Meeting tomorrow April 10th!

All who are interested -- new members, old members, people of the community -- please stop by tomorrow Saturday April 10th for our first meeting @ 10:30 am. The meeting will be about a half hour and then we'll get to work weeding: )

Fun!

Also, check out our new site that has an events calendar to keep everyone updated:

http://www.redshedgarden.com/

It's still being worked on but a great start I think. Props to Franck for putting it together!

Neighborhood Gardening Institute

New York Restoration Project and Just Food have teamed up to provide a 4 part workshop series about community gardening in NYC. It's $10 per session or $30 for all 4 and for your convenience it's being offered simultaneously at 3 different gardens in the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn.

Here's the info:

Hello New York City gardeners!

Gardening in New York City isn't always easy. Limited bed space, pollutants, weeds and pests make city growing a challenging, yet rewarding labor of love. Learn how to overcome these and other hurdles through NYRP's new Neighborhood Gardening Institute, a series of four workshops for gardeners from all skill levels. Interested participants can join Just Food Trainer Solita Stephens for just one workshop or, for a more complete overview of urban gardening, attend the entire series. Gardeners who attend all four workshops will receive a Neighborhood Gardening Institute Certificate, recognizing their achievement and contribution to local food production. For your convenience, the series will run simultaneously in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Because we want to make sure you're equipped for the season, you'll leave NGI workshops with all the seeds, tools, and other supplies you need to grow a beautiful and successful garden.

Preregistration is required. To register, please contact NYRP Community Outreach Coordinator Charlie Reynoso at creynoso@nyrp.org or call 212.333.2552. There will be a $10 materials fee per workshop or $30 for all four workshops. Scholarships are also available.

Garden Planning 101: Get more from your garden by planting seasonally. Succession planting is the most important tool for maximizing a garden's yield. Come to this workshop with a rough map of your growing space and leave with a garden plan for spring, summer and fall and seeds for early season crops. Take home a trowel, gloves and seeds.

4/7/10, 6:00 PM: BEDFORD STUYVESANT COMMUNITY GARDEN, 94 Malcolm X Blvd, Brooklyn

4/10/10, 2:00PM: TARGET BRONX COMMUNITY GARDEN, 1025 Anderson Avenue, Bronx

4/20/10, 6:30PM: CURTIS "50 CENT" JACKSON COMMUNITY GARDEN, 117-09 165th Street, Queens


Vertical Gardening Workshop: Learn techniques to increase your planting space by growing vertically! We'll demonstrate how to build simple and beautiful trellises for beans, peas, cucumbers and other vining vegetables. Take home materials to build a trellis in your own garden.

5/1/10 2:00PM: TARGET BRONX COMMUNITY GARDEN

5/5/10, 6:00 PM: BEDFORD STUYVESANT COMMUNITY GARDEN

5/18/10, 6:30PM: CURTIS "50 CENT" JACKSON COMMUNITY GARDEN

Maximize YOUR Harvest: Learn how to care for your garden through the summer and fall. We'll identify weeds and pests, learn the best ways to use organic fertilizers for higher yield crops and discuss how you can extend your growing season into the fall and winter. Take home organic fertilizer and a spray bottle.

6/2/10, 6:00 PM: BEDFORD STUYVESANT COMMUNITY GARDEN

6/5/10, 2:00PM: TARGET BRONX COMMUNITY GARDEN

6/15/10, 6:30PM: CURTIS "50 CENT" JACKSON COMMUNITY GARDEN

Tree Care for your Garden and Street: Learn how to provide basic care for the trees in your garden and neighborhood in this interactive workshop. Take home a free tree care kit including a hose or bucket, trowel, weeder, cultivator and gloves.

8/4/10, 6:00 PM BEDFORD STUYVESANT COMMUNITY GARDEN

8/10/10, 6:30PM CURTIS "50 CENT" JACKSON COMMUNITY GARDEN

8/21/10, 2:00PM TARGET BRONX COMMUNITY GARDEN

Starting seeds indoors? Don't forget to "harden off"!

Like a darn fool, I missed the free Greenbridge "Starting Seeds Indoors" class at BBG last night but I followed up with Lis Thomas, the course instructor, and asked her why so many people have trouble transitioning their indoor starters to their outdoor beds. Apparently it's all about "Hardening Off," see her response below.

"When we talk about seed starting, you often hear the phrase “hardening off.” All that means is giving your little indoor seedlings a chance to get acclimated to the outdoors before leaving them on their own. Wind, nighttime chills, even the full intensity of bright sunlight is enough to send the tender little guys into shock.

I wait until about May 1 or April 15 to harden off my seedlings, and do it gradually. Most likely I’ll move them to a cold frame, where the lid is lifted for ventilation during the day, but closed at night. Another thing that I recommend to gardeners who don’t have cold frames is really easy and works great – take an empty juice or milk jug (I just pull them out of other people’s recycling), cut off the bottom, and you have an individual moisture and heat retainer and wind protector for your plant. The great thing about this is you go in stages – cap can come off for ventilation, and go back on at night or after the first few days. One week is usually sufficient for hardening off in May – two weeks is good in April.

Cheers, and hope to see you tomorrow at Making Brooklyn Bloom!"

So there you have it. Give those lil' guys a bit of a chance to get used to their new homes.

Also, here is a link to the Making Brooklyn Bloom event:

http://www.bbg.org/vis2/2010/mbb/

I'm not feeling well so most likely I won't make it, but I did attend last year and it was great. I highly recommend.

Thanks Lis!

Monthly Gardening Calendar

Ya'll can thank Julie Hagan for this one:

Ah spring, so close!

I'm sure someone's posted this month-by-month gardening calendar for NYC before, but it's so good I thought it deserved an encore. Start your seed engines.....

http://www.cenyc.org/files/osg/calendar.updated.pdf

Mulchfest @ McCarren Park tomorow... Remember to strip those branches first.

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Fall communal bed still going strong.

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New rainwater harvesting shelter/system.

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