November 2017 E-Newsletter
"November's sky is chill and drear,
November's leaf is red and sear."
- Sir Walter Scott
Featured Instagram Photo of the Month: A warm October made it a boon-year for fall eggplants.
Upcoming Garden Events:
Nov. 11 - Saturday Workday - 9:00 AM – Noon
Nov. 18 - Board Meeting - 9:30 AM
Nov. 26 - Sunday Workday - 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Useful info:
- Here are some general tips for gardening in November. Did you remember to keep an eye on the weather report before planting your fall garden? In Southern California, a scorching heat wave in October is as reliable as the thick marine layer in June. Hopefully, the weather will stay cool enough to can safely plant your brassicas (broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cabbages) now. There doesn’t seem to be a safe time to plant that other brassica, the Brussels sprout, in our climate. No matter the winter, they always seem to end up more aphid than plant. Let us know if you have a secret for growing Brussels sprouts at OVF. If any of your fall seedlings already started setting flowers (we’re looking at you fava beans and broccoli), you still have time to dig them up (or in the case of fava beans, dig them into the soil if you wish) and start again. Make sure to get any digging you need to do done now. If we get another wet winter, the soil could be too wet to work for an extended time. Here’s our favorite bit of advice from the hyperlinked Gardening in LA blog post:
“Sow winter cover crops--including fava beans, clovers, peas, annual rye, and vetch to be turned under in the spring as "green manure." When winter's gloom has settled in, it's nice to see something green besides weeds growing, especially when it'll also fertilize the garden in the spring. and, you don't have to have a large garden to grow a cover crop--just consider it a lawn that doesn't need mowing.”
- If you enjoy reading the monthly Gardening in LA blog link, you’ll probably enjoy seeing their author, Master Gardener Yvonne Savio, give a free presentation on Fall and Winter Gardening at the Santa Monica Library’s Fairview Branch at 2pm this Saturday November 4th. Yvonne ran the LA County U.C. Master Garden training program for years and knows gardening inside and out.
- As part of the same series, the Santa Monica Public Library will also be screening the documentary SEED: The Untold Story. You can checkout the trailer here.
OVF Announcements:
Help Needed!
Have a little time to give during the week? Garden tours for school groups are in high demand and we don’t have enough docents to meet that demand. A special shout out goes to Molly, who has been doing most of the tours by herself at the moment. Please contact Education Chair Andy Morris if you think you would like to try giving a tour. Some training is provided (you can shadow a tour any time) but pre-knowledge of the garden history and flora is preferred. This is a fun way to earn your community service hours!
Plot Fee Increase
You should have received an email explaining the plot fee increase last week but just in case you missed something, here’s a short summary. Due to significant increases in the cost of water, OVF will be increasing the annual fee to $76.00 per plot and $10.00 per associate.
As always: we want to hear from you! Send us an email, reach out on Facebook, or tag us on Instagram @oceanviewfarms.
That’s all for now. Happy gardening!
