News

MHCG Gardeners, Welcome to 2025 Gardening!

First Class and Work Day: April 12 at 9 am. “Three Sisters Planting” method by master gardener, Jenny Redfern, a Master Gardener since 2013 and an original member of MHCG. This is weather permitting, with an alternate date of April 19 if we are rained out. The work day starts when the class is finished at about 10:15 or 10:30 for whole-garden sprucing up. We hope to see many gardeners there! You will learn how Native Americans grew certain crops together to support each other and to gain better nutrition. Participants will learn how to choose the right seeds and plants, how to organize the planting space, and will help plant the plot 13 demonstration bed that will be harvested in the fall. All gardeners and other community members are welcome to attend.

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.