You may need to side dress your tomatoes to help keep the flavor and texture at their best.

Thelma Adams walked through the garden earlier this year and told us we needed to side dress and gave us instructions.  I will be happy to pass on her instructions.
 
If you would like to side dress, please let ACCG know so we can make arrangements to bag and instruct you on how to apply the fertilizer.  Judy will be present at the garden on Saturday April 28th at 2:00 pm, to disburse fertilizer and provide instructions if needed.

Judy

Gardeners,

We have had our first formal request to tour the garden.  The group is asking to get permission to harvest a few veggies to take back to learn more about how veggies grow, are harvested, and prepared as a learning experience.

If anyone would like to be present on April 30, Monday at 10 am please do so. I would love to see the interaction between the group and the gardeners. We may have a new group of gardeners ready to bloom.

Judy

Your tomato plants need assistance they are being pushed over due to their height and the high winds!

Please tie the tomato rings to the inside of the beds utilizing cup hooks or a similar hardware. Please do not use nails due to the danger of someone being injured. Your tomatoes will appreciate soft fabric to tie their limbs up to the tomato rings; if you use string it will saw the limbs in two, Ouch! I have use old tee shirts ripped into strips or anything you may have handy.

Fruit Fruit Fruit! If you have squash planted it is growing so fast there is a lot to harvest before it gets to large.
Gardeners that attended Saturdays Meeting now have large squash to harvest, it is growing that fast.

Beans were seen at least 8 inches, yes 8 inches long on a trellis, Happy Gardening. Snow peas, bush beans, lettuce, and swiss chard are just a few veggies ready to harvest, congratulations gardeners!

ACCG Directors

Thank you for attending the garden meeting today. Please let us know if second Saturday of each month at 10 am is a good time as a rule for you to attend the garden monthly meetings. 

Meeting topics included:

· We have increased watering times to each bed due to dryer/hotter weather.

· Usage of BT, insecticidal soaps and neem oils. We are having caterpillars, aphids and mildew problems. If you notice any changes in your plants appearances please report them. It takes all the gardeners to assist to make the garden a better experience for everyone.

· Reminding everyone that this is the best time of gardening. Our plants are producing at such a rate they need near daily attention. If everyone harvests on a regular basis the gardens will produce more than you ever dreamed. If you cannot harvest everything please let us know and we will harvest and take the produce to Good Samaritans. Good Sam has set up a record of our donations so please mention your donation is from ACCG. This report will show the amount of food we have provided. In return the records will aid in our request for donations to keep the garden funded.

· Please take notes now for your fall gardens and the number of plants each bed will accommodate.  Check with your fellow gardeners about what they plan to plant this fall and sharing plants, so we do not have the urge to overplant.

· Joseph explained how to mix potting soil.

Equal parts;
black cow manure
perlite
peat moss

·Volunteers requested for the United Way food booth at the Art Festival, July 7 & 8, 3 hour shifts. If you are interested please call Kim McLain @ 790-5915.

Safety issues;
First our tomato plants need assistance;
they are being uprooted due to their height and the high winds.  Please tie the tomato rings to the inside of the beds utilizing cup hooks or a similar hardware.  Please do not use nails due to the danger of someone being injured.

Your tomatoes will appreciate soft fabric to tie their limbs up to the tomato rings.  If you use string it will saw the limbs into two pieces.  Ouch! I have used old tee shirts ripped into strips or anything you have handy.

We are asking everyone to tie up their tomato plants that are over flowing to the walk ways and to bag & remove any garden wastes from the garden.

If you need assistance or have any questions, please do not hesitate to phone. We will be happy to meet you at the garden to help.

See you in the garden,

ACCG Directors

We are having a problem with powdery mildew on the squash leaves.  This powdery mildew will spread throughout the garden if not properly tended to. We have treated the squash plants with Neem oil.  We are requesting you to inspect your plants, especially squash & cucumbers. If you see the white powdery mildew on the leaves please quickly remove the infected leaves and place them in a plastic bag for disposal away from the garden.

This will be an ongoing problem with the curcubits (squash, cucumbers, melons, and gourds).  If the plant is heavily infected, you may have to remove the entire plant.  We start spraying with the least harmful control - in this case it is Neem oil.  If the problem persists, we will move to more powerful agents.  Just remember that mother nature will get her share of our gardens - they will never be totally free of pests or disease.  There may be resistant varieties of curcubits available - check with your retailer.

For some technical information, we've included the links below.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publications/cucurbitproblemsolver/leaf/powdery_mildew.html
http://hortipm.tamu.edu/publications/Pathup1.html

Thanks,

Judy and Richard
Note from Unwebmaster, you can see a photo of powdery mildew here.