Season in the Soil

We are hosting an event in the garden from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on August 26 titled seasons in the soil with speaker Rich Mohr. Make sure to sign up via our website.

I have started to call and leave messages on your voicemails. Please check your messages and get back to me. Thank you.

This Week

We breached the 1000 pound mark this week with another 65 pounds harvested on Monday. I have noticed a white fly problem on our brassicas. Please do not let your brassicas become overgrown.

Friday Crew: (9am to 12 Pm) (Weather Permitting)

Please turn compost, prune yellowing leaves off of tomatoes, sow carrots in bed 17B.

Next Week

Monday Priorities: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

• Harvest, if needed.
• Pull collards, replace with swiss chard.
• Swiss chard replacements in bed 27.
• Clean up fence from morning glories.

Friday Priorities: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

• Harvest available vegetables.
• Crew cut Penn State beds back to 3 inches.

Vegetable of the Week

Garlic Growing Guide

Clove Depth	Clove Spacing	Hardneck Cloves per Bulb	Hardneck Cloves per Pound	Softneck Cloves per Bulb	Softneck Cloves per Bulb
2-3″	6″	5-10	40-65	6-18	50-90

Hardneck Garlic: Allium sativum subsp. ophioscorodon Cloves grow in a single circle around a central woody stem. These varieties also produce, or attempt to produce, a flower-like stalk. What makes these garlics stand out is the range and quality of flavors they exhibit. Hardneck garlics typically have a shorter storage life than softnecks.

Softneck Garlic: Allium sativum subsp. sativum These varieties produce cloves in several layers around a soft central stem. Approximate cloves per pound can vary based on seasonal conditions and the variety. These easy-to-grow garlics are excellent in the kitchen and usually have the best storage qualities. Great for braiding.

Culture

• Garlic thrives in rich, well-drained soil with a pH between 6.0-7.0
• Work in 1 inch layer of compost, 1/2 cup of bone meal, 1/2 cup fertilizer per 5 row feet
• When spring growth begins: water to keep the soil slightly moist, and fertilize
• As harvest approaches: water less to avoid molding or staining

Hardnecks: cut off any flowering stems (scapes) at the top leaf to redirect energy to the bulb; scapes can be used like green onions

Direct Sowing

• In Northern regions, garlic is best planted by the end of October, or 6-8 weeks before the ground freezes
• Southern regions may plant as late as March
• Separate the cloves of garlic just prior to planting, keeping as much skin on as possible
• Plant cloves pointed end up
• Mulch with clean straw or leaves to 4 inches
• Harvest & Storage
• Harvest when the top 4-5 leaves are slightly green and lower leaves are dry
• Begin checking for mature bulbs in late June
• Each green leaf represents one layer of covering over the bulb in the ground
• Tie the plants in small bundles and dry in a cool, shaded, well-ventilated location for about 3-4 weeks
• After curing is done, cut foliage and roots from bulbs and store in mesh bags
• Softnecks: you can keep leaves on and braid the whole plant

Workday Task List

Weeding

• Perimeter of fence (inside and outside)
• Shed and Compost areas
• Perimeter of communal raised beds
• Pollinator beds outside fenced area

Cleaning and Organizing

• Communal materials
• Shed
• Tools

General Maintenance

• Pulling dead plants and crops
• Repairing Hoses and Irrigation lines
• Repair and maintain rain barrel
• Repairing fence

Seasonal or As needed

• Soil installation
• Woodchip/mulch installation
• Harvesting crops
• Irrigating pollinator beds

Rules and Regs!

As the season has rolled through, the Steering Committee has felt that some amendments to our rules and regulations needed to occur. Please notice on rules and regulations in attached pdf. (Rules 3, 6, 11). Please contact me if you are feeling lost or overwhelmed as we can help aid these feelings.

This Week

Please be aware: beds 13 (Winter squash) And 19 (Beets) Have been planted. Bed 25 (Cucumbers) Has also had carrots added in the middle rows.

Friday crew: (9 a.m. to 12 p.m.) (Heat advisory) Harvest available produce and that’s it. It is going to be hot so please be safe! Know your limitations.

Next Week

Monday Priorities: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

• Harvest, if Needed.
• Prune Tomatoes.
• Check Pest and Disease.
• Clean Up Fence from Morning Glories.

