Work Hours
All work hours (six per year) were to be completed by the last work day in September to be able to register for 2025 gardening. Emails, texts, and calls have gone out to all gardeners who have not completed their work hours. Check past emails and texts from the MHCG (info@mhcommunitygarden.org), if you are wondering if you have not completed your work.

Winter Gardening– Just a reminder that gardening is required year-round at MHCG. Please be making your plans for winter work. If you do not have crops in mind, you can also use cover crop seed to grow the cover crop plants and nourish your soils over the winter. Please have no bare dirt in your garden plot over the winter. That encourages weed growth. There are small bags of cover crop seed in bags in the shed. There is enough seed in the little bag for an entire plot, so please take only one bag per plot and spread it out sparingly. Be sure to tend to weeding throughout the winter and spring months in your plots and in the wood, and gray fines pathways around your plots. You can also cover your bare dirt with straw or fine, leavy wood chips (not the wood chips we are using for the pathways.)

COVER CROP SEED IN THE SHED
There are now packets of cover crop seed in the shed. Instructions for how to use the seed is included in the packet. Please take only one bag per plot so there will be plenty for all gardeners.

The cover crop is available for you to use along with your own winter crop seeds or seedlings. Please do not leave summer plants in the garden over winter and do not leave your plot with bare soil for weeds to grow in. The plots should be well maintained all fall and winter, as well as in spring and summer. Also remember to maintain the wood and gravel pathways around your plots.

SEASONAL CHANGE
Remember to work your plot through the fall and winter. Please do not leave any bare soil. You can plant crops or cover crop. (We will be getting cover crop seed for the garden.) You can also cover your bare soil with mulch or straw. Please don’t let weeds start to grown in your plot or in the pathways around your plot, or in the main gravel pathways around the plots. We had a big weeding job this year in the spring and we don’t want that to happen again!

GOPHER TRAPS!
We seem to be winning the war with gophers and squirrels (as much as is possible). We have let Got Gophers know when we hear there is a problem area. Please email the garden email if you need to report a problem with pests in your plot and the details. Unfortunately, the rabbits and birds will always be there. All sorts of critters come out at night.

REGISTRATION
Registration will be going out in December and will be due January 31st. Watch your email for the information and the form to mail to the post office box address. Also let us know if you will be giving up a plot so we will know how many plots we have to offer to others.

GARDEN MEMBERS INTERNAL FACEBOOK PAGE
We are in the process of setting up an internal MHCG Facebook page for garden plot owners only to share gardening, questions, photos, and recipes. That way we can share garden activities and ideas within our own group. If you want to give it a try, here is a link-
https://fb.me/g/60GisCthm/upcoMRmg.

GARDEN VEGETABLES TAKEN FROM PLOTS
Please remember that there is no taking of vegetables from another gardener’s plots or the small demonstration plots. There have been a couple of incidents of melons and other items taken from plots.

CARDBOARD
We are in need of lots of cardboard, especially large pieces for pathway repair. Cardboard can be piled up on the east side of the garden with the cinderblocks on top so it doesn’t blow away. Also, you can use the cardboard in your own walkway. There are various pathways with weeds growing up in them. Place cardboard on top of the weeds, and then cover the pathways with wood chips. (Look at the piles of woodchips around the garden for the largest wood chip side and not real leafy.)

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.