Rain gardening

Hogan Garden

We're happy the high heat is gone for a bit and we welcome the rain! This week we'll continue weeding, both beds and paths where needed, and start picking! 

The City Hall garden time this week is WEDNESDAY at 5:30 unless it's raining. Sometimes we just have to catch some dry time on our own whenever it works. 

All the gardens have kale, radishes, lettuce, cauliflower. Spinach is bolting (sending up seed stalks and starting to get triangle-shaped leaves) in some places - pull the whole plant when that happens and eat the leaves. We'll plant new stuff in the gaps.

If you want to join our weekly garden groups or have questions, please email, text, or call.

Spinach-Kale Side Salad from Daisybeet: https://www.daisybeet.com/15-minute-everyday-kale-spinach-side-salad/

Tart cherries

The Aptiv orchard includes (tart) cherry trees and cherries are ready to pick now. We also believe there are cherries at the YMCA Food Forest on Main & West Ave.

Cherry Buckle from The Southern: https://thesouthern.com/lifestyles/food-and-cooking/taste-recipe-cherry-buckle/article_ee5ba825-0e1d-520d-b790-e0c27331fd6b.html

Easy Sour Cherry Sauce from Art and the Kitchen: https://www.artandthekitchen.com/easy-sour-cherry-sauce/

Scapes + more!

 

We have scapes! And lettuce, cauliflower, dill, and more!

Even as we finalize planting, some things are now ready to pick.

Garlic scapes are the seed stalks that shoot out of some varieties of garlic plants. You can punch or cut them off right where they come out of the plant when they have made a curl, and use them like you would green onions or chives. You can eat of discard the tapered seed head. More from The Gardener's Almanac here: https://www.farmersalmanac.com/what-the-heck-are-garlic-scapes

At City Hall, there are garlic scapes plus cauliflower, dill (it's everywhere), kale, and lettuce (find the lettuce in the tomato bed, under the pea arch, and around the compost bin. The napa cabbage near the cauliflower, has bolted (gone to seed). You can still eat the leaves (pull the whole plant), but we'll replace it with some other plants soon. We are hoping to remulch the paths in the next few weeks.

At Aptiv, we have scapes and herbs right now, plus some radishes and lettuce.

The Hogan garden is starting to produce lettuce, spinach, and radishes.

Try this - Kale, Garlic Scape, and Walnut Pesto

More scapes, should you need them, should be available at the Kane Street Garden, or a farmers market. They come and go quickly, so het them now!

If you would like to help out at any of the victory gardens, please call or text 608-315-2693, or email us at MinisterOfBeans@gmail.com.

Still planting!

As weather warms, we'll finish up planting soon. This week, the City Hall garden day will be Wednesday at 5:30 instead of Tuesday.

This week

We will continue planting over the next couple of weeks, working around rain as needed. The City Hall garden hour this week will be either WEDNESDAY at 5:30 or, if it's raining then, Thursday at 1 p.m. Please text or call if you want to confirm or find out about rain plans.

Thanks to Tamra D, Todd H, Kane Street Garden, Longfellow Middle, and Northside Elementary for plant donations!!

5a

In 2023, the United States Department of Agriculture updated its 2012 plant hardiness zone map to include changes in 30-year average annual lowest temperatures. The lower a zone's number, the lower the average annual extreme low temperature. Your zone helps you decide when to start seeds indoors and when to transplant starts or plant seeds outdoors to give them the best chance for success. While tender plants set out too early will probably survive, cold temperatures may stunt or delay their growth. Warm season vegetables need warmer soil temperatures for good germination and growth, too.

In 2012, La Crosse was solidly in Zone 4b, with an average annual extreme minimum temperature (1975-2005) of -25° to -20° F. But the 2023 update uses temperatures collected from 1991 to 2020, and La Crosse is now in Zone 5a, with average extreme minimums of -15° to -20° F. While the USDA argues against attributing changes to global heating, other climate research has accurately predicted a steady path of upward changes in global temperatures since the 1980s. Whatever, the reason, we're averaging warmer temperatures now compared with 15 years ago.

This means, the UW Extension Planting Guide for Madison, which was already in zone 5a, now works perfectly for La Crosse.

So, for the most part, we are leaning on the planting schedule suggested in that guide, whilekeeping an eye on actual conditions. We had a very warm early May, but this week, we've cooled down, a reminder to take a breather and not be in a rush, maybe.

Given predictions of rain and cool temperatures this week (May 19 through 25), we will not be planting at the City Hall garden on Tuesday, May 20. If it is rainy or wet, we stay out of the garden, usually to avoid compacting soil or spreading disease.

Check back here or email or text for updates on Hogan and Aptiv schedules this week.

The bean team!

Thank you to two groups of UWL students who have helped plant the City Hall garden. This Tuesday, we we were able to get our beans planted thanks to the hard work of Cayden, Hayden, and Zack!

Thanks, too, to Todd Huffman, who has donated several plant seedlings!

Please join us for planting if you can! If it's pouring rain or very wet, email MinisterOfBeans at Gmail for rain plans.

Aptiv, Friday mornings at 9 (May change to 8 soon).

Hogan, Tuesday mornings at 9.

City Hall, Tuesday evenings at 5:30.