July 2020 E-Newsletter
"The serene philosophy of the pink rose is steadying. Its fragrant, delicate petals open fully and are ready to fall, without regret or disillusion, after only a day in the sun. It is so every summer. One can almost hear their pink, fragrant murmur as they settle down upon the grass: 'Summer, summer, it will always be summer.'"
- Rachel Peden
Featured Instagram Photo of the Month: A Dahlia Bloom Signals That It’s Finally Summer.
Upcoming Garden Events:
Jul. 11 - Saturday Workday - 9:00 AM – Noon
Jul. 18 - Board Meeting - 9:30 AM
Jul. 26 - Sunday Workday - 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Useful info:
- Happy summer everyone! We hope you are staying safe, healthy and sane. Things have started looking a little more normal at the