Newsletter June 2023

In this Issue...

• In the Garden this month…
• Year-to-Date Harvest Numbers
• On the Calendar - Upcoming Events
• Recent Postings
• Welcome New Growers

In the Garden this Month - By Dianna Wiklund, FBG Garden Coordinator

It is looking like June will be slightly warmer than normal and probably slightly drier too. Not as much “June Gloom” as we are used to. So with that in mind, and looking ahead to a summer with a similar forecast, we can start planning our fall/winter gardens. Take a look at what will be coming out and what we can replace it with. For those of us who have gotten a slower start this year, looking at what we can plant now that will handle the summer heat for a fall harvest.

Succession planting continues putting out starts and direct sowing. Remember some of our seeds won't germinate over 80 degrees. We now need to find cooler places for starts that will be transplanted later. Brassicas are especially sensitive to heat and prefer a cooler starting temperature. Remember to remove cloches as your plants grow, they look silly and don’t do as well when they grow out the tops. Also the leaves touching the sides gather moisture and can decompose a bit if they don’t get free moving air.

Keep up on your slug patrols and remember they like to spend their days under soaker hoses and drip lines anywhere it is moist. Mulching to maintain moisture is important now and throughout the summer so keeping an eye on moisture levels will give you a chance to check for slugs too. I carry a slug container with me as I wander through my garden checking to see which beds need water.

Garden tasks:

• Hill potatoes! Start when they are about 6” tall then hill 2”, when they grow above that hill another 2”... keep going until the seed potato is 12” under. You can use straw/leaves/mulch for the last 6”.
• Harvest should begin on our berries as well as peas. Continue harvesting greens and herbs. (The people using the food banks are really loving all the greens coming in and the fresh herbs have been a treat.)
• It is not too late to start Beans and Squash or add to what you already have growing.
• Late June you can start Beets, Swiss Chard, Carrots, Celery, Corn, Green and Pearl Onion, as well as more Brassicas.
• You can start more heat hardy varieties of greens in the cooler parts of your garden. Try on the shady side of your taller plants or under bean/pea tripods.
• Just a reminder to water your tomatoes with warm (not hot) water, 80 - 90 degrees seems about right.
• It is also time and maybe past time to put our codling moth and apple maggot traps out. I won’t thin my new fruit until after the “June drop” so wait for July for that. It has been nice to see pollinators in my orchard again.

       Have questions/comments?

Dianna can be reached at: FBGgardencoordinator@gmail.com

Year-to-Date 2023 Harvest

1444.20 pounds

1469.75 volunteer hours

Lettuces and brassicas are beginning to come in, while lighter in pounds, they are heavy in nutrition and appreciated at all Food Banks and Pop Up Food Banks.

Upcoming Events 

Click for full monthly calendar of opportunities - gardening, harvesting, gleaning…

(Located on the front page of FoodBankGrowers.org website.)

• June 4, 2023 Apple Thinning at the Blue Heron Orchard
• This is a once-a-year necessity for a healthy crop. Bring clippers or good kitchen shears for thinning. We will have buckets for apples.
• Contact Seth at PTGleaning@gmail.com
  
• June 11, 2023 FBG at the Chimacum Farmer’s Market
• Come talk to us between 9:15 and 2:00

Recent Postings on FoodBankGrowers.org

Alice’s Garden - Black is the New Green

Wire Worms Infest Brian’s Garden

Three Little Pigs Recycle PGFB

Salish Work Party brings in many hats

Kale On! (Recipes galore)

The Evolution of Brian’s Garden

The Companions You Choose

Welcome New Growers!

Peter Gillis, Eve Epstein, Judy Romano,

Dave Sterritt, Angeline Lee, Erik Livingstone 

Volunteers Needed for:

• Garden Managers -- Each garden needs a point person -- someone who can point to what to do next… This year we're partnering new Garden Managers with experienced ones for every step. Between them, Dianna, and the Monthly "to dos", you'll have everything you need to produce baskets full of produce.

• Growers - - Learn how to grow fresh food for the Food Banks while learning how to grow food for yourself at home. We guarantee the every day you'll learn something new. All gardens will need help -- the more volunteers, the easier and more fun the work becomes. Go to the MAP SECTION of the website and locate a garden near you. Hours differ by garden.

• Harvesters - Each garden will need harvesters to pick and prepare the produce for the Food Bank distribution. Hours differ by garden. “Gleaning” will start later this summer.

• Writers - Could you talk about plants all day? Put it in writing. You write. We'll post.

VOLUNTEER HERE

Thank you for your time, cash, or tools We are a small organization that puts all donations to work. Go HERE for more information.