Re:Readington Community Garden Newsletter: \"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.\" — Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater\'s Manifesto

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Readington Community Garden Newsletter

The Readington Community Garden is a loosely organized collection of nice people who are interested in growing food and community. You can \"belong\" to the community garden any time of the year by just showing up, doing some work, and bringing home some good food. There are no obligatory fees, timed work requirements, or forms to fill out — just stop-by, grab a hoe/weed, and strike up a conversation. :-)

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Hey there all you salad-eatin\' souls!

Executive summary for this week: We\'ll meet Saturday 6/26, 10am at the garden. Now harvesting ever-more stuff: lettuce, spinach, collards, broccoli, cabbage, chard, blueberries, herbs, etc. We can plant lots of new stuff and enjoy the nice weather. Anyone with a weedwacker — bring it! See updated garden map further down in email. This week\'s recipe (below) is for…dill!

DOES ANYONE HAVE AN \'EDGER\'? We could use a gasoline-powered edger to keep the row-edges in order. Anyone have one in the corner of the garage?

LOTS of yummy food is ready. Try some stuff you\'ve never tried before! Experiment! Become a master chef in your own kitchen! And why not make your family\'s diet as local (& healthy!) as possible? Good stuff! :-)

Some things we need for the garden: Organic waste (ex: food scraps, leaves, farm manure) for the compost pile. Thanks!

New members: Remember that new members are welcome to join the garden at any time of the season, so continue to brag about our garden to your friends & family. Just tell them to drop me an email. It\'s perfectly fine if you/they only want to participate on an occasional basis.

Free Veggie-seed Catalog!: Everyone interested in gardening should go to http://www.johnnyseeds.com & order a free catalog to be mailed to your place of residence. This is the best gardening \"book\" you can get — and it\'s free! It tells you how to grow everything.

If you\'d like to read-up on gardening stuff: I highly recommend all Eliot Coleman\'s gardening books. Also check out books about permaculture (\'Gaia\'s Garden\' by Hemenway), saving seeds (\'Saving Seeds\' by Rogers), root cellaring (\'Root Cellaring\' by Bubel), and fementation (\'Wild Fermentation\' by Katz). The \'Johnny\'s Seeds\' and \'Fedco Seeds\' catalogs are also great reading — interesting & informative.

…And as always, many thrilling plant-related spectacles and spine-tingling acts of community-togetherness are in store this week in \"Community Garden Land\" — so here\'s what\'s up:

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I. What We Did Last Saturday

Note: Sorry I couldn\'t be there last Saturday. What follows is thus 2nd hand heresay.

Probably about 30 brave and noble gardeners showed up on a purportedly fantastic mid-spring morning. Wow! Fun!!

We harvested lettuce, collards, radishes, chard, spinach, arugula, baby carrots, onions, raspberries, and herbs! Yummy! Lotsa food!

We reinforced the tomato cages with metal posts. They\'ll get quite heavy when they\'re BURSTING WITH FRUIT!!!! SOON!!! :-)

We cleaned out some rows for planting seeds this coming Saturday.

We planted some seeds: turnips. Yum!!

We weeded whatever needed weeding — It was another brave and noble effort, indeed!. Our efforts are starting to pay off SUPER BIG TIME!

We turned the compost piles. Those little decomposers just LOVE that fresh beath of oxygen from turning the pile!

And a huge THANKS! to the mowing & watering teams who are taking great care of the garden during the week. THANKS!!!!! The newly planted seeds will germinate much better this year by keeping them moist until they pop up. And the expertly-shorn garden grass is just so fetching, isn\'t it?

We had loads of fun talking to friends and enjoying the beautiful Spring weather! :-)

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II. Things We Can Do This Coming Saturday

We can harvest lettuce (row 1, 5), herbs & chard (row 12), radishes & , spinach & collard greens (row 3), raspberries (row 14), onions (row 11), and even some blueberries (row 16). That\'s right — you put in the hard time, now enjoy the yummy spoils. Try altering your normal diet to include more of this \'seassonal fare.\' See recipe section below in email.

We can plant seeds: carrots, beets, zucchini, beans, cucumbers. Yum!

We can plant seedlings: lettuce. Double yum!

We can finish laying-out the drip irrigation tubing. Some people have experience with this from last year. Just follow their lead. We\'ll probably only use the drip irrigation only infrequently, but it\'s good drought-insurance. It\'s not too fragile, but be sure to avoid chopping holes in it with the hoes as you weed. I can patch holes, but again, a stitch in time…

We can weedwack around the outside of the garden fence. The electric fence works better if it\'s not in contact with lots of grass. If you have a weedwacker, bring it!

We can \'edge\' the veggie rows. i.e. try to pull back the grass & clover that are \'spilling over into the rows. This can probably be done just with our hands — i.e. hacking away with the hoe will likely be unnecessary. And despite the size of the task, it\'ll likely go fast with so many eager hands. So bring your knee-pads & garden gloves. :-)

We can weed-wack the grass around the outside of the fence. If you have a weed-wacker, bring it on by.

We can keepeth up with the plucking and banishment of ye ol\' foul and pernicious weeds — for alas, the weeds truly ne\'er do rest. But c\'mon, admit it — it is sort of fun in a \'shared misery\' sort of way, isn\'t it?

We can meet some old friends & maybe make some new ones. Because remember, the socializing part of the community garden can be almost as much fun as the weed-pulling part. :-)

And, as always, don\'t forget to come now & then and just stand quietly in the middle of the garden, look around, and appreciate the view and our wonderful community garden!

See you soon! — Dan

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III. Financial Information

2010 Donations:
New donations: –

Old donations: $25 on 6/12; $20 + $20 on 6/5; $20 on 5/29; $20 + $20 + $20 on 5/22; $20 + $20 + $20 on 5/15; $25 on 5/8; $30 on 4/24; $20 + $25 + $20 on 4/10; $25 + $20 + $20 on 4/3; $20 + $20 + $20 + $25 + $25 on 3/27; $325 on 3/20; $25 on 1/30; $25 on 1/12; $25 on 1/10; $35 on 1/8; $470 carried over from 2009 balance.

Total 2010 donations = $1405 so far.. Thank you!

2010 Purchases:

New purchases: none

Old purchases: potting soil ($13); seedlings from Schaefers ($20); new watering wand ($10); gas for mower ($10); cinder blocks ($32); push mower ($320); cinder blocks ($26); collard-green seedlings ($10); more veggie seeds ($16); four stirrup-hoes and one bed-preparation rake ($284); potting soil ($20); peat pots ($8); potting soil ($10); nut & fruit tree seedlings ($97); veggie seeds from Fedco ($199), onion & potato seeds from Fedco ($153).

Total 2010 purchases = $1228 so far.

2010 Overall Balance: $1405 donations – $1228 purchases = $177.

All donations are strictly voluntary — i.e. none are required to be a member. But if you\'re feelin\' rich, you can mail any donations (& make checks out) to me: Dan Allen, 163 Stanton Rd, Flemington, NJ 08822, or just hand them to me on any Saturday morning.

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IV. Garden Map

Here\'s what\'s planted in the garden so far — starting at row 16 on the up-hill part of the garden:

row 16: bay bush, curry-leaf bush, blueberries, horseradish, rhubarb, and more blueberries

row 15: strawberries

row14: raspberries

row 13: asparagus

row 12: various herbs (lemon balm, chives, tyme, oregano, rosemary, cilantro, dill, parsely, anise, and fennel), lettuce, cilantro, chard.

row 11: onions

row 10: endive & radiccio, onions

row 9: garlic, potatoes

row 8: potatoes

row 7: broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts

row 6: potatoes, green beans, zucchini

row 5: cucumbers, –, edamame soybeans, lettuce

row 4: zucchini, –, snow peas, snap peas

row 3: carrots, spinach, radishes, arugula, collard greens

row 2: beets, chard

row 1: zucchini/squash, –, lettuce, chard

row 0: tomatoes, perpetual spinach

And for the three perpendicular rows in the back — starting with row A against the fence:

row A: flowers, sunchokes (at far back corner)

row B: kolrabi, eggplant, edamame soybeans

row C: mustard greens, kale, kolrabi, peppers, okra, green beans

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IV. Recipes of the Week

From Marijka: Let\'s focus on our savory dill this week. Best known for their use with dilled pickles, dill is quite tasty in salad dressings and certain vegetable dishes, but in my opinion it pairs best with salmon. Even simply taking some fresh finely chopped dill leaves and mixing them with cream cheese will give an interesting spread for your bagel, especially if you top it off with some smoked salmon. Yum! To keep the herbs you pick from the garden fresh tasting and looking, I immediately wash and clean them, then pack them in damp paper towels, pack them in a ziplock bag and store them in the vegetable drawer in my fridge. I find this keeps them fresh for at least a week or more depending on the herb.

Here are a cucumber/salad vinaigrette and a salmon recipe I chose from The Food Network for this week\'s highlight.

Mustard Dill Vinaigrette
Courtesy Bobby Flay
The Food Network
Ingredients
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, plus extra for garnish
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions
Place dill, vinegar, and mustard in a blender and blend until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil and blend until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Use additional dill to garnish your dish.

This vinaigrette can be used on a summer salad of sliced cucumbers or even just on salad greens.

Oven Poached Salmon a la Paige with Dill, Onion and Cucumber Relish
Recipe courtesy Rachel Ray for the Food Network
ngredients
1 tablespoon cold butter
4 portions, 6 to 8 ounces each, salmon fillets
Salt and pepper
Several sprigs plus 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 cups chicken broth or water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup white vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 small vidalia onion, chopped
1/2 seedless cucumber, chopped
2 radishes, chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Rub the bottom of a shallow baking dish with cold butter. Arrange salmon in dish. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Add broth and a few sprigs of dill to the pan. Roast the fish 12 to 15 minutes.

Combine sugar, salt and vinegar in the bottom of a medium bowl. Add chopped onions, chopped cucumber and radishes. Sprinkle in 3 tablespoons chopped dill and toss the mixture to coat in vinegar, sugar and salt.

Remove fish from the oven. Spoon pan juices over fish and carefully transfer to individual plates or platter. Top fish with relish and serve.

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\"Agriculture must mediate between nature and the human community, with ties and obligations in both directions\"

– Wendell Berry, The Way of Ignorance.

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General Stuff for Garden Members:

Note: This section is not usually updated weekly. I\'ll let you know in the above part of the email if I have any new stuff down here. — Dan

I. REMEMBER, THE GARDEN IS A TOWNSHIP-OWNED PUBLIC PARK ! We can go there to frolic, hike the marked trails, work, or pick/eat some food any old time we want! – during the week, on weekends–any day!! :-)

II. DIRECTIONS TO GARDEN:

Google/Mapquest: 42 Woodschurch Rd, Flemington , NJ 08822 (Visual landmarks: Big red barns next to road; big open fields..)

From Flemington: head North on 523 & go 0.9 miles past Shaefer Farm. Turn left onto Woodschurch Rd. Go 0.9 miles on Woodschurch Rd (note: do NOT turn left onto West Woodschurch ). Our driveway is on left (big red barns).

From Whitehouse: Head South on 523. Turn right onto 629 North (a.k..a.. Stanton Road ). Go 0.8 miles on 629 North. Turn left into Woodschurch Rd. Go 0..9 miles on Woodschurch Rd. Our driveway is on right (big red barns).

From Stanton General Store: Head South on 629 ( Stanton RD towards 523). Go 0.5 miles on 629 South. Turn right onto Woodschurch Rd. Go 0.9 miles on Woodschurch Rd. Our driveway is on right (big red barns)..

From Deerpath YMCA: Turn right out of YMCA driveway. Go 0..8 miles on West Woodschurch Rd. Turn left on Woodschurch Rd. Go 0.5 miles on Woodschurch Road. Our driveway is on left (big red barns).

III. MEETING TIME(S): Our official meetings are Saturdays at 10:00am. People stay for different lengths of time, but everyone\'s usually gone by 12:30 to 1pm. Now, although we meet \"officially\" on Saturday mornings, you are always welcome to come to the garden to work/harvest/play anytime you want — For example: start an \"early-Sunday-morning club,\" or a \"Thursday-evening club\" etc.! There are always weeds/grass clumps that need to be pulled/chopped — again, just make sure you know what\'s planted there & what not to pull/disturb. (See garden map inside apartment &/or ask someone.) :-)

IV. ELECTRIC FENCE NOTES: If you touch a solar-powered electric fence like ours (which I have many times), it will give you a zap that is unpleasantly jolting, but not horribly painful. There\'s an \"ON/OFF\" switch underneath the pole-mounted controller box — bend over & look up to see it. You can tell it\'s \"OFF\" by several clues: (1) when the switch is in \"OFF\" position, (2) when the quiet clicking has ceased, and (3) when the light on the top of the box stops blinking.

Once the fence is \"off,\" you can grab the yellow handle & unhook the line that runs across the gate entrance. Please remember to hook it back up & turn it back on when you leave. Thanks!

V. WATERING NOTES: We have a \"drip irrigation\" set-up. A regular garden hose runs into a pressure-reducing valve, which flows into a thick plastic feeder line that runs along the row marking stakes. Long lines of thinner plastic drip tape run from this thick feeder line down the length of each of the 16 rows. When turned on, water drips slowly out from this drip tape in holes spaced every 8 inches or so. Leaving the set-up running overnight amounts to about a good soaking rain..

A normal rainfall of about 1\" per week is ideal during the growing season. As such, our irrigation set-up is good \"insurance\" during the semi-frequent mini-droughts we experience every summer… Despite the benefits of irrigation, it should not be over-used… Too much watering is bad for several reasons: it\'s wasteful of water, leaches nutrients from the soil, causes salt build-up, and prevents oxygen uptake by plant roots (due to water taking the place of air in the soil).

So let\'s follow the following guidelines for watering:

1. Only Dan (i..e. me) will do the drip irrigation watering. If the garden looks dry, email me & I\'ll let it run overnight. We risk over-watering if everybody is turning it on & off all week;

2. Use the regular hose to water just one particular spot that happens to need it — ex: if you plant seeds or seedlings that need \"watering in;\" or for some specific area that looks needy.

3. Please be gentle around the drip irrigation hoses.. They aren\'t super-fragile, but avoid stepping on them if you can.. Take extra care when hoeing to gently move the drip tape aside before you hoe a row — i.e. Don\'t try to hoe right up to the drip tape –move it aside, lazy-bones! It takes much more time to fix a rip than it does to prevent one… Let me know if you see a leak, I won\'t be mad. :-) Thanks!

VI. HARVEST NOTES: Be sure to bring a bag (or something) every time you come to the garden to collect your bounty.. Remember that you can harvest stuff anytime during the week — not just Saturday morning. Just make sure you know what you\'re doing (ask if unsure) & that you don\'t take an overly-large a portion of what\'s ready at a given time.

….Which brings up the question: How much should we take? Without using a hyper-complex supercomputer-powered modelling system using inputs of hours worked, metabolic rates, family size, gross incomes, etc., I suppose we could follow the following (admittedly mushy) harvesting guidelines:

1. Take some food away everytime you come to the garden — even during the week.

2.. Take just a fraction of what\'s harvestable on any given day (…..but this still may be a lot.)

3.. Share with others, but don\'t neglect yourself — you deserve some good food too!

How\'s that? Sounds reasonable to me. Let me know if you encounter any problems or perceived-injustices, or if you have any recommended alterations to this harvesting/distributing plan. ;-)

VII. SOIL CARE NOTES: Soil is a complex &, in many ways, fragile living substance. Healthy soil makes healthy plants, so we want to be sure to protect & nurture our garden soil.. As such, here are some general guidelines to follow:

1. Don\'t walk on (or otherwise compress) the soil in the rows. Plants need the \"fluffy,\" \"crumby\" structure within the soil for optimum oxygen, water, & mineral-nutrient uptake. Compression destroys this fragile structure & the plants won\'t grow as well.. While compressed soil can be rehibilitated with some effort, it\'s easier to just avoid compression in the first place.

2. Return organic matter to the soil. The soil consists of minerals (bits of sand, silt, & clay), organic matter (bacterial/fungi-decomposed plant matter), air, water & it\'s dissolved minerals, and a ve rita ble rain-forest-diversity of living organisms (bacteria, fungi, worms, insects, etc.). Healthy soil has a nice balance of all of these components. As complicated as soil is, making healthy soil is relatively easy; simple regular additions of well-rotted compost takes care of just about everything. A high-organic-matter soil with healthy soil organisms will not only provide our vegetable plants with just about everything they need, it actually helps protect plants from harmful bugs/bacteria/fungi that would otherwise attack them. The absence of healthy soil in industrial agriculture forces them resort to poisons to protect the now-helpless plants.

3. Till-up/disturb the soil only when necessary. The fragile crumb structure of the soil is partially degraded everytime the soil is tilled/disturbed. In addition, tilling tends to reduce the vitally-important organic matter content of the soil, as the extra mixed-in oxygen prompts bacteria/fungi to \"eat\" (burn up) more organic matter than they would normally. Thirdly, mixing up the soil exposes dormant weed seeds to the surface to cause you all sorts of weedy problems. That said, sometimes you just have to hoe or roto-till the soil to prepare a seed bed — I\'m just saying that you should do this as little as possible & always feel a little bit bad when you\'re doing it. :-)

VIII. WHY DO WE DO THIS?: This garden-type stuff we do mostly falls (in today\'s society) under the category of dirty, low-paid, manual labor — not exactly how most people would choose to spend their free time these days. So why do we do this? I suppose we all have our own reason(s), but here are a few some of us may share:
A hypothetical Readington community gardener might be overheard saying/mumbling one or more of the following as they crawl along a seemingly-endless row on aching knees, yanking out grass with raw fingers: I do this because (1) I enjoy meeting other people in my community & working together in a shared experience, (2) I want to eat tastier, more nutritious food than I can get from the supermarket, (3) I want to become more practiced in the ancient, noble art of growing food, (4) I want my kids to learn where food comes from & appreciate the effort & skills involved in making it, (5) I want to teach others how to grow food in a manner that is less disruptive to Earth\'s ecosystems, (6) I enjoy being outside & interacting with plants & nature in a direct way, (7) I want to save money on my food bill, (8) I enjoy nurturing living things, (9) I live in the apartment on the property & all these weird people keep showing up every Saturday & I feel bad for the poor saps hacking away at the dirt and weeds out there & I think I should at least help them out a little bit.

So….perhaps you have other reasons for coming, but those are few possibilities. Feel free to contribute more! :-)

Re:Readington Community Garden Newsletter: \"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.\" — Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater\'s Manifesto

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Readington Community Garden Newsletter

The Readington Community Garden is a loosely organized collection of nice people who are interested in growing food and community. You can \"belong\" to the community garden any time of the year by just showing up, doing some work, and bringing home some good food. There are no obligatory fees, timed work requirements, or forms to fill out — just stop-by, grab a hoe/weed, and strike up a conversation. :-)

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Hey there all you wacky collard-green fanatics!

Executive summary for this week: We\'ll meet Saturday 6/5, 10am at the garden. Now harvesting ever-more stuff: lettuce, strawberries, spinach, collards, chard, etc. We\'ll finish laying out the drip irrigation lines. Fun! We can also put up tomato cages, start some more lettuce, plant beans & lettuce, and enjoy the nice weather. See updated garden map further down in email. This week\'s recipes (below) are for…strawberries!

LOTS of food is ready. Why not make your diet as local (& healthy!) as possible? I see no reason not to! :-)

A big thanks to Steve for putting in a pretty brick patio for the wash tubs! Thanks, Steve!

We still need someone with a pickup truck to help us haul some free cinder blocks to the garden. If you can, email Stan & Joyce at olds1972@earthlink.net. The blocks are in Whitehouse, off 523, near the municipal building.

Some things we need for the garden: Organic waste (ex: food scraps, leaves, farm manure) for the compost pile. Also, we can always use old tools. Thanks!

New members: Remember that new members are welcome to join the garden at any time of the season, so continue to brag about our garden to your friends & family. Just tell them to drop me an email. It\'s perfectly fine if you/they only want to participate on an occasional basis.

Free Veggie-seed Catalog!: Everyone interested in gardening should go to http://www.johnnyseeds.com & order a free catalog to be mailed to your place of residence. This is the best gardening \"book\" you can get — and it\'s free! It tells you how to grow everything.

If you\'d like to read-up on gardening stuff: I highly recommend all Eliot Coleman\'s gardening books. Also check out books about permaculture (\'Gaia\'s Garden\' by Hemenway), saving seeds (\'Saving Seeds\' by Rogers), root cellaring (\'Root Cellaring\' by Bubel), and fementation (\'Wild Fermentation\' by Katz). The \'Johnny\'s Seeds\' and \'Fedco Seeds\' catalogs are also great reading — interesting & informative.

…And as always, many thrilling plant-related spectacles and spine-tingling acts of community-togetherness are in store this week in \"Community Garden Land\" — so here\'s what\'s up:

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I. What We Did Last Saturday

About 40+ brave and noble gardeners showed up on a fantastic mid-spring morning. Wow! We did whatever needed to be done — and then held hands, singing Depression-era folk songs well into the evening hours. Fun!!

We harvested lettuce, strawberries, collards, radishes, and herbs! Yummy!

We started to lay out the drip irrigation lines. These will be good drought-insurance if one occurs. Be careful not to abuse the lines — they can take some abuse, but not too much. Move them to the side before hoeing around them. Thanks! I can patch holes, but an ounce of prevention…

We planted some cucumber & melon seedlings. The melons are out in those two \'crop circles\' They\'ll be yummy.

We started more lettuce seedlings in flats. Yea! Keep \'em comin\'!

We planted some more radish seeds. Uh huh!

We thinned the chard. Letting each plant have ample room makes them more productive & less likely to be stressed into \'going to seed.\'

We put \'row cover\' on the eggplant. We\'re using it here to keep munching flea-beetles from eating the leaves — in lieu of spraying poisons. You can also use it in early spring and late fall to protect the plants from frost — which allows you to extend the growing season on both ends. And it still lets in light & water & allows air flow. And it\'s cheap. Great stuff!

Steve (from the on-farm apartment) put in a beautiful brick patio for the wash tubs. Thanks, Steve!

We weeded whatever needed weeding — It was another brave and noble effort, indeed!. Our efforts are starting to pay off BIG TIME!

And a huge THANKS! to the mowing & watering teams who are taking great care of the garden during the week. THANKS!!!!! The newly planted seeds will germinate much better this year by keeping them moist until they pop up. And the expertly-shorn garden grass is just so fetching, isn\'t it?

We had loads of fun talking to friends and enjoying the beautiful Spring weather! :-)

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II. Things We Can Do This Coming Saturday

We can harvest STRAWBERRIES! (row 15), herbs & chard (row 12), radishes & , and lettuce (row 5 & 6), spinach & collard greens (row 3). That\'s right — you put in the time, now enjoy the spoils. Try altering your normal diet to include more of this \'seasSee recipe section below in email.

We can put tomato cages around the 40 or so yummy tomato plants. We\'ll also put in a metal post every few cages — so they don\'t fall over later in the season. Yea!

We can finish laying-out the drip irrigation tubing. Some people have experience with this from last year. Just follow their lead. We\'ll probably only use it infrequently, but it\'s good drought-insurance. It\'s not too fragile, but be sure to avoid chopping holes in it with the hoes as you weed. I can patch holes, but again, a stitch in time…

We can weed-wack the grass around the outside of the fence. If you have a weed-wacker, bring it on by.

We can tie-up asparagus \'ferns\' again. They\'re always tryin\' to flop out!

We can plant another installment of green beans & edamame. With these & lots of other veggies (ex: lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini, basil, carrots, radishes), planting a little bit every 2 weeks or so give a continuus harvest over the whole season.

We can plant some more seedlings: basil, kale & boc-choi. I\'ll bring all the seedlings. You bring some too if you have any. :-)

We can start more lettuce seedlings in flats. Yea! Keep \'em comin\'!

We can weed around the little chestnut trees in the cages below the parking area.

We can keepeth up with the plucking and banishment of ye ol\' foul and pernicious weeds — for alas, the weeds truly ne\'er do rest. But c\'mon, admit it — it is sort of fun in a \'shared misery\' sort of way, isn\'t it?

We can meet some old friends & maybe make some new ones. Because remember, the socializing part of the community garden can be almost as much fun as the weed-pulling part. :-)

And, as always, don\'t forget to come now & then and just stand quietly in the middle of the garden, look around, and appreciate the view and our wonderful community garden!

See you soon! — Dan

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III. Financial Information

2010 Donations:
New donations: $20 on 5/29

Old donations: $20 + $20 + $20 on 5/22; $20 + $20 + $20 on 5/15; $25 on 5/8; $30 on 4/24; $20 + $25 + $20 on 4/10; $25 + $20 + $20 on 4/3; $20 + $20 + $20 + $25 + $25 on 3/27; $325 on 3/20; $25 on 1/30; $25 on 1/12; $25 on 1/10; $35 on 1/8; $470 carried over from 2009 balance.

Total 2010 donations = $1340 so far.. Thank you!

2010 Purchases:

New purchases: potting soil ($13)

Old purchases: seedlings from Schaefers ($20); new watering wand ($10); gas for mower ($10)cinder blocks ($32); push mower ($320); cinder blocks ($26); collard-green seedlings ($10); more veggie seeds ($16); four stirrup-hoes and one bed-preparation rake ($284); potting soil ($20); peat pots ($8); potting soil ($10); nut & fruit tree seedlings ($97); veggie seeds from Fedco ($199), onion & potato seeds from Fedco ($153).

Total 2010 purchases = $1228 so far.

2010 Overall Balance: $1340 donations – $1228 purchases = $112.

All donations are strictly voluntary — i.e. none are required to be a member. But if you\'re feelin\' rich, you can mail any donations (& make checks out) to me: Dan Allen, 163 Stanton Rd, Flemington, NJ 08822, or just hand them to me on any Saturday morning.

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IV. Garden Map

Here\'s what\'s planted in the garden so far — starting at row 16 on the up-hill part of the garden:

row 16: bay bush, curry-leaf bush, blueberries, horseradish, rhubarb, and more blueberries

row 15: strawberries

row14: raspberries

row 13: asparagus (We\'ll start harvesting next spring!)

row 12: various herbs (lemon balm, chives, tyme, oregano, rosemary, cilantro, dill, parsely, anise, and fennel), lettuce, cilantro, chard.

row 11: onions

row 10: garlic (first 10 feet), onions

row 9: garlic, potatoes

row 8: potatoes

row 7: broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts

row 6: potatoes, lettuce

row 5: cucumbers, –, lettuce, radishes, lettuce

row 4: zucchini, –, snow peas, snap peas

row 3: carrots, spinach, radishes, arugula, collard greens

row 2: beets, chard

row 1: zucchini/squash, –, lettuce, chard

row 0: tomatoes, perpetual spinach

And for the three perpendicular rows in the back — starting with row A against the fence:

row A: flowers, sunchokes (at far back corner)

row B: kolrabi, eggplant, edamame soybeans

row C: mustard greens, kale, kolrabi, peppers, okra, green beans

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IV. Recipes of the Week

From Marijka: Strawberries anyone? Juicy, red, sun-ripened and ready for the picking. While in my opinion there is nothing better than eating a strawberry right from the plant, you do have those that are rather unsightly or may have a spot that needs to be cut out. Here are two of my favorite ways to use those strawberries that may need some doctoring.

Strawberry banana smoothy:

8 oz strawberries
2 small or 1 large banana
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup soy milk
(if you like things sweet, you can add 1 TBSP of honey, but for me the fruit and soy makes it sweet enough)

Wash and cut the fruit in small pieces, place in the freezer for 1 hour (this avoids having to add ice cubes to the mix)
Put the frozen fruit, yogurt and soy milk in the blender and mix away. Enjoy a refreshing drink. You have leftovers? I put my leftovers in a popsicle mold and put them in the freezer for a snack later on.

Strawberry Buckwheat pancakes
From The South Beach Diet

These pancakes do not use any butter yet are remarkably tasty. I usually don\'t like diet foods, but this is an exception and is always a great hit whenever I have guests that stay over and get to enjoy them in the morning.

1 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 cups water
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely cut fresh strawberries (you want to cut them so that they don\'t stick out of the pancakes while baking, think about making them the size of blueberries)

Mix the buckwheat flour, whole wheat flour, egg and baking powder and whisk until evenly blended. Add the water, applesauce, and vanilla extract and stir until smooth (unless your applesauce choice has some chunks, then its OK to still have some lumps)
Add the fresh strawberries last and just stir the minimum amount to mix them in with the batter.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray or rubbed with olive oil and cook away. Working in batches, pour the batter into the pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the bottom is browned. Turn and cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer until golden brown. Remove to a plate and keep warm. Repeat to make a total of about 12 pancakes.

When making these I will sometimes double the recipe since they keep well in the freezer for a later breakfast. You can replace the strawberries with blueberries, or walnuts or bananas or any variation thereof.

***************************************************

\"Agriculture must mediate between nature and the human community, with ties and obligations in both directions\"

– Wendell Berry, The Way of Ignorance.

***************************************************

General Stuff for Garden Members:

Note: This section is not usually updated weekly. I\'ll let you know in the above part of the email if I have any new stuff down here. — Dan

I. REMEMBER, THE GARDEN IS A TOWNSHIP-OWNED PUBLIC PARK ! We can go there to frolic, hike the marked trails, work, or pick/eat some food any old time we want! – during the week, on weekends–any day!! :-)

II. DIRECTIONS TO GARDEN:

Google/Mapquest: 42 Woodschurch Rd, Flemington , NJ 08822 (Visual landmarks: Big red barns next to road; big open fields..)

From Flemington: head North on 523 & go 0.9 miles past Shaefer Farm. Turn left onto Woodschurch Rd. Go 0.9 miles on Woodschurch Rd (note: do NOT turn left onto West Woodschurch ). Our driveway is on left (big red barns).

From Whitehouse: Head South on 523. Turn right onto 629 North (a.k..a.. Stanton Road ). Go 0.8 miles on 629 North. Turn left into Woodschurch Rd. Go 0..9 miles on Woodschurch Rd. Our driveway is on right (big red barns).

From Stanton General Store: Head South on 629 ( Stanton RD towards 523). Go 0.5 miles on 629 South. Turn right onto Woodschurch Rd. Go 0.9 miles on Woodschurch Rd. Our driveway is on right (big red barns)..

From Deerpath YMCA: Turn right out of YMCA driveway. Go 0..8 miles on West Woodschurch Rd. Turn left on Woodschurch Rd. Go 0.5 miles on Woodschurch Road. Our driveway is on left (big red barns).

III. MEETING TIME(S): Our official meetings are Saturdays at 10:00am. People stay for different lengths of time, but everyone\'s usually gone by 12:30 to 1pm. Now, although we meet \"officially\" on Saturday mornings, you are always welcome to come to the garden to work/harvest/play anytime you want — For example: start an \"early-Sunday-morning club,\" or a \"Thursday-evening club\" etc.! There are always weeds/grass clumps that need to be pulled/chopped — again, just make sure you know what\'s planted there & what not to pull/disturb. (See garden map inside apartment &/or ask someone.) :-)

IV. ELECTRIC FENCE NOTES: If you touch a solar-powered electric fence like ours (which I have many times), it will give you a zap that is unpleasantly jolting, but not horribly painful. There\'s an \"ON/OFF\" switch underneath the pole-mounted controller box — bend over & look up to see it. You can tell it\'s \"OFF\" by several clues: (1) when the switch is in \"OFF\" position, (2) when the quiet clicking has ceased, and (3) when the light on the top of the box stops blinking.

Once the fence is \"off,\" you can grab the yellow handle & unhook the line that runs across the gate entrance. Please remember to hook it back up & turn it back on when you leave. Thanks!

V. WATERING NOTES: We have a \"drip irrigation\" set-up. A regular garden hose runs into a pressure-reducing valve, which flows into a thick plastic feeder line that runs along the row marking stakes. Long lines of thinner plastic drip tape run from this thick feeder line down the length of each of the 16 rows. When turned on, water drips slowly out from this drip tape in holes spaced every 8 inches or so. Leaving the set-up running overnight amounts to about a good soaking rain..

A normal rainfall of about 1\" per week is ideal during the growing season. As such, our irrigation set-up is good \"insurance\" during the semi-frequent mini-droughts we experience every summer… Despite the benefits of irrigation, it should not be over-used… Too much watering is bad for several reasons: it\'s wasteful of water, leaches nutrients from the soil, causes salt build-up, and prevents oxygen uptake by plant roots (due to water taking the place of air in the soil).

So let\'s follow the following guidelines for watering:

1. Only Dan (i..e. me) will do the drip irrigation watering. If the garden looks dry, email me & I\'ll let it run overnight. We risk over-watering if everybody is turning it on & off all week;

2. Use the regular hose to water just one particular spot that happens to need it — ex: if you plant seeds or seedlings that need \"watering in;\" or for some specific area that looks needy.

3. Please be gentle around the drip irrigation hoses.. They aren\'t super-fragile, but avoid stepping on them if you can.. Take extra care when hoeing to gently move the drip tape aside before you hoe a row — i.e. Don\'t try to hoe right up to the drip tape –move it aside, lazy-bones! It takes much more time to fix a rip than it does to prevent one… Let me know if you see a leak, I won\'t be mad. :-) Thanks!

VI. HARVEST NOTES: Be sure to bring a bag (or something) every time you come to the garden to collect your bounty.. Remember that you can harvest stuff anytime during the week — not just Saturday morning. Just make sure you know what you\'re doing (ask if unsure) & that you don\'t take an overly-large a portion of what\'s ready at a given time.

….Which brings up the question: How much should we take? Without using a hyper-complex supercomputer-powered modelling system using inputs of hours worked, metabolic rates, family size, gross incomes, etc., I suppose we could follow the following (admittedly mushy) harvesting guidelines:

1. Take some food away everytime you come to the garden — even during the week.

2.. Take just a fraction of what\'s harvestable on any given day (…..but this still may be a lot.)

3.. Share with others, but don\'t neglect yourself — you deserve some good food too!

How\'s that? Sounds reasonable to me. Let me know if you encounter any problems or perceived-injustices, or if you have any recommended alterations to this harvesting/distributing plan. ;-)

VII. SOIL CARE NOTES: Soil is a complex &, in many ways, fragile living substance. Healthy soil makes healthy plants, so we want to be sure to protect & nurture our garden soil.. As such, here are some general guidelines to follow:

1. Don\'t walk on (or otherwise compress) the soil in the rows. Plants need the \"fluffy,\" \"crumby\" structure within the soil for optimum oxygen, water, & mineral-nutrient uptake. Compression destroys this fragile structure & the plants won\'t grow as well.. While compressed soil can be rehibilitated with some effort, it\'s easier to just avoid compression in the first place.

2. Return organic matter to the soil. The soil consists of minerals (bits of sand, silt, & clay), organic matter (bacterial/fungi-decomposed plant matter), air, water & it\'s dissolved minerals, and a ve rita ble rain-forest-diversity of living organisms (bacteria, fungi, worms, insects, etc.). Healthy soil has a nice balance of all of these components. As complicated as soil is, making healthy soil is relatively easy; simple regular additions of well-rotted compost takes care of just about everything. A high-organic-matter soil with healthy soil organisms will not only provide our vegetable plants with just about everything they need, it actually helps protect plants from harmful bugs/bacteria/fungi that would otherwise attack them. The absence of healthy soil in industrial agriculture forces them resort to poisons to protect the now-helpless plants.

3. Till-up/disturb the soil only when necessary. The fragile crumb structure of the soil is partially degraded everytime the soil is tilled/disturbed. In addition, tilling tends to reduce the vitally-important organic matter content of the soil, as the extra mixed-in oxygen prompts bacteria/fungi to \"eat\" (burn up) more organic matter than they would normally. Thirdly, mixing up the soil exposes dormant weed seeds to the surface to cause you all sorts of weedy problems. That said, sometimes you just have to hoe or roto-till the soil to prepare a seed bed — I\'m just saying that you should do this as little as possible & always feel a little bit bad when you\'re doing it. :-)

VIII. WHY DO WE DO THIS?: This garden-type stuff we do mostly falls (in today\'s society) under the category of dirty, low-paid, manual labor — not exactly how most people would choose to spend their free time these days. So why do we do this? I suppose we all have our own reason(s), but here are a few some of us may share:
A hypothetical Readington community gardener might be overheard saying/mumbling one or more of the following as they crawl along a seemingly-endless row on aching knees, yanking out grass with raw fingers: I do this because (1) I enjoy meeting other people in my community & working together in a shared experience, (2) I want to eat tastier, more nutritious food than I can get from the supermarket, (3) I want to become more practiced in the ancient, noble art of growing food, (4) I want my kids to learn where food comes from & appreciate the effort & skills involved in making it, (5) I want to teach others how to grow food in a manner that is less disruptive to Earth\'s ecosystems, (6) I enjoy being outside & interacting with plants & nature in a direct way, (7) I want to save money on my food bill, (8) I enjoy nurturing living things, (9) I live in the apartment on the property & all these weird people keep showing up every Saturday & I feel bad for the poor saps hacking away at the dirt and weeds out there & I think I should at least help them out a little bit.

So….perhaps you have other reasons for coming, but those are few possibilities. Feel free to contribute more! :-)

Readington Community Garden Newsletter

The Readington Community Garden is a loosely organized collection of nice people who are interested in growing food and community. You can \"belong\" to the community garden any time of the year by just showing up, doing some work, and bringing home some good food. There are no obligatory fees, timed work requirements, or forms to fill out — just stop-by, grab a hoe/weed, and strike up a conversation. :-)

******************************************

Hey there all you slightly off-beat gardener-types!

Executive summary for this week: We\'ll meet Saturday 5/22, 10am at the garden. We can finally plant lots of \'warm weather\' seedlings — tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, zinnias. We\'ll also be harvesting greens, planting seeds in the garden & in flats, weeding, socializing, enjoying the spring weather — the usual. See updated garden map further down in email. Also check out the new \"recipes of the week feature\" further down in the email — rosemary, collards, and strawberry/rhubarb!

Some things we need for the garden: Organic waste (ex: food scraps, leaves, farm manure) for the compost pile. Also, we can always use old tools. Thanks!

New members: Remember that new members are welcome to join the garden at any time of the season, so continue to brag about our garden to your friends & family. Just tell them to drop me an email. It\'s perfectly fine if you/they only want to participate on an occasional basis.

Free Veggie-seed Catalog!: Everyone interested in gardening should go to http://www.johnnyseeds.com & order a free catalog to be mailed to your place of residence. This is the best gardening \"book\" you can get — and it\'s free! It tells you how to grow everything.

If you\'d like to read-up on gardening stuff:

I highly recommend all Eliot Coleman\'s gardening books. Also check out books about permaculture (\'Gaia\'s Garden\' by Hemenway), saving seeds (\'Saving Seeds\' by Rogers), root cellaring (\'Root Cellaring\' by Bubel), and fementation (\'Wild Fermentation\' by Katz). The \'Johnny\'s Seeds\' and \'Fedco Seeds\' catalogs are also great reading — interesting & informative.

…And as always, many thrilling plant-related spectacles and spine-tingling acts of community-togetherness are in store this week in \"Community Garden Land\" — so here\'s what\'s up:

*******************************************

I. What We Did Last Saturday

About 40 brave and noble gardeners showed up on a fantastic mid-spring morning. We made short work of the garden and then just stood there motionless, staring at each other for over an hour. …Just kidding. We worked hard, socialized & generally had a good time — as usual. Yea.

We harvested lettuce, collards, chard, radishes, rhubarb, and herbs! Yummy!

We weeded whatever needed weeding — It was another brave and noble effort, indeed!. Our rewards are starting to pay off!

We planted lots of seeds: zucchini, green beans, edamame soybeans, and cilantro. Uh huh!

We planted lots more seedlings in the garden: kolrabi and herbs (by apartment door). Wow!

We constructed temporary fences around our pumpkin and melon crop circles. Yea!

We turned the compost piles. Turning them gets oxygen into the pile and help it break down to soil-improving compost at a faster rate. Yea!

And a huge THANKS! to the mowing & watering teams who are taking great care of the garden during the week. THANKS!!!!! The newly planted seeds will germinate much better this year by keeping them moist until they pop up. And the expertly-shorn garden grass is just so fetching, isn\'t it?

We had loads of fun talking to friends and enjoying the beautiful Spring weather! :-)

**********************************************

II. Things We Can Do This Coming Saturday

We can harvest strawberries (row 15), rhubarb (row 16), herbs & chard (row 12), radishes & collard greens (row 3), and lettuce (row 5 & 6). That\'s right — you put in the time, now enjoy the spoils. See recipe section below in email.

We can plant lots of \'warm weather\' seedlings: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, okra, and cucumbers, — as well as zinnias and sunflowers. I\'ll bring all the seedlings.

We can keepeth up with the plucking and banishment of ye ol\' foul and pernicious weeds — for alas, the weeds truly ne\'er do rest. But c\'mon, admit it — it is sort of fun in a \'shared misery\' sort of way, isn\'t it?

We can meet some old friends & maybe make some new ones. Because remember, the socializing part of the community garden can be almost as much fun as the weed-pulling part. :-)

And, as always, don\'t forget to come now & then and just stand quietly in the middle of the garden, look around, and appreciate the view and our wonderful community garden!

See you soon! — Dan

*********************************************

III. Financial Information

2010 Donations:
New donations: $20 + $20 + $20 on 5/15

Old donations: $25 on 5/8; $30 on 4/24; $20 + $25 + $20 on 4/10; $25 + $20 + $20 on 4/3; $20 + $20 + $20 + $25 + $25 on 3/27; $325 on 3/20; $25 on 1/30; $25 on 1/12; $25 on 1/10; $35 on 1/8; $470 carried over from 2009 balance.

Total 2010 donations = $1260 so far.. Thank you!

2010 Purchases:

New purchases: –

Old purchases: cinder blocks ($32); push mower ($320), cinder blocks ($26), collard-green seedlings ($10), more veggie seeds ($16), four stirrup-hoes and one bed-preparation rake ($284); potting soil ($20); peat pots ($8); potting soil ($10); nut & fruit tree seedlings ($97); veggie seeds from Fedco ($199), onion & potato seeds from Fedco ($153).

Total 2010 purchases = $1175 so far.

2010 Overall Balance: $1260 donations – $1175 purchases = $85.

All donations are strictly voluntary — i.e. none are required to be a member. But if you\'re feelin\' rich, you can mail any donations (& make checks out) to me: Dan Allen, 163 Stanton Rd, Flemington, NJ 08822, or just hand them to me on any Saturday morning.

*********************************************

IV. Garden Map

Here\'s what\'s planted in the garden so far — starting at row 16 on the up-hill part of the garden:

row 16: blueberries, horseradish, rhubarb, and more blueberries

row 15: strawberries

row14: raspberries

row 13: asparagus (We\'ll start harvesting next spring!)

row 12: various herbs (lemon balm, chives, tyme, oregano, rosemary, cilantro, dill, parsely, anise, and fennel), lettuce, cilantro, chard.

row 11: onions

row 10: garlic (first 10 feet), onions

row 9: garlic, potatoes

row 8: potatoes

row 7: broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts

row 6: potatoes, lettuce

row 5: –, lettuce, radishes, lettuce

row 4: zucchini, –, snow peas, snap peas

row 3: carrots, spinach, radishes, arugula, collard greens

row 2: beets, chard

row 1: –, lettuce, chard

row 0: –

And for the three perpendicular rows in the back — starting with row A against the fence:

row A: flowers, –, sunchokes (at far back corner)

row B: kolrabi, –, edamame soybeans

row C: mustard greens, kale, kolrabi, –, green beans

**************************************************

IV. Recipes of the Week

From Marijka: While we are seeing our vegetables grow fantastically well, this week, I want to put the focus on one of my favorite herbs: Rosemary. This fine little bushy herb Rosmarinus Officinalis L. (latin for dew of the sea) is still very much appreciated and remains in vogue in Europe. It has such a long history and has so many medicinal values associated with it that Rosemary continues to be used not only in cooking, but in other products as well. For example, you will find it in many shampoos since it is reputed to help stimulate the nerves in the scalp. Following are two ways in which to enjoy this fine herb.

Rosemary Tea:
Steep 1/2 ounce of rosemary leaves for 4 to 6 minutes in hot water, then discard the leaves.
This tea pretty much tastes the way it smells. So, if the smell is not your \"cup of tea\", don\'t even bother.
Since this herb tea is quite strong, I tend to store it in the fridge and use it more to add it on as an extra flavor to my iced green sun tea.

Following is a recipe from my all time favorite cookbook: \"Everybody eats well in Belgium\" by Ruth van Waerebeek.

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes:

These potatoes pair well with roasted chicken.

24 small red-skinned potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh rosemary

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees
2. Place the potatoes in a shallow roasting pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Add the oil and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Roast until fork tender, 35 to 45 minutes, turning the potatoes over halfway through.
4. Sprinkle with the rosemary before serving.

**********

Here\'s another recipe from Christine: \"A tasty way to eat some greens. A quick and easy recipe too.

My daughter ate the whole bowl! Enjoy!\"

Kale/Collard Chips
•1 bunch kale or collards – wash, remove stems, and tear into 3 to 4 inch pieces.
•2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese, or for a vegan version use nutritional yeast.
•1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar.
•1 tablespoon olive oil.
•Pinch of sea salt.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix vinegar and oil, pour over kale and toss to coat. Sprinkle in cheese/yeast and salt. Toss again until kale is evenly coated. Spread onto a baking sheet, and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until crispy and brown around the edges.

Enjoy by themselves, or try crumbling them up over baked potatoes, pasta dishes, or salads.

**********

And here\'s a yummy recipe from Betty:

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB JAM

3 1/2 cups crushed strawberries

1 ½ cups cooked rhubarb

½ tsp. butter

1 box pectin

6 1/2 cups sugar

Process in deep water bath for 10 minutes

To process fruit:

1. Discard stems, chop, and crush strawberries, one layer at a time.

2. Cut up rhubarb into small pieces. Place in saucepan; add ½ cup water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 minute.

Directions:

1.Bring boiling water canner, half-full with water, to simmer.
2.Wash jars in dishwasher, keep warm. Drain well before filling. Wash screw bands in hot, soapy water, rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use.
3.Measure exact amount of prepared juice into 6- or 8-quart saucepot.
4.Measure exact amount of sugar into separate bowl.
5.Stir pectin into juice in saucepot. Add ½ teaspoon butter to reduce foaming.
6.Bring mixture to full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat stirring constantly.
7.Stir in remaining sugar quickly. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam.
8.Ladle quickly into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and treads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. Place jars on elevated rack in canner. Lower rack into canner. Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches. Cover; bring water to gentle boil. Process jam for 10 minutes. Remove jars and place upright on a rack to cool completely. Count characteristic ping as lids seal.
9.Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Store unopened jam in cool, dry, dark place up to one year. Refrigerate opened jellies up to 3 weeks.

***************************************************

\"Agriculture must mediate between nature and the human community, with ties and obligations in both directions\"

– Wendell Berry, The Way of Ignorance.

***************************************************

General Stuff for Garden Members:

Note: This section is not usually updated weekly. I\'ll let you know in the above part of the email if I have any new stuff down here. — Dan

I. REMEMBER, THE GARDEN IS A TOWNSHIP-OWNED PUBLIC PARK ! We can go there to frolic, hike the marked trails, work, or pick/eat some food any old time we want! – during the week, on weekends–any day!! :-)

II. DIRECTIONS TO GARDEN:

Google/Mapquest: 42 Woodschurch Rd, Flemington , NJ 08822 (Visual landmarks: Big red barns next to road; big open fields..)

From Flemington: head North on 523 & go 0.9 miles past Shaefer Farm. Turn left onto Woodschurch Rd. Go 0.9 miles on Woodschurch Rd (note: do NOT turn left onto West Woodschurch ). Our driveway is on left (big red barns).

From Whitehouse: Head South on 523. Turn right onto 629 North (a.k..a.. Stanton Road ). Go 0.8 miles on 629 North. Turn left into Woodschurch Rd. Go 0..9 miles on Woodschurch Rd. Our driveway is on right (big red barns).

From Stanton General Store: Head South on 629 ( Stanton RD towards 523). Go 0.5 miles on 629 South. Turn right onto Woodschurch Rd. Go 0.9 miles on Woodschurch Rd. Our driveway is on right (big red barns)..

