The summer plot checks are done and many emails went out with either "notes" or "warnings." I have a lot of other notes I'd like to share with individual gardeners, but time is running out. I will be stopping by the gardens in a month to recheck those that received a warning. Please get in touch if you have questions and please, please, please love your plants by giving them enough water. Many beds look really dry and rather empty. Planting enough in the plot to cover the soil really helps keep it from drying out so much. Also, I recommend mixing the soil a bit when you water to ensure it's getting in- once it gets dry/crusty/compacted the water just doesn't get into the zone where your plant roots are.
We had a great turnout at the volunteer and garden resource day last Saturday. So great that for the first time we ran out of compost! We also moved 8 cyd of soil into our new raised flower beds- here they are in progress. We can't wait for the flowers to bloom!
If you need some compost, there is a giveaway from SF Rec and Parks this Saturday, along with many other great programs. RSVP for workshops at communitygardens@sfgov.org These are available to any SF gardener:
Our next garden resource day at the Ft. Scott Community Garden has been changed to the FIRST Saturday of the month- August 4 from 10am-1pm. And, excitingly, Emily will be giving a workshop about making shrubs (refreshing beverages, not woody perennials) during the day- one at 10am and one at noon (same content). Please RSVP if you'd like to attend! I've updated the Google calendar with dates of events for most of the rest of the year. Check it out and make notes in your calendar to come see us in the garden!
Friday July 27 from 4pm- til we get cold we'll be celebrating the end of Taylor's internship. We are so sad to see her go, but she's well prepared for her next adventure. She has a great new job as a school garden educator not too far away. Join us for drinks and snacks (feel free to bring something to share!) and general merriment at the Ft. Scott Community Garden.
Intern corner: Emily Lovell on preserving food:
Every year in the United States about 40% of food is wasted along
the farm to fork to landfill chain. The issue of food waste in the U.S. is
becoming more extreme, increasing an alarming 50% per capita since 1974.
Collectively, consumers are responsible for more wasted food than farmers,
grocery stores or any other part of the food supply chain. The average person
living in the United States wastes between 200 and 250 pounds of edible food a
year! Why should we care? Because this means that every year food waste
is costing 25% of our fresh water, 300 million barrels of oil, $40 billion just
from household waste leading to 33 million tons of landfill waste.
Sadly, I’ve noticed that even in our community gardens a lot
produce grown is going to waste. Although composting is a great way to deal
with inevitable food scraps, it’s much better to eat food than to compost it.
Sometimes our gardens produce way more than we can eat before it spoils. Some
suggestions on how to reduce your food waste are learning how to properly store
your produce, freezing excess produce, or utilizing food preservation methods
like pickling, canning, or fermenting.
Fermentation is the
intentional use of microbial transformations to stabilize or preserve food
products. Understanding that environment affects how food changes over time we
can manipulate environmental conditions to encourage the growth or certain
organisms while simultaneously discouraging others. There are many practical
benefits that can be derived through fermentation: desirable flavors,
preservation, improve one’s biological access to nutrients, and generating some
additional nutrients. In the three upcoming months I’ll be doing a workshop series
centered on fermentation. I hope to see you there!
August 4: Making shrubs
September 8: Fermentation/pickling
October 13: Sourdough
Here’s a great resource to learn more about how to properly store your food.
