News & Events

Stay Updated on Our Garden Activities

Discover the latest happenings at the Morgan Hill Community Garden. From exciting workshops to community gatherings, there’s always something blooming. Join us for our upcoming events and be part of our vibrant gardening community. Don’t miss out on the chance to learn, grow, and connect with fellow gardeners. Check back often for updates and new opportunities to get involved.

Great Composting Class Last Saturday!!
We had a fantastic composting class this last weekend at the garden! We learned a lot about composting from a master gardener, Michele Young, an expert on composting. In addition, a team of local high school students from the Composting Education Program came and worked to improve the composting system at our garden. Thanks to the City of Morgan Hill, the CEP program, Recycling and Waste Reduction Commission of Santa Clara County, and the UC Cooperative Extension for organizing and supporting this event.

So, going forward, there are three ways for you to compost your plant clippings from your plots. The piles of large plants out in the field also need to be cut down into small pieces by all gardeners and put in one of the composting areas.

  1. Compost in your own plot! Take a look at the in-plot composting going on in our master gardener, Pat Day’s, plots #56-58. He just cuts his plants into small pieces and places them in a pile in his plot. The material will be watered every week and turned with a pitch fork every 2-3 weeks with added manure. At the end of the process, you will have great soil for your plot in the spring and you might not have to go get it from a bin or buy it! Other gardeners have made small wire and other types of compost bins in their plots. Take a walk and look at the various methods.
  2. Our wooden compost bins at the south end of the garden have two sections open for gardeners to use. Bring your plant material over and clip it into small pieces in the open sections.
  3. On the east and west sides of the garden there are wire cages made by the high school students to be used for your plants cut into small pieces. Every so often, the cages will be opened up and the material will be turned and manure added and then closed back up. These structures will also need water every week until the rains come. If we have breaks in the rain this winter, we might have to water again.

We are looking forward having each gardener compost the plants from their plots in whichever location you choose to use. It is important to cut the plants in small pieces in every case to help the material decompose more quickly. The large piles of big plant pieces as we had before can also be homes to pests that we don’t want to have.

We are also looking for a crew of gardener volunteers to do the watering until the rains come, adding manure, and turning the composting material every so often to take care of the plant material we all are creating! Let us know by replying to this email if you are interested in working as a group to get the job done

Class in San Martin on Fall/Winter Gardening, this Saturday, 10/17 10 am
Great class on fall and winter crop options Saturday 10/17 at 10 am!
This is held at the Master Gardener Demonstration site at the corner of Monterey Rd. and Highland Avenue in San Martin.
The site is in the parking lot of the county buildings. No registration and anyone can attend.

Date & Time
October 17, 2026 from 10:00am to 11:30am

Location: South County Teaching and Demonstration Garden
80 Highland Avenue (Corner of Monterey Rd & Highland Ave)
San Martin, CA 95046

This is an in-person event
Registration is not required for this free event.

Extra jobs for work hour time:
*Easy weeding in the children’s area. (There is weed cloth underneath and the weeds just pull right out!)
*Bring large, chunky wood chips over in a wheelbarrow and place on any cardboard area that needs to be covered.
*Pulling of weeds at the entry under the walnut tree and in the inside parking area.
*Scrape off weeds in the gray and gold pathways with a hula hoe or other tool you prefer. Check to see if the pathways near your plots look nice.
*The garden now owns a weed whip to mow down tall weeds. Email us if you are experienced using that tool and have a desire to do so for a job MHCG needs to have done next. You will be put in contact with a board member who can give you access to the tool and perhaps work on the work day next weekend.

Work in your own plot- (gardener responsibility- not for work hours)
*Enjoy planting your crops! Almost every plot that is rented by someone has been cleared of weeds and cover crop and also has started soil work and planting of crops!
*Check your pathways. If they are packed down and you see dirt, please place cardboard in your pathways and cover with large, chunky wood chips.
*Cover your bare soil in your plot with plants, straw, etc. to keep weeds from sprouting. Weeds should continually be removed. No bare soil!