Friday Priorities: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

• Harvest Available Vegetables.
• Help Cultivate Beds 21 & 23

Vegetable of the Week

Pac Choi Growing Guide

Soil Temp for Germ.	Days to Emergence	Seed Depth	Thin Plants To	Seed Spacing	Row Spacing	Min. Germ.	Seed Life	Seeds peer 1/4 gram	Fertilizer Needs
45-75°F	2-15	1/4″	12-18″	1″	18-36″	75%	3 years	≈ 63-90	Medium

Days to maturity: 45

Culture

• Pac Choi is a cool season crop that performs best in spring and fall in a wide range of soil types
• Young plants exposed to temperature fluctuations can result in bolting
• Apply 1 cup of fertilizer per 5 row feet, and 1 inch of compost

Direct Sowing

• For a spring crop, sow after the danger of frost
• Fall crops can be sown July—mid-August

Transplanting

• Sow seeds 4 weeks before anticipated transplant date for a spring crop or July/August for a fall crop

Insects & Diseases

• Disease prevention: 5-7 year crop rotation

Harvest & Storage

• Harvest as soon as mature to avoid bolting

Workday Task List

• Weeding
  • Perimeter of fence (inside and outside)
  • Shed and Compost areas
  • Perimeter of communal raised beds
  • Pollinator beds outside fenced area
• Cleaning and Organizing
  • Communal materials
  • Shed
  • Tools
• General Maintenance
  • Pulling dead plants and crops
  • Repairing Hoses and Irrigation lines
  • Repair and maintain rain barrel
  • Repairing fence
  • Seasonal or As needed
• Soil Installation
  • Woodchip/mulch installation
  • Harvesting crops
  • Irrigating pollinator beds

You’ve Made It!

August is among us now! We will begin see our vegetables ripen quicker, the weeds get meaner, and the pests more persistent. I believe in each gardener to stay with their beds to the end and contribute to the greater good.

Please contact me if you are feeling lost or overwhelmed as we can help aid these feelings.

This Week

Monday’s harvest: 222 lbs

Harvest time: Friday’s crew please harvest tomatoes(7, 9, 11), cucumbers(19), peppers(21,23). Please harvest all kale in the master gardener bed(28b) as well.

Please harvest and then clean out completely bed 13.

Next Week

Monday Priorities: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

• Harvest, if needed.
• Cultivate rows.
• Clean up fence from morning glories.

Friday Priorities: 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.

• Harvest available vegetables.
• Continue to burlap and mulch shed area.

Vegetable of the Week

Broccoli Growing Guide

Soil Temp for Germ.	Days to Emergence	Seed Depth	Thin Plants To	Seed Spacing	Row Spacing	Min. Germ.	Seed Life	Seeds peer 1/4 gram	Fertilizer Needs
55-75°F	5-17	1/4″	12-24″	4-6″	18-36″	80%	3 years	≈ 125-175	High

Brassica oleracea, Botrytis Group: Broccoli is a rich source of vitamins C, K, and B-complex, along with a treasure trove of minerals. Although one cup of milk has more calcium than a cup of broccoli, the human body absorbs the calcium from broccoli more effectively than from milk. From your body’s perspective, broccoli is said to be richer in calcium than milk!

Days to maturity: 60

Culture

• Broccoli performs best in fertile, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.0-7.0
• Broccoli is a cool-season crop that does not tolerate extreme heat; rough heads or leaves in the head are usually from heat stress
• Keep beds evenly moist and/or use shade cloth to maintain quality during heat waves
• Excess nitrogen or a boron deficiency can cause hollow stem

Direct Sowing

• Direct seed April through June
• At the bottom of the furrow band 1/2 cup fertilizer per 5 row feet
• Cover with loose soil or sifted compost

Transplanting

• Start broccoli indoors 4-6 weeks before your anticipated transplant date
• Side dress with 1/2 cup of TSC’s Complete fertilizer at transplant
• Start autumn/overwintering varieties May—July for transplanting June—August
• Start overwintering sprouting broccoli from mid-May—June, transplant out by the end of July—September

Harvest & Storage

• Harvest when heads are tight and dense
• Cut side-shoots regularly to encourage production

Cabbage worms, loopers, and root maggots: The first sign of cabbage worms will be off-white butterflies fluttering near the plants. They lay their yellowish-colored eggs on the undersides of leaves, which hatch into caterpillars that can cause severe root and head damage. To control infestations, spray plants with Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t)

Flea beetles: Flea beetles chew tiny pinholes in leaves. Early control is essential to minimize the damage. Spray infected plants with Pyrethrin. Using floating row covers such as Summer Insect Barrier can also provide control

Workday Task List

Weeding

• Perimeter of fence (inside and outside)
• Shed and Compost areas
• Perimeter of communal raised beds
• Pollinator beds outside fenced area

Cleaning and Organizing

• Communal materials
• Shed
• Tools

General Maintenance

• Pulling dead plants and crops
• Repairing Hoses and Irrigation lines
• Repair and maintain rain barrel
• Repairing fence

Seasonal or As needed

• Soil installation
• Woodchip/mulch installation
• Harvesting crops
• Irrigating pollinator beds

Eight Utilitarian Uses for Burlap in Your Garden That Will Save You Sweet Daylight Hours

Updates

• April 9: Monmouth University Graduate Student Work Day 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• April 22: Earth Day Official Opening Day Of The Virginia A. Cory Community Garden 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tree Planting
• April 23: Spring Festival 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Come Check Out Local Vendors And Great Music!

