Raindate for Pizza Potluck/ Spring Garden Tasks

We have another rainy week ahead. I'm sending this post a little early to let you know we've moved the Spring Pizza Potluck to the raindate - this Friday, March 23, 4-7pm. If this means you can attend- please RSVP! We look forward to spending time in the garden with all of you and to eating delicious pizza!! :)

Neighborhood garden visits in the evenings are starting on Monday 3/26 at the MacArthur garden (ppd. from 3/20), 3/27 at Portola, 3/29 at West Washington, 4/3 at Lendrum Ct., 4/5 at Baker Beach 1+2, 4/10 and Baker Beach 3+4, and finally South Baker Beach on 4/12. Phew! Taylor and I are ready for a busy four weeks leading up to plot checks on April 17. We'll be bringing seedlings and compost to your garden, or you can stop by the Ft. Scott Garden on April 14 during the Saturday Garden Resource Day from 10am-1pm.

Seedlings we hope to have: lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, kale, cauliflower, and peas. Be prepared with some way to protect your tender new seedlings- a bottle with the bottom cut off works for a week or two. Just be sure to remove it before the plant starts getting too big for it, or it will get stressed out and bolt without making a food crop. If your garden has rodent issues, plan ahead to get creative with galvanized hardware cloth and make some free-standing boxes to put over your plants.

What to know about buying strawberries for your garden: if you're heading to the nursery to buy strawberries, make sure you get what you expect. If you want good sized strawberries for eating, don't buy groundcover, native, or Alpine varieties. Look for varieties like Albion, Chandler, and Seascape. Further reading from Pam Peirce and Sloat.

Here's Taylor's blog post about spring in the garden:

Hello Presidio Community Gardeners, it is almost spring time, which means it is time to plant! In this blog post I’ll be talking about March/spring gardening tasks. I’ll give you some notes about things to focus on in your garden, and even provide a list of plants for March sowing and transplanting. J 

(1)    Prepare beds for planting if you have not done so already. Pull weeds, break up any soil chunks that may have formed in your bed, and clear any brush or debris. Amend your bed with compost, manure, or organic amendments like bone, blood, and kelp meals. We have a compost giveaway every month at the Fort Scott community garden. If you missed our giveaway on March 10^th, the next giveaway is scheduled for Saturday, April 14^th.

(2)    Start vegetable seeds indoors. If you are starting seeds indoors, place pots next to a sunny window. Sowing seeds directly into your plot will work especially for those that must be directly sown (carrots, radishes, turnips) or for those that do well (cilantro, beets, fava beans, peas, squash). Buying transplants or seedlings at a local nursery is often the best option when you only want one or two plants, or need them a bit larger (brassicas, squash, strawberries).

(3)    Check planted seedlings for signs of damage and aphids. Wash aphids from plants using a strong water spray with a hose. For smaller vegetables and flowers, use an organic soap spray to control aphids. Keep an eye out for ants. Visit: SFPUC for the Pest Control Tips booklet. The Pest Control Tips booklet will help you with identifying the pests in your garden, and give you tips on how to combat them. There are other great gardening resources on this site as well, so definitely check it out! Remember that you are limited to using organic methods of pest control in your garden plots and not all the tips listed are OK in this national park.

(4)    Leafy green veggies like kale and lettuce that did well during the winter in sunny garden spots may bolt (begin ­flowering) as temperatures warm. Plant these crops in part shade for summer leafy greens.

(5)    Prune flowers that have already bloomed (early bloomers).

(6)    Many weeds will begin flowering and setting seed as rains slow and temperatures climb. Be sure to remove weeds before they can release their seeds into your garden soil.

(7)    Consult a planting calendar to see what you can sow and transplant into your garden plot this month. I took a quick look at Pam Peirce’s “Golden Gate Gardening” and came up with a quick list of crops that can be planted this month (all of these can be directly sown unless otherwise noted!):

Artichoke (bareroot), fava bean, scarlet runner bean, snap bean, beet, broccoli (transplants), cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, collards, kale (transplants), leek, lettuce, mustard, onion bulb (seeds or sets), parsnip, pea, potato (tubers), radish, spinach, squash, swiss chard, turnip

I hope this list is helpful! Thank you for reading my post and if you have any questions feel free to contact me at tjais@presidiotrust.gov

Taylor

March Dates and descriptions/ Brassicaceae family

For all the community garden members, I'll be sending a follow-up email after this post to make sure that you are getting the blog posts and that important dates are making it to your in-box.

Our next Garden Resource Day will be headed up by Taylor this Saturday, March 10 from 10am-1pm at the Ft. Scott Community Garden. I'll be away on vacation- please introduce yourself and get some seedlings (3 pots or 1 6-pack) and compost. Seedlings available:

sugar snap peas

cauliflower

purple sprouting broccoli

spinach

romanesco

lettuce

4 6-packs that may include: chard, kale, arugula, romanesco, spinach and cilantro

For new garden members, I wanted to describe what to expect at the different dates:

Garden Resource Days: at the Ft. Scott garden you can drive down Wisser Court and find us. We'll have 4 gallon buckets of compost (3-4 available per garden plot, supplies limited) and some seedlings set out (3 available per plot). Check in with the staff on duty then take what you need. If you borrow our buckets or pots to transport your compost/seedlings you will need to bring them back to the garden.
Evening Garden Visits: Similar to a garden resource day, but we come to you! We visit each of the satellite neighborhood gardens for 1-2 hours and have buckets of compost and some seedlings available. We're also there to look at your garden with you and answer questions.
Pizza Potluck Parties: A chance to gather and celebrate with community garden members and volunteers. I make homemade pizza dough 3 days before (it has to cold-ferment- so RSVP's are important), we collect any toppings from the garden we have, share homemade sauces, some store-bought cheese, and hopefully have enough greens to make a salad. You bring your place setting, beverages (adult bevs are fine), layers to keep warm, and something to share. Additional pizza toppings are welcome as well! Guests make their own pizzas and we cook them in the wood-fired cob oven. Everyone usually shares their creations and it's delicious!
Spring Planting Cutoff (April 17): Plots should be weeded, paths should be weeded, and new, visible spring vegetables should be growing (so don't put seeds in the ground on April 15).

Do all these seedlings look the same to you? They are all "Brassicas"- plants in the Brassicaceae or Mustard family. Here's where botany comes in handy to gardeners, and some careful labeling! Kale, cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage seedlings are coming up in our flat- they have the same cotyledons (seed leaves), but as they develop true leaves differences will be visible. Eventually the plants will produce the crop they have been bred for - all derived from the same wild field cabbages of the Mediterranean. Why is this useful? Related plants succumb to the same pests- in this case: root maggots, Cabbage White larvae, and grey aphids among others. It may also be information you need for crop rotation, spacing, or fertilizing. These seedlings will hopefully be available at the April 14 Garden Resource Day.