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…

SUMMER PLANT GROWTH TRIMMING
Our plants are growing well! Remember to take a look at your plants and how they are growing. No plant growth should be growing over into pathways. If you have vines or limbs that want to lean over into the pathway, please cut them back to the wooden plot edge. Old and dry plants that are no longer growing for the current season should be removed.

Recology trip to the dump
If you have a Recology dump run coupon that you are not going to use, the garden could use it to get rid of some of the materials out in the back of the garden down the road. The person with the coupon needs to be present in the vehicle with their ID to allow us to use their coupon. If you don’t have a truck, we can find someone with a truck to go with you.

Work Day – Thursday, July 9, from 6-8 pm.
Since the hot weather has hit, our next work day will be in the evening of this Thursday, July 9, from 6-8 pm. We hope to have a big crew of helpers to spruce up our garden before the gardening class on the 11th, so we can welcome any visitors with a good-looking garden! If you are one of the gardeners who has not completed work hours, this would be a good start in completing that requirement.

If you need to work at a different time or day, you can work independently and record your hours on the sheet in the shed, or email the garden with your information of the amount of time, the specific work done, and your plot number.
Suggested tasks:
*Remove weeds at the entry area and around the tables where we have classes
*Remove weeds in the raised beds area to help clean up our ADA area
*Use a hula hoe and scrape weeds out from the gray or gold garden pathways, especially near your own plot.
*Use your truck with your Recology dump coupon to remove old wire, etc. from the old, unneeded materials pile.
*Cover cardboard in the gold fines area that still needs to be covered with wood chips.

MHCG Garden Class July 11th, 9-11 am. – INFORMATION ON BEES! 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
There will be a gardening class at the Morgan Hill Community Garden this Saturday, July 11, at 9 am. We will have a representative from the Gilroy Beekeepers Association Who will give us information about bees. We can learn how bees help us at the garden and how to encourage our space to be a habitat for bees. We hope to see many gardeners at the garden! 🐝

“Three Sisters” Planting Class from last year. 🌽
If you were a part of the “Three Sisters” planting class last year, Jenny has some follow-up information and an item for you. Please contact her at jredfern1@charter.net.

Plot and Pathway Maintenance
Please take a close look at your plots and pathways. Most gardeners are off to a good start for the growing season! But watch out for the following…

Weeds and Plant Growth: It is the garden plotholder 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!

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.)

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.)

Gophers?: If you notice gopher activity, always email the garden and leave the evidence of gopher activity so the gopher company will see what the gopher did. (Don’t rake it over, etc.)
Reminder- Keep all personal items inside your plot and not in pathways.
All garden plots should be planted by now, so if you have not made it over yet for planting, please do so ASAP!

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.

Managing Gophers and Moles in Your Garden

Saturday, June 6, 2026 from 7:00pm to 8:30pm

Saratoga Library

13650 Saratoga Ave., Saratoga, CA

Summer Fruit Tree Care
Outlook
Saratoga Library13650 Saratoga AvenueSummer Fruit Tree Care – Morgan Hill
Wednesday, June 17, 2026 from 7:00pm to 8:00pm
Morgan Hill Library
660 W. Main Avenue
Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Growing Succulents- San Martin
Saturday, June 27, 2026 9:30-11:00 am
South County Teaching and Demonstration Garden
80 Highland Avenue (corner of Highland Ave. and Monterey Rd.)

Looking Good!
The City came and mowed down some of our weeds! Hooray! But- you can find more to help out with! Please stop by the children’s area and the wood chip area near our tables and benches up to the Railroad Avenue fence. If everyone pulls 30 weeds whenever they come, it will make a big difference.

Our rained out work day will be rescheduled, but you can get a start on the weeds and on bringing wood chips over to any area that is covered with cardboard and still needs wood chips. Also, please help ADA gardeners by removing weeds in the raised beds area.

Most plots have been weeded and started with soil amendment and planting of crops. We hope to see everyone with a thriving plot at the garden very soon.

Extra jobs for work hour time:
The people who came to the last work day did a fantastic job making the garden look better! But of course, there is always more to do, especially in the Children’s area and around the raised beds. Please remember that you can also work independently (outside of your own plots and pathways) to help out. The sign in sheet in in the shed. Please include your plot number and the amount of time you worked.

*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.)

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.

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.

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).