A Junior’s Thoughts

Over the past couple of weeks I had the amazing opportunity to intern at the Monmouth University Community Garden alongside Jessica French. The Garden has taught me several things and helped me develop different skills such as building a website, but what really stood out to me was the amazing community that the Garden has built. And that may be obvious that the community is amazing because it is a community garden, but I don’t think you truly understand how hard it is to build a community that cares and works so hard like this one does. Being an intern I was always amazed about how much work and how much passion all members have for the project, especially our Supervisor Dean Mama. Each person in the committee brings something to the table and loves the garden. My favorite thing about this internship is who I got to work with and meet through working here. I feel that I can take a lot of my short time being here and I am happy that I was able to help in anyway I can because I felt that my efforts were going to such an amazing cause and community!

A Senior’s Thoughts

For students who want a macro level social work experience, interning at the Monmouth University Community could be a wonderful opportunity. Being an intern at the MUCG means communicating with garden members, organizing events and special programs within the community, and applying for various funding sources. In addition, an intern must be creative and really make the internship their own. You can do this by creating different ways to help the garden grow.

As for my impact, I organized a volunteer event for Monmouth students during the Big Event, and met with officials from the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative of Monmouth County to organize potential educational and volunteer programs for youth in the criminal justice system. I’ve become a contact person for organizations like Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore and Fulfill, the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. I’ve continued previous projects like completing a Cookbook and applying for grants for a much needed shade structure, but I’ve also come up with ideas of my own, like building a wash station for the garden.

This internship gave me the freedom to impact the community in my own resourceful way, as well as the independence to understand what it takes to be a good community organizer. Working alongside Dean Mama isn’t only great for reference benefits, but she serves as a personal role model, too. I got to spend my time in the School of Social Work and out in the community, and I couldn’t think of a better way to end my senior year than opening the garden for the next season later this month.

On Wednesday, November 22, 2017, I visited the Center for Environmental Transformation (CFET) in Camden, NJ. I received a wonderful tour of the Center and it’s surrounding plots from the Director, Teresa Niedda. According to their website, the CFET engages, educates, and inspires people to practice a more environmentally responsible way of living on the planet. They do this by partnering with local organizations and residents, as well as hosting experiential learning retreats with a focus on sustainability and various events throughout the year related to environmental issues.

I reached out to Teresa because I had been at the Center once before in 2012 for a high school retreat. The first changed I noticed happened when I was greeted not by the plain white door that I was familiar with, but by a beautifully painted door:

By mistake, I had forgotten to take a picture of the door, but I found this one on the Center’s Facebook page

I was then welcomed inside by the Center’s head gardener, who then introduced me to Teresa. We started our tour by first going to the Center’s garden. A generous neighbor lets the Center access the garden through her backyard. Though the harvesting season was coming to a close, the garden and greenhouse looked beautiful.

Next, we visited an educational site around the corner. The Center uses this site for educational purposes

Finally, we visited another site. While we tried to figure out if this might have been a site I had worked on 5 years ago, I admired the wonderful orchard and beehives. The beehives were particularly interesting to me as we are trying to get beehives at the MUCG.

Crisp new orange hats, cool watermelon, and iced tea with fresh mint from the garden marked our first official community garden meeting. If you weren’t able to make it…that’s o.k.! Here at the blog we’ll give you the latest garden scoop.

The good news is that the water is flowing fine! The university came through and assisted us and we are marvelously grateful. There is, however, a caveat. Please do not turn off the main valve. Only turn off the individual spigots. In order to save water we also ask that, should you be the last person to leave, to check all spigots. The spigots include both the hose connected valve and the ground valve.

Usually, at the garden, we are happy to welcome guest. However, we have two guests that have arrived that are unfortunately not so welcome. They include the Colorado potato beetle and the flea beetle. The Colorado potato beetle is large (about the size of a dime) and loves potato, eggplant and tomato plants. You can help usher them into their new life (perhaps as a butterfly!) by dunking them in soapy water in a bottle or coffee can. Please remember that this is an organic garden and so non organic chemicals should not be used.

