted. Open plots- ADA 6, 34, 40, 60, 73, 74, 99. A couple of people are currently sending their applications, so some of the plots listed might not be available in the next few days.

Small Demonstration Beds

The small beds by the sheds are available for people to use to demonstrate a gardening technique or some other project. The food or flowers produced can be shared with others at the garden during a class or at a summer garden gathering if the produce/flowers are available at that time. The information from the project can be shared at a class or at another event. If you have something you want to try out, reply to this email and the form will be sent to you. There is no cost for the use of the plot.

Thanks to master gardener, Jenny Redfern, for her “Three Sisters Class”
Keep an eye on demonstration plot #13 for the sprouting and growing plants and how they grow. Jenny will revisit this later in the year as part of a class to summarize how it worked out.

We have a booth at the fair to share information about the Morgan Hill Community Garden. Please email  info@mhcommunitygarden.org and let us know if you have a truck to cart over our canopy and tables from the Morgan Hill Community Garden to the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center at 8 am.

We can always use a few more people to handle the booth and pass out our MHCG flyers.

We could use some more help in these areas:
Set up and Tear Down:
9-10 Pick up the canopy from the garden left shed and set it up at the CCC. Need some weight item to hold the canopy down in the wind. Possibly watch the booth until workers arrive at 9:30.
2:30-3:00 Pick up the canopy from the CCC and return it to the shed at the garden.
Work at the Booth talking to people about MHCG:
9:15-10:30 ___________________. (already have 2 people, need a third)
12:30-1:30 __________________    (already have 2 people, need a third)
1-3 _____________. _______________  (already have 1 person, need a couple more)

Bring your family out for the whole Earth Day event put on by AAUW at the CCC!
Garden work hours given.

Saturday, May 10 from 9am-noon- Tree Planting Help Needed
Over the years, many gardeners have been asking for more trees in the area. Thanks to Mary Williams for finding this grant opportunity and to CalFire for the Our City Trees grant.
They will bring a crew, but we also need a crew to help with the work of planting 28 trees on the border of the MHCG property. Thanks to those who already replied to help out. About ten more tree planters and waterers would be great!

PLEASE RSVP TO WORK THAT DAY ASAP. We hope to have MANY volunteers for this!

Other Reminders:
Plant climbing structures-  There are several plant climbing structures that can be used for your plants.

1. Trellis- This is a triangle shaped structure where plants can grow up on either side. Maximum height- 6 feet.
2. Vertical structures- Just member to mount the structure 3 inches in from the wood plot edge so when the plants grow up along the outer side on the plot border, they will not be falling over into the pathways. Maximum height- 6 feet.
3. PVC pipe rounded tops with the white cloth mounted overtop. Be sure the cloth is mounted securely at all times so it does not blow in the wind. If it is a windy day, please drop by to check on it. These structures are usually about 4 feet tall.

Clear Pathways- Plants are to be trimmed to be within your wooden box. They should not hang over into the pathway. Gardeners must maintain the walk paths around their garden boxes and have them be free of weeds or any personal items year-round.

Organic Garden- Please bring in soils, fertilizers, pest control items, etc. that are labeled as ORGANIC only.  If it doesn’t say “organic,” look for another product that has that label.

Yearly Work Hours- Each gardener is required to work 6 hours per year for the community garden maintenance, outside of the plot holders’ box and immediate pathways. Please get your six hours completed early in the gardening year during a work day or as independent work as described in a previous email. Most gardeners will do more than six hours of whole garden maintenance help, since there is so much to do, but be sure to get your six hours documented with Martha by signing in on the sheet in the shed or by emailing the garden email with your information regarding type and location of work done.

Other Garden Notes:
Check your email for garden news regularly, perhaps weekly. Make sure the garden email is in your safe senders list and isn’t going to junk mail. Garden email is info@mhcommunitygarden.org.

If you feel like you are in an unsafe situation when out alone at the garden, you can always call 911. For something not so much of an emergency, you can call the non-emergency line at (408) 779-2101.

If you see mounds or gopher holes, let us know by email right away. Got Gophers wants to come out immediately to better control pests.

Weed wood-mulch and gravel pathways all around your plots.

Keep all plants trimmed to the wooden plot edge. Do not let plants hang over into the pathways. If the plant is too large for the plot, perhaps make a different plant selection or trim weekly.

Use a water meter to be sure you really need to water that day. We need to conserve water and not water just because we are there in order to keep our garden plot fees down. (It is understood that brand new seeds and seedlings will need more water attention.)

Start new season plants throughout the year. MHCG is a year-round garden.

Keep weeds down in your plot year-round to inhibit weed seed spreading throughout the garden.

Attend work days regularly, starting early in the year when it is needed the most. That way we won’t have any make-up work being done late in the year.

Work Day Reminders:
Six hours per year per gardening plot group is required. (Most people actually do more because it is nice to get out with other gardeners!)

Work day news and schedules are sent out monthly. You can also do work day tasks independently after getting approval from the work day coordinator, Martha. Please email the garden email with your independent work request, which is work done outside of your own plots and pathways. When the work is complete, email with the garden task, location, and the time you competed, or sign the sign-in sheet in the shed.

Work day tasks that can be done independently include

• Weeding in the mulched areas next to the Railroad Avenue fence and the front parking area. Pretty easy with weed cloth and cardboard underneath.
• Weeding in the back parking area
• Weeding with a hula hoe (2 in the shed) in the big gravel areas
• Help ADA gardeners with weeding around plots 1-8
• Weed in front of and between the sheds
• Sharpen tools in the shed
• Schedule a time to help Sally clean up, organize, and maintain the second shed
• Sand and varnish the wooden tables and benches if you have that expertise. It is long overdue for that to be done.
• Trim our oak trees if you are knowledgeable about that to increase air circulation and reduce mold growth (possible May class)
• Reply to this email to get on a committee to repair wooden plots that need to be fixed.
• Reply to this email to be on a composting committee to organize and do the composting bin work (4-5 needed to start this)
• Reply to this email to help organize and run the Open House at MHCG (summer/fall)
• Other ideas? Other talents to share?

Thanks in advance for your time and talents and your help in making our garden look productive and well-maintained!
MHCG

GRANT
For our next grant, one item to include is the value of how much produce is produced by the garden. This is the value of the food, but not that we actually sell food. Please be collecting that information for the next grant writing. We easily produce the dollar amount they were asking for, but need input from all gardeners. You can email info@mhcommunitygarden.org with your value estimate at any time. This can be food you consume yourself with your family and friends, and food that you donate to others.