NCG Newsletter - Issue 11

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Pumpkin Sales A Success! The Northside Pumpkin Patch had a great season and despite the rain, we were still able to raise $2400 for the Niles Community Schools! Niles Community Gardens was able to raise $560 through the sales. This money will help provide fresh fruit and vegetables for those participating in our community garden program as well as the local food banks and churches. We want to thank all of the volunteered their time to the The Pumpkin Patch who helped plant seeds and sell pumpkins! This includes many employees of Teacher Credit Union and members of the Niles Garden Club. A special thanks to Joe Rosser, Jay and Bob Clancy, Dave Moore, Al Yop, Dave and Carmen Ellis, Anita Heemer (for tables of delicious baked goods), Leader Publications, South Bend Tribune, Wonderland Theatre, and all the people who bought pumpkins to support the schools and Niles Community Gardens. We also want to thank Jeff Saylor again for the use of his tractor and tiller. Thank you everyone for your help and support!

Issue 11 November 2012

Helping others produce their own fruits and vegetables while learning how to live more sustainably in Southwest Michigan


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Letter from the Director Dear gardeners,

I had some cabbage from the garden for supper last night, and cauliflower the night before that. Tonight I am eating beans, corn, onions, and potatoes in beef soup – all but the beets from the garden – they were all wonderful! I hope you’re enjoying the harvest as much as I am.

The gardens have pretty much been cleaned up for the winter and if time and weather allows, will be tilled and sown with rye as the cover crop. A cover crop (sometimes call green manure) aerates the soil through deep roots, feeds the soil when we till it under in late spring, and creates a looser texture, which makes it easier to work and provides more oxygen to the roots and bacteria in the soil.

T hanks for time to be together, turkey, talk, and tangy weather. H for harvest stored away, home, and hearth, and holiday. A for autumn's frosty art, and abundance in the heart. N for neighbors, and November, nice things, new things to remember. K for kitchen, kettles' croon, kith and kin expected soon. S for sizzles, sights, and sounds, and something special that about. That spells THANKS for joy in living and a jolly good Thanksgiving. - -Aileen Fisher, All in a Word

Let’s continue learning best garden practices:

1. Feed the soil with compost – make your own at home in the corner of your backyard with grass clippings, leaves, and kitchen scraps (no meat, grease, or bones). Stop using your garbage disposal except for an occasional citrus peel to help keep your drains clean. Feed all your plants around the yard and the leftovers to the garden. If all our gardeners would do this we will see steady improvement in the general health of our gardens. A steady supply of compost reduces the need for fertilizer and produces stronger plants that can resist bugs and disease.

2. Pile compost materials in the compost pile higher – not wider. This increases the heat, which is needed to break down stems and leaves, and keeps the worms


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November comes And November goes, With the last red berries And the first white snows.

With night coming early, And dawn coming late, And ice in the bucket And frost by the gate.

The fires burn And the kettles sing, And earth sinks to rest Until next spring.

- Elizabeth Coatsworth

and bacteria working. Compost worms produce huge quantities of “casting” (worm poop) and is the best organic fertilizer available. Worms will pay you back richly for feeding them now. Fell free to dump kitchen scraps on top of the compost pile this winter. Composting food scraps also reduces landfill!

3. We had better weed control at most gardens this years than last – keep it up. Weeds steal food from your veggies and crowd them out. Fewer weeds = better crops. This includes pathways. Weeds also steal from the beauty of your plot. A weed-‐free garden is a beautiful thing.

4. Timely and regular bug and disease control is a necessity.

5. Foliage feeding. Use compost tea or other organic (non-‐burning) fertilizers on leaves. This helps correct deficiencies in the soil and makes plants stronger.

6. Space plants correctly for greatest return (e.g. radishes 1” apart, onions 4” apart (except green onion 1” apart), broccoli 18” apart, peppers 16-‐18” apart, potatoes 10” apart, beets 4” apart, etc). In general, crowding plants reduces their size.

7. Use successive planting schedule for greatest return.

8. Harvest at the right time and on a regular basis. For example: broccoli-‐when the heads are tight but continue to pick the side shoots until the first frost; winter squash-‐when the vines die; onions-‐when the tops fall over; beans – continuously (do not let them get too big).

Learn more about these topics on line, at the library or through catalogs. The more you know the better your chances of


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having a superior garden. Give some thought to next year and write those thoughts down – which veggies do you use the most and which ones store best. For my wife and myself, this is our list:

Most used: tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and peppers

2nd most used: spinach, corn winter squash, cabbage family, beets, beans and carrots

Stores well in a cool place between 40-‐50 degrees: beets, carrots, cabbage, onions, winter squash and potatoes

Veggies usually will store for months, bur keep watching for deterioration. Store potatoes in a well-‐ventilated box in a dark place – too much light will turn potatoes green (do not eat the green part, just cut in off and each the rest). Store onions in a net bag. Carrots should be stored in a cool place in damp (not wet) sand. Store winter squash in a cool place – if dark spots form, cut them out and cook the remaining, freezing if too much to eat. Store cabbage in an open plastic bag in the fridge – if the bag is closed the cabbage will begin to rot. If the outer leaves begin to get mushy just peel them off and eat the rest. I’ve had a red cabbage last in this way until April.

I want to heartily thank all those who generously gave of their time in the “Pumpkin Patch” this year. This includes many employees of Teacher Credit Union and members of the Niles Garden Club. A special thanks to Joe Rosser, Jay and Bob Clancy, Dave Moore, Al Yop, Dave and Carmen Ellis, Anita Heemer (for tables of delicious baked goods), Leader Publications, South Bend Tribune, Wonderland

Theatre, and all the people who bought pumpkins at “the Patch” to support the schools and Niles Community Gardens. We had a week of rain in October which was reflected in sales; $1000.00 less than last year. We still managed to raise about $2,400.00 for the schools and $560.00 for Niles Community Gardens.

Thanks to all who supported this special project and thanks to all the gardeners who made 2012 another good year together and sharing.

As we close out this year, let me add these ingredients – enjoy the process! Study to increase your skills; see the dark earth as the bed of new life; the new sprouts from dried seeds as miracles; the blossoms, butterflies, bees, new fruit, and the harvest – what a wonder. Then taste this wonder and be happy.

As we experience this wonder together, let us be generous to those in need, gentle with beginners, and careful and kind to all our fellow gardeners, for peace is the fruit of love.

Take your winter’s rest! See you in the spring,

Mark Van Til, Director

Niles Community Gardens


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-‐ Ipsum

Find Niles Community Gardens on Facebook! Share with us!

If you have any stories, jokes, poems, recipes or anecdotes you would like to share in our monthly newsletter, please send them to Sarah Markley via email

at [email protected] or via U.S.P.S. at 2625 Holland St, South Bend, IN 46619

If you are not on our email mailing list and would like to receive our newsletter, please send your email address to Sarah Markley via email or

U.S.P.S. (address above).

Garden with us!

If you would like to volunteer in the gardens or on special projects, or if you haven’t gardened with us but would like to, please email Mark Van Til at

[email protected] or call at 269-‐815-‐5034.

Help Support us!

To make a monetary donation, please make checks payable to Niles Community Gardens and mail to:

Niles Community Gardens PO Box 304

Niles, MI 49120

NCG Newsletter - Issue 11

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Transcript of NCG Newsletter - Issue 11