AGM and Volunteer Appreciation

Annual General Meeting & Volunteer Appreciation PotluckDate: Friday, 21 November 2014
Time: 06:00 PM - 07:30 PM
Location: St. Mary's Anglican Church, 780 McEvoy Street

AGM at 6PM & Potluck supper at 6:30PM

Join us as we review the accomplishments of NBCHG and celebrate our wonderful volunteers with a ceremony and potluck.

The AGM is your opportunity as an active member to make decisions about the future of our organization. We will review this past year’s work and achievements and elect our new executive.

The Nominating Committee is looking for persons who have interests or experience in Fund Sourcing, Membership, Workshops or Events to bolster our board. You can submit a nomination in advance by email, or at the AGM. For more information, send an email to info@nbchg.org

We’re also celebrating our amazing volunteers with a potluck supper.

We’d like you to bring a favorite dish to share so that we can raise our glasses (and plates) to people whose hard work have made us into the NBCHG we are today.

Bring a dish to share!

Use healthy local food, if you can!


Remember to label the ingredients in your dishes!

Winterizing your Garden, The 5 P's: Prior Preparation Produces Better Plants and Produce

Winterizing your Garden

 

Remember the 5 P’s: "Prior Preparation Produces Better Plants and Produce"

CLEAR UP:

The first thing is to clear out the past year’s waste – especially after all the rot, fungus and blight problems we have had this year – These MUST GO ( and not even into the compost – they are to be put in the trash), as you do NOT want to infect next year’s growth. Clear around perennials and clear under trees. Plants and weeds without disease go into the compost.

DIG IN:

Secondly dig in any or all of the following amendments (mixed together):

Well rotted manure – preferably horse, chicken or cow and/ or Leaves and Compost from your hot compost bin/pile

CHECK pH (you can get a test from the co-op or skip this step):

Add Sulphur or Lime – if you find your pH is too low or too high ( acid or alkaline )

NOTE: If you are not putting in a green cover crop (see below) until the spring or have left it a bit too late to plant now (start in early Fall), leave enough of the above amendments to layer on top of the bed especially if not completely rotted yet. Frost and snow break down the last few strands, leaves etc., so that it is ready for the next spring.

LAYER:

Layering on top is important as it will stop any weeds from growing, will help cut down the ultimate deep freezing of the soil and will create worm space. Worms are vitally important.

Suggested layers :

Direct onto the ground – newspaper in strips- try to use non-shiny, non -coloured paper as far as possible – worms can be affected by the chemicals in highly coloured papers. Make sure that all the soil is covered.

Next layer –leaves, compost and manure – I tend to mix the whole lot up (if and when I have it) as you are going to have to mix it all when you dig it in, in the spring. If you can lay your hands on enough, make it at least 6 inches deep, and make sure you cover the paper completely.

Finally a layer of wetted leaves( so they don’t blow away) or even a layer of horticultural fleece.


GREEN COVER CROPS:

If you went the green cover crop route, and you want to dig it in now, dig it in to a depth of 5-6 inches deep and then layer on top of it. If you want to leave it over winter and there are few fall planted green manures that will last the blast of 25 below, then just cover it over with something like straw. Don’t use hay – there are too many weeds and seeds in it , especially this year.

Green Cover crops: Winter wheat or rye, Buckwheat - A quickly maturing plant, buckwheat bushes out fast and produces a prodigious amount of biomass, creating a ground canopy that chokes out weeds (which rob other crops of nutrition).

Check out our website for more information: http://www.nbchg.org/category/gardening-tips/preparing-for-winter/#sthash.nlYUYXIT.dpbs

Market Garden

Every Saturday from 10am -1pm Heather will be up in the garden to lead our maintenance days. We will need lots of help keeping the Market Garden growing as well as laying down the rest of the cardboard and wood chips.  Please attend a maintenance day.

You can now find us at the Northside Market every Saturday from 10am- 4pm.  Stop by our booth, support NB Community Harvest Gardens and take home some fresh veggies. All vegetables are by donation.

If you have extra produce from your plot to donate that would otherwise go to waste you can leave it for pickup Saturday mornings under the picnic table. 

It's July!

Hello Gardeners, 

1. Water 

2. New Lock *email me for combination*

3. Maintenance Day: SIGN UP!

4. Market Plot 

5. Pest Control 

6. Blight

7. Keep track of your harvest

8. Workshops and Gardening Tips

1. We are going through water fast at the garden. Please try and conserve as much as possible. Do not water in the middle of a hot, sunny day. The best time to water is early in the morning. CLICK HERE for more information on what plants need watering and when. 