Some of you may have noticed that you appear to have won a weeding lottery. Your assigned lot, thank heavens, has ground cover! Should you be amongst the lucky number – we ask that you assist those whose assigned lot did not get covered and simply pluck a few weeds (make sure they’re not plants!).

Also, everyone at the meeting received an orange cap. It helps us to recognize each other as gardeners. You may pick up yours from one of the steering committee members on one of the open garden days – Tuesdays or Saturday.

And finally, please remember to always drink plenty of water and wear a hat! It can get hot in the garden!

Happy Gardening!

Tuesday’s July 22 lecture in the garden, with Dr. Catherine Duckett, Associate Dean of the School of Science at Monmouth University, was enlightening and lively! With a show and tell of both the good bugs and those pesky ones, Dr. Duckett enlightened gardners about what to look for and how to manage our six legged and winged friends! See the video blog for clips from the lecture. Clips will appear on a rolling basis.

On November 10th, 2017, I visited Fulfill, the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean County located at 3300 NJ-66, Neptune City, NJ 07753 . According to their website, Fulfill’s mission is to “alleviate hunger and build food security in Monmouth & Ocean Counties and to make sure that all people at all times have access to enough nutritious food to maintain an active and healthy life.”

I reached out to their head gardener, Jess Sinkhorn, for a tour. First, he showed me Fulfill’s two gardens. Both are used to grow fresh produce, but one is particularly for educational purposes. It was pretty chilly outside, so next Jess showed me Fulfill’s first heated greenhouse. The greenhouse was full of tools, and although nothing was growing in the plots at the time, above us were mint and other plants which Jess is growing for tea. He is also in the process of building a second greenhouse right next to the first.

Next, we went back outside to check out the three beehives that they have onsite, further back behind the greenhouses. Surrounding the beehives were bales of straw which were donated by the Monmouth University Community Garden. Because of the cold weather, the bees were inside of their hives and I was able to get very close while Jess explained the equipment needed for having hives and the bees’ different behaviors, depending on the season. On site is also a “fake hive”, which Jess also uses to educate various community groups that visit Fulfill.

Afterwards, Jess gave me a brief tour inside the main facility. He showed me their huge storage rooms, which were stacked high with boxes of donated goods and goods that, after being sorted by volunteers, can be donated to food pantries. Although Fulfill doesn’t necessarily cater to food needy individuals and families directly, they do have ready made “banana box packages” that contain different non-perishable items, available for emergencies. Jess and I were greeted by many hellos as he introduced me to the staff. Overall, Fulfill is a wonderful and welcoming environment.

Jess is always welcoming volunteers for the garden and greenhouse on Mondays and Wednesdays. He can be reached at jsinkhorn@fulfillnj.org

Don’t forget to check out Fulfill’s website!!

In July 2017, the Garden hosted a “Garden to Table” event, presented by Chef Dan Vogt. Below are several delicious recipes! You can access his website at chefdanvogt.com. Enjoy!!!

Grilled Flatbread with Summer Squash, Ricotta, and Balsamic Onions

Servings: 8-12

Ingredients:

• 1 fresh pizza dough 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 lemon 3 summer squash sliced into ribbons (use a Y shape peeler)
• 3 medium onions
• 1.5 cups balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Stretch/roll dough into a rectangle, brush with olive oil and place on a hot grill until brown (8 minutes on each side)
2. Saute onions and olive oil until translucent. Add balsamic and reduce until vinegar evaporates.
3. Top with fresh ricotta, lemon juice, salt and pepper
4. Add squash ribbons, basil, and balsamic onions, and remaining olive oil
5. Slice into squares and serve

Grilled Green Tomato Caprese Salad with Garlic Chive Dressing

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

• 4 green tomatoes (sliced 1/4” thick)
• ½ cup olive oil 2 packages of fresh mozzarella
• handful of fresh basil dressing
• handful of garlic chives
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon water
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Dressing
  1. place all ingredients for dressing in a blender and blend until incorporated
• Salad
  1. Slice tomatoes, brush with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
  2. Place on a hot grill with the lid off for about 2 minutes per side
  3. Slice mozzarella and arrange with grilled tomatoes on a serving dish
  4. Pour dressing evenly over the tomatoes and cheese
  5. Garnish with basil, salt, and pepper

Simple Dressed Summer Greens

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

• 3 bunches of your favorite summer greens
• juice of 1 lemon
• olive oil for drizzling
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Rough chop leaves
2. Drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper