Our Hopelink Connection

     Summer seems to have arrived. Local temperatures hit almost 80 degrees Fahrenheit last week. With the governer's office tightening some social restrictions, we are lucky to have such a free and open space to garden. My nightly walks at the garden are a godsend to the stress of daily life. It is a time to really "smell the roses," take photos, help others, work my plots, and pick produce to donate.

     
     Our friend's at Hopelink, rely on our fresh, organic produce. Our food banks produce much of this food, but Hopelink's customers crave variety! They enjoy herbs, berries, and flowers. If you have extra to donate, they would appreciate it. During these tough and uncertain times, helping others with a donation of food helps immeasurably.

Pesky Pests at MCGA

Gardening is one of the most rewarding hobbies you can do, with long-lasting positive effects on yourself, your community, and the environment.  Gardening also brings you a lot closer to the creatures you're sharing your garden with! Many gardeners build their gardens around what wildlife they want to attract.

At times, the animals that visit your garden may be pests that eat your seedlings, chew up / damage your starts, or even just walk all over your garden, leaving their hoofprints as a calling card. There are rabbits, voles, deer, and more. However, we also have beneficial mammals that make our garden home. Did you know we have a weasel that lives in our garden?  It is a carnivore that eats many pests, such as voles. Keep an eye out for it, it is lightning fast. For this reason, we do not allow rodent traps of any kind. 

Our garden is an organic one.  We do not use synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.

These synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are not permitted.  

These products are not permitted:

Here is a shortlist of approved pesticides:  Safer insecticidal soap, neem oil, and Sluggo.  You may use products labeled with OMRI, which are designed for organic gardening.  Remember, even natural pesticides may harm beneficial insects so read the label carefully.  Email us anytime with questions or help with pest ID.

Let the Season Begin

     The garden season has begun in earnest.  Many of us have spent the past 1-2 weeks ridding our plots and paths of weeds/grass.  Completely removing as many weeds as possible is one of the keys to a successful herb and vegetable garden.  Weeds rob your crops of nutrients, they harbor pests, they harbor diseases, and they compete with your crops for water.

MCGA's Most Common Weeds (A short and not exhaustive list)

1. Comfrey-Marymoor park would like our help to eradicate this weed from the park.  Comfrey is a deep-rooted plant and must be dug out all the way down to its roots.  Any remaining roots will resprout continually. It can grow to 4 feet tall.

2.  Morning glory-Controlling bindweed can be difficult, but it can be done if you are willing to take the time. Part of why it is so hard to get rid of bindweed is that it has a large and hardy root system. Single attempts to remove bindweed roots will not be successful. Roots have to be investigated, traced, and dug out.

Morning glory roots

3.  Buttercup-Buttercups form a creeping mat of dense foliage that can quickly overtake the lawn or a garden bed. These perennial plants bear dark green, three-segment, toothed leaves and produce yellow flowers. Buttercups spread through both extensive roots and seeds. The only way to remove this plant is to dig this weed out manually.

4. Quack Grass and Crab Grass- These two grasses are hard to eradicate!  

Quack grass has miles and miles of white roots.  Each root segment will develop into a plant unless removed.  When digging quack grass follow each root and remove as much of it as possible. 

Crabgrass is slightly different.  It forms an umbrella-like clump with tiny but firm roots. Pull and dig the entire clump out to remove the plant.

5. Dandelion-Dandelions are a tap-rooted weed; the main root is long and thin like a carrot.  Removing the green top will not get rid of the plant, the entire root must be dug out and removed. 

Cool Season vs. Warm Season Crops

MCGA is an open space that receives plenty of sun.  At the height of the summer, the sun rises at ~5:30 a.m. and sets at ~9:00 p.m.  There are many, many crops that thrive at MCGA, however, the temperature is a controlling factor in what can be planted.

As we plan our spring gardens, it is wise to think about the crops which prefer cooler spring temperatures. Also note:  crops like beets, carrots, turnips, and beans prefer direct seeding in the garden vs. being transplanted.

Cool-season crops can be planted in the spring and fall when the weather is cooler.  Warm-season crops need warmer soil and nighttime temperatures are consistently above 55F in the evening. (~Around mid-May).  See the list below.

Source:http://pubs.cahnrs.wsu.edu/publications/pubs/em057e/?p-page=1

Grow What You Like to Eat

As you peruse garden catalogs and search for seeds for the upcoming season, consider growing all the things you like to eat.

If you enjoy dumplings, garlic chives are a must-have for this delicious steamed or pan-fried Chinese staple.

Try Vietnamese coriander, an aromatic herb, that enlivens noodle bowls and stir fry.

Raw spearmint leaves that are tucked into Vietnamese summer rolls bring fragrance as well as a refreshing flavor. Chili peppers add mouth-watering heat to many dishes. 

Growing more herbs is not the only thing we have been recommending.  Adding flowers to your dishes for some spicy deliciousness.

I also have a saying “never eat the same salad twice.” Adding a pinch of this, a leaf of that can change your salad-eating experience. Flowers not only add color to salads; many blooms pack a flavorful punch.

Try this salad recipe:
1 baby zucchini, thinly shaved
Several stalks of fresh asparagus shaved
A pinch of baby beet greens, arugula, parsley, green fennel greens, mâche, baby lettuce
Herb of your choice
1 soft-boiled egg
Grana Padano (a hard cheese) shavings
Nasturtium flowers
Dress with a drizzle of your favorite vinegar, good oil, salt, and pepper.

 -Gia

Gardening in the Off Season

We have barely passed the winter solstice. With each passing day, the PNW gets 1-2 mins more of daylight.  By the time May 1st, our cultivation deadline, the sun will rise at approximately 5:50 a.m. and set at 8:22 p.m. BUT, May 1st is still 4 months away.  What is one to do before May 1st?

Option 1: Collect, read, study, seed catalogs.

Option 2: As spring approaches, early bulbs like snowdrops start rearing their little heads.  Local gardens start their garden tours, here are some local gardens to check out.

https://www.kruckeberg.org/

https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/

https://bellevuebotanical.org/

Option 3: Wish for a sunny, warm day to visit your garden plot and do a bit of work on it.

Option 4:  Take some garden classes

http://www.mgfkc.org/education/growinggroceries/gg-classes-on-the-eastside

http://www.mgfkc.org/education/growinggroceries/gg-classes-in-seattle

http://www.tilthalliance.org/learn/learn/adultclasses

Option 5: Visit a local nursery and dream about spring

https://www.molbaks.com/

https://wellsmedinanursery.com/


However you spend your winter, we look forward to seeing you at our first work party, usually in the second week of April.

Noxious vs. Nuisance Weeds

Let's begin with defining what a noxious weed is:  "Aggressive exotic plants can produce immense numbers of long-lived seeds and may overwhelm native species, degrade habitat for wildlife, stick, stab and poke, and may even poison livestock or burn your skin. "   Noxious weeds are great at reproducing and are so pernicious, that many are mandated for removal in Washington and King County.

There are several classes of noxious weeds and they require different amounts of attention and handling.

I. Regulated Class A noxious weeds (eradication required throughout Washington State including King County)

Examples are kudzu and milk thistle

II. Regulated Class B noxious weeds (control is required for these species in King County)

Examples are poison hemlock and tansy ragwort

III. Non-regulated Class B and C noxious weeds (Class B and C noxious weeds that are not designated for control in King County, control recommended but not required in King County)

Examples are Himalayan blackberry, from Iran and Armenia NOT the Himalayas and butterfly bush.

Nuisance weeds are those that interfere with YOUR gardening goals.  Often these weeds have anatomy much like those of noxious weeds that allow them to spread quickly and remain in your garden year after year.

They have thick tap roots that are hard to pull or dig up fully.  They may spread via miles of underground stolons and rhizomes like quack grass and bindweed.  They may also send up hundreds if not thousands of seeds per season.  Do you recognize these weeds from Marymoor Community Gardens?