Hello Garden Community,
Can you believe another year is coming to an end? How quickly evident it is that it's November, it's fall, the season has changed. The mornings are damp, the afternoons chilly, but the beautiful warm sun is out in between. In the gardens, the greens are producing a bit more slowly, a few more cabbages are heading up, and there are large, leafy romanesco hiding our reward for waiting so long. We've been cleaning up the summer crops- pulling out pumpkin and squash vines, harvesting dried runner beans, clearing out fallen leaves from the carrot seedlings, and then adding compost to prepare beds for winter cover crops, fava beans, garlic, and hardy greens. The vegetable beds are still green, but the rest of the garden is brown, covered in large yellow and crinkly brown leaves from the London Plane trees, everything waiting for the rain. It sounds like we might all be waiting a little longer this year.
Both events this Saturday are at the
Ft. Scott Community Garden
First up is the
November Garden Resource Day. From 10am-1pm we'll have compost in buckets, buckets you may borrow to take woodchips to your plot to mulch the pathways, and- straw! The straw is not certified weed-free, but it will likely be a great soil protector over the winter- just pull any weeds that might appear.
Read about winter mulch We may have a few seedlings as well- plan to protect any seedlings this time of year with a plastic bottle (or cloche) and maybe some Sluggo as well- I'm seeing tons of baby snails in the Brassicas right now.
Also on Saturday is the
Fall Harvest Pizza and Pumpkin Potluck! 11:30-2:30pm
I have homemade dough for about 25 mini pizzas, plus sauce made from our own tomatoes, garden arugula pesto, basil pesto, and one large bag of mozzarella cheese. I'll also make a green salad, and have some garden veggies on hand for pizza toppings- broccoli, kale, squash, arugula, herbs. Please bring your own plates & forks, plus something to share for lunch- pizza toppings (caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, olives, goat cheese etc.), drinks, side dishes or desserts. We'll be giving away the Sugar Pie and Jack-be-little pumpkins we grew this year, and enjoying a beautiful fall afternoon at the garden. There's also an exciting new addition - come see what we built in the last two weeks! Hopefully you've
RVSP'd if you're planning to attend - if not, and you'd like to come, maybe bring some extra pizza dough. :)
Here's one of my favorite recipes to make for the holidays with home-grown pumpkin:
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/250608/pumpkin-chocolate-torte-with-pumpkin-whipped-cream/
For December, the garden resource day will instead be a
Winter Wreath Making Party held at the Presidio Native Plant Nursery on December 15 from 10am to noon.
RSVP here No compost, no seedlings, just a good time!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving! cheers, jean
Places to learn more:
The
Edible Garden in November
When:
Saturday, November 10th, 2018, 10am to 12pm
Where:
Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave. at Lawton St., San Francisco
Cost:
$25
Learn
to take full advantage of the unique gardening climate in San Francisco, where
you can grow your own fruits and vegetables year-round. This workshop will
focus on preparing your garden for the rainy season, what you can grow in
winter, as well as a seeing what’s growing at GFE in November. Bring questions
and we'll do our best to answer them so you can reap a bountiful harvest!
Regular Educational Volunteer Hours
When:
Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10am to 3pm
Where:
Garden for the Environment, 7th Ave. at Lawton St., San Francisco
Cost:
Free
Join
us in the garden on Wednesdays and Saturdays to help with garden maintenance
tasks for the day. You’ll work alongside staff and regular volunteers on a
range of activities like composting, planting vegetables, pruning, starting
seeds, and weeding. The best way to learn is by doing, and we promise you’ll
learn a lot working in the garden with us. No registration needed -- you can
come and go at any time, and volunteering at GFE will always be free. Bring
lunch and picnic with us at noon!