Watch for invasive bindweed to dig out with a tool. Get as far down on the root as far as you can get, hopefully finding the brown part of the root. Bindweed goes in the garbage cart and not out in the field. Bindweed is also known and Morning Glory and spreads out like a vine with a white flower. (All other weeds and plants do not go in the gray garbage carts.)

Pest Control
Thanks for reporting any gopher or squirrel activity by email. Got Gophers has caught many gophers for us  this year and they have moved some of the squirrel bait boxes to be closer to current animal activity areas.

Reminder- Keep all personal items inside your plot and not in pathways.

FOOD DONATIONS
Do you have extra vegetables that you can’t use? Food items that are left out at the garden are generally not taken by anyone. You can take your food to the local food bank. Donations are accepted at St. Catherine Church on Peak Avenue in Morgan Hill at the Reach Out building (located behind the Church), Monday to Saturday from 12:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Non-perishable items and garden produce are welcome. Take fresh, usable produce. Perhaps harvest the zucchini before it gets too large, maybe 8 to 14 inches…

UC Master Gardener’s Classes– Always check their website for schedule changes, etc.
Here are some classes, but there are many more. Check the UC Master Gardener’s website for more information throughout the county.

Fall Garden Fair, October 3, 2026

Martial Cottle Park, San Jose
9:00 am to 2:00 pm

Join us on Saturday, October 3, for our Fall Garden Fair, a fall celebration, plant sale, and educational fair. We will have hundreds of seedlings for sale, plus talks by Master Gardeners, home garden advice, seed exchange, and much more! See our Fall Garden Fair page for details. The event is held rain or shine!

FREE SEEDS! Evergreen Supply had seeds with an expiration date of December 31,2025 that they could no longer sell. They are still good, so they gave them to us and are located in a box in the shed. Be thinking of your early spring planning and planting schedule! Some people start seeds at home to get them growing so the birds don’t snack on the newly planted seeds or you can try planting and covering with some wire baskets, etc.

Other tool information 
We recently bought new hand tools and not all of them are still hanging in the shed. Please check your plots and garden bags to see if they accidentally got into those areas. Many are “Husky” tools with black handles.

Bindweed: If you have bindweed (like a Morning Glory vine with the white flower) remember to get some tools and to dig it out deeply as far down the root as you can and put THAT weed in the gray garbage cart (not the green compost cart and not out in the field.)

Weeds and Plant Growth: It is the garden plot holder responsibility to remove all weeds and overgrown plant growth. (Chop up your clippings and take them out to the field to place on top of growing weeds.) Some plots have extensive weeds, overgrown plants, and plants that are extending over into the pathways and need to be cut back to the wooden plot edge. Thanks for taking care of this promptly!

Summer Clean Up
The plants are thriving. Remember to check your plants. If they are growing over the wooden plot edge please cut them back so they don’t grow over or lean over into any pathway. All pathways need to be kept completely clear.

Be sure to clear out all plants when they are done providing you vegetables before winter arrives and replace with winter crops or cover crop.

Old: If you have something like an old rosemary plant, it is probably time to remove it as old rosemary plants turn into a woody trunk bush and get harder and harder to remove each year. All such plants should not be allowed to grow bigger that 24″ in diameter per the Garden Policies document. If it is over 24″ in diameter, it is time to remove and replace the plant with one that is smaller.

Mint: Mint is to be grown in a closed bottom pot because the mint roots are very invasive and grow out into pathways and throughout your plot and the garden. Take a look at your mint for clearing out excess mint and the deep and extensive roots. (Place in gray garbage cart because we don’t want mint to grow out in the field.)

EXTRA PLOTS AVAILABLE! We still have some plots in most areas of the garden. Send us an  email if you are interested and we can let you know of plot numbers that are currently open. (Maximum of three plots per gardener allowed at the garden).