2. The locks are always a challenge at the garden. We are trying something a little different at the front gate. We have a word lock, the combination is *email me for combination*' The other gate is the regular lock so if the front doesn't work for you use the other gate. Please let me know if this lock works better for you. 

3. We need a leader for this Saturdays (July 12th) Maintenance day. If you are around and able please let me know. You simply need to be there between 10am-1pm to welcome people into the garden and make sure everyone has something to do. I will talk with you before hand so you know what needs to be done and where everything is. 

4. The Market Plot needs some attention. If you are interested in volunteering throughout the week or just have some extra time after caring for you plot it needs to be weeded. There are stakes at the end of each row with what is in them. Only weed rows that say "MARKET GARDEN" as there are some individual and group plots mixed in that section as well. 

5. We have lots of bugs up at the garden, some beneficial and some not. CLICK HERE to identify pests in your bed. We definitely have potato beetle and cucumber beetle in Marysville. We have sticky trap in the shed on the first aid kit. You are welcome to use this in your plot. To use cut a strip of something yellow (paint a piece of wood, cut up plastic cups, etc.) and paint the sticky trap on and place around your plants. CLICK HERE for more ideas on Organic Pest Control. 

6. Late blight warning issued for New Brunswick. CLICK HERE for more details. Blight is a disease caused by a fungus-like organism which spreads rapidly in the foliage and fruit of potatoes and tomatoes. The spores can become airborne and travel. The initial symptom of blight on tomatoes is a rapidly spreading, watery rot of leaves which soon collapse, shrivel and turn brown. During humid conditions, a fine white fungal growth may be seen around the edge of the lesions on the underside of the leaves. Brown lesions may also develop on the stems. If allowed to spread unchecked, the disease will begin to attack the fruit. This is recognized by brown patches appearing on green fruit. If infected, the more mature fruits will decay rapidly. Do not over water your tomatoes. Make sure they have plenty of room for air to move through. Prune lower branches to keep them off of the soil. If you see signs of blight remove effected branches/ plants and put them in the garbage (not the compost!) 

7. Please keep track of your harvest so that we can have a record for the end of the season. We have a small scale in the shed or you can weigh it at home. 

8. Check out our Gardening tips and Workshops on our website for a full list of handouts and videos: http://nbchg.org/?page_id=1662

If you have any issues or are heading away on vacation and need someone to look after your plot please let me know. 

Thanks, 

Madeleine Berrevoets 

Garden Coordinator 

506-292-7646 

www.nbchgmarysville.blogspot.com 

www.nbchg.org 

Maintenance Day every Saturday from 10am- 1pm

Everyone welcome! Marysville Community Garden, 20 McGloin St.

They're back!

Look out for cucumber beetles up in the garden. If you are planting any kind of squash or cucumber be sure to cover them with a fine mesh. Cucumber beetles can be picked off individually and squished. They don't just go after cucumber plants, they will eat radishes, kale, rhubarb and more.
 Click here for more information on cucumber beetles

Compost!

Hello Gardeners, 

I hope you have all had a good start to the growing season. Unfortunately we were late getting compost this year, next year we will make sure we have extra in the Fall so it is ready to go for Spring planting. If you have been up to the garden lately you will notice that things have changed! We have piles of compost. Outside the gate there is Seafood Compost from Envirem Organics(the big pile), beside the woodchips is beautiful compost from Jemseg River Farm and inside the gate is Fredericton City Compost.

If you want to move compost please move it directly onto the Market Garden plot or into your own plot, not the ready to use bin. This year our Market garden is set up in 2 ft rows. We are experimenting with a technique called SPIN (Small plot intensive) Gardening. If you are up in the garden and looking for work to do cardboard/ woodchips need to be put on the paths and the market plot needs compost worked into the 2 ft rows. 

If you still need orientation or have not had a chance to get your plot planted and need help please contact me. The weeds are really taking over and the longer you wait the harder it is going to be to get going. We do still have 4 plots left to assign if you would like a second plot ($20) or know anyone new interested in gardening with us this year($20 +$10 membership fee.) 

This Thursday is our first in the garden workshop. We will be starting to plant the Market plot as well. I have attached the poster. It is free for all members. Don't forget all our workshops are online, there are some great hand outs. CLICK HERE to see more workshops. 

We will be having maintenance days every Saturday from 10am-1pm. It would be great if you could sign up to lead at least one maintenance day throughout the season. If you would like to sign up to lead a Maintenance day please CLICK HERE or contact me.  

Thanks again, 

Madeleine Berrevoets 

Garden Coordinator 

506-292-7646

www.nbchg.org 

www.nbchgmarysville.blogspot.com