From Deerpath YMCA: Turn right out of YMCA driveway. Go 0..8 miles on West Woodschurch Rd. Turn left on Woodschurch Rd. Go 0.5 miles on Woodschurch Road. Our driveway is on left (big red barns).

III. MEETING TIME(S): Our official meetings are Saturdays at 10:00am. People stay for different lengths of time, but everyone\'s usually gone by 12:30 to 1pm. Now, although we meet \"officially\" on Saturday mornings, you are always welcome to come to the garden to work/harvest/play anytime you want — For example: start an \"early-Sunday-morning club,\" or a \"Thursday-evening club\" etc.! There are always weeds/grass clumps that need to be pulled/chopped — again, just make sure you know what\'s planted there & what not to pull/disturb. (See garden map inside apartment &/or ask someone.) :-)

IV. ELECTRIC FENCE NOTES: If you touch a solar-powered electric fence like ours (which I have many times), it will give you a zap that is unpleasantly jolting, but not horribly painful. There\'s an \"ON/OFF\" switch underneath the pole-mounted controller box — bend over & look up to see it. You can tell it\'s \"OFF\" by several clues: (1) when the switch is in \"OFF\" position, (2) when the quiet clicking has ceased, and (3) when the light on the top of the box stops blinking.

Once the fence is \"off,\" you can grab the yellow handle & unhook the line that runs across the gate entrance. Please remember to hook it back up & turn it back on when you leave. Thanks!

V. WATERING NOTES: We have a \"drip irrigation\" set-up. A regular garden hose runs into a pressure-reducing valve, which flows into a thick plastic feeder line that runs along the row marking stakes. Long lines of thinner plastic drip tape run from this thick feeder line down the length of each of the 16 rows. When turned on, water drips slowly out from this drip tape in holes spaced every 8 inches or so. Leaving the set-up running overnight amounts to about a good soaking rain..

A normal rainfall of about 1\" per week is ideal during the growing season. As such, our irrigation set-up is good \"insurance\" during the semi-frequent mini-droughts we experience every summer… Despite the benefits of irrigation, it should not be over-used… Too much watering is bad for several reasons: it\'s wasteful of water, leaches nutrients from the soil, causes salt build-up, and prevents oxygen uptake by plant roots (due to water taking the place of air in the soil).

So let\'s follow the following guidelines for watering:

1. Only Dan (i..e. me) will do the drip irrigation watering. If the garden looks dry, email me & I\'ll let it run overnight. We risk over-watering if everybody is turning it on & off all week;

2. Use the regular hose to water just one particular spot that happens to need it — ex: if you plant seeds or seedlings that need \"watering in;\" or for some specific area that looks needy.

3. Please be gentle around the drip irrigation hoses.. They aren\'t super-fragile, but avoid stepping on them if you can.. Take extra care when hoeing to gently move the drip tape aside before you hoe a row — i.e. Don\'t try to hoe right up to the drip tape –move it aside, lazy-bones! It takes much more time to fix a rip than it does to prevent one… Let me know if you see a leak, I won\'t be mad. :-) Thanks!

VI. HARVEST NOTES: Be sure to bring a bag (or something) every time you come to the garden to collect your bounty.. Remember that you can harvest stuff anytime during the week — not just Saturday morning. Just make sure you know what you\'re doing (ask if unsure) & that you don\'t take an overly-large a portion of what\'s ready at a given time.

….Which brings up the question: How much should we take? Without using a hyper-complex supercomputer-powered modelling system using inputs of hours worked, metabolic rates, family size, gross incomes, etc., I suppose we could follow the following (admittedly mushy) harvesting guidelines:

1. Take some food away everytime you come to the garden — even during the week.

2.. Take just a fraction of what\'s harvestable on any given day (…..but this still may be a lot.)

3.. Share with others, but don\'t neglect yourself — you deserve some good food too!

How\'s that? Sounds reasonable to me. Let me know if you encounter any problems or perceived-injustices, or if you have any recommended alterations to this harvesting/distributing plan. ;-)

VII. SOIL CARE NOTES: Soil is a complex &, in many ways, fragile living substance. Healthy soil makes healthy plants, so we want to be sure to protect & nurture our garden soil.. As such, here are some general guidelines to follow:

1. Don\'t walk on (or otherwise compress) the soil in the rows. Plants need the \"fluffy,\" \"crumby\" structure within the soil for optimum oxygen, water, & mineral-nutrient uptake. Compression destroys this fragile structure & the plants won\'t grow as well.. While compressed soil can be rehibilitated with some effort, it\'s easier to just avoid compression in the first place.

2. Return organic matter to the soil. The soil consists of minerals (bits of sand, silt, & clay), organic matter (bacterial/fungi-decomposed plant matter), air, water & it\'s dissolved minerals, and a ve rita ble rain-forest-diversity of living organisms (bacteria, fungi, worms, insects, etc.). Healthy soil has a nice balance of all of these components. As complicated as soil is, making healthy soil is relatively easy; simple regular additions of well-rotted compost takes care of just about everything. A high-organic-matter soil with healthy soil organisms will not only provide our vegetable plants with just about everything they need, it actually helps protect plants from harmful bugs/bacteria/fungi that would otherwise attack them. The absence of healthy soil in industrial agriculture forces them resort to poisons to protect the now-helpless plants.

3. Till-up/disturb the soil only when necessary. The fragile crumb structure of the soil is partially degraded everytime the soil is tilled/disturbed. In addition, tilling tends to reduce the vitally-important organic matter content of the soil, as the extra mixed-in oxygen prompts bacteria/fungi to \"eat\" (burn up) more organic matter than they would normally. Thirdly, mixing up the soil exposes dormant weed seeds to the surface to cause you all sorts of weedy problems. That said, sometimes you just have to hoe or roto-till the soil to prepare a seed bed — I\'m just saying that you should do this as little as possible & always feel a little bit bad when you\'re doing it. :-)

VIII. WHY DO WE DO THIS?: This garden-type stuff we do mostly falls (in today\'s society) under the category of dirty, low-paid, manual labor — not exactly how most people would choose to spend their free time these days. So why do we do this? I suppose we all have our own reason(s), but here are a few some of us may share:
A hypothetical Readington community gardener might be overheard saying/mumbling one or more of the following as they crawl along a seemingly-endless row on aching knees, yanking out grass with raw fingers: I do this because (1) I enjoy meeting other people in my community & working together in a shared experience, (2) I want to eat tastier, more nutritious food than I can get from the supermarket, (3) I want to become more practiced in the ancient, noble art of growing food, (4) I want my kids to learn where food comes from & appreciate the effort & skills involved in making it, (5) I want to teach others how to grow food in a manner that is less disruptive to Earth\'s ecosystems, (6) I enjoy being outside & interacting with plants & nature in a direct way, (7) I want to save money on my food bill, (8) I enjoy nurturing living things, (9) I live in the apartment on the property & all these weird people keep showing up every Saturday & I feel bad for the poor saps hacking away at the dirt and weeds out there & I think I should at least help them out a little bit.

So….perhaps you have other reasons for coming, but those are few possibilities. Feel free to contribute more! :-)