Time to Report Service Hours

Please report your May service hours this coming week to Liliana (and your April hours if you haven't done that.) Just send Liliana an email at westwoodcommunitygarden@gmail.com and include the words "service hours" in the subject line. Tell her your name, your plot number, the time period for which you're reporting (like May or May 15-31), and the number of hours that you're reporting.

Welcome to New Gardeners! 

We welcomed Jennifer, a new gardener, this week to the farm row area! Please say hello to one another when you're on-site. There is a list in the shed to help us know each other's name. 

Compost Pile

Keep tossing dead plant material and weeds on the compost pile. We will shred it up soon and start it in the bin system. The yard waste container is only for diseased plants and ones who know to be infested with plant-unfriendly insects, for example. Otherwise, the weeds and dead plants will bring new life to the garden later this year as compost.

Reminder: WCG Tour

We will be a site on the Civic Garden Center's tour of community gardens this year. Mark your calendar for the evening of Tuesday, July 19 for meeting our visitors and showing them around our garden. Expect a couple of big work mornings in advance of that special occasion.

T-Shirt Orders

I order t-shirts every few weeks when I have some orders. If you want one (or more), please contact me with the style (children's, men's or women's) and the size that you want. The shirts are $10 each. Checks payable to Westwood Civic Association. Give to Mary Jenkins or mail to WCA, PO Box 11466, Cincinnati, OH 45211. I'm waiting for news that our last order is ready so thanks for patience to the last group of people who ordered.

Herbs

What a wonderful herb border we have! You will find oregano, sage, sorrel, lavender, and so much more. Our current gardeners are welcome to pick what you can use. We have useful herb info on our website.

Core Team on Duty Weekly

Sandra is our core team member on duty this morning.  She will be at the garden from about 9-12 with doughnuts and coffee, tea, and hot chocolate unless it is pouring the rain.  A little rain is good for the soul. Boots or shoes that can handle some mud make most sense. The idea is that you can ask questions, get some guidance on tasks, and say a friendly hello. We will always have a list of tasks that need doing so head on down there this morning, even if only for 10 minutes to find out how to do a garden chore.  Joan S. will be there next Saturday.

Tasks That Need Doing

Here is our current chore list.  All of these items count as service hours. If you're not sure what something means, ask me. 

• Weed, tidy up herb border
• Weed and water any communal areas
• Water the big flower pots
• Water the lettuce tables
• Extra soil to herb border to bring it level
• Planting new plants in the herb border
• Cut back daylilies from fruit bushes
• Empty bed at sign, level it, refill, and plant.
• Pull weeds in the rows between beds.
• Trim weeds. Gardeners must read instructions for new trimmer before using.
• Shape the remaining unplanted farm rows to tidy mounds.
• Pick up any litter around the site.
• Weed around the base of the little trees.
• Pick up pine cones at Harrison Av end.
• Weed in both communal and MNP farm rows (See list on shed or ask Sandra today).
• Remove fencing from fruit trees.
• Remove rocks, pine cones, and other debris from bottom of the two empty compost bins.
• Chip compost pile into bins after cleaned (only by experienced person)
• Move all material away from wood fence by several feet.

Extra Produce? Want to Share?

We donate excess produce to My Neighbor's Place, an outreach organization and food pantry in Westwood. Have more of something than you can use? Please contact Joan Smith, one of our gardeners and core team members, to coordinate hand over. You can reach Joan at 513-277-1583 or smitjn7@gmail.com. Gardeners can deliver produce to her house or call/text her to pickup their produce at WCG. Just this week, WCG donated 6.75 lbs of produce to My Neighbor's Place including two kinds of kale, turnips, braising greens, baby collards, spinach, strawberries, leeks, and sugar snap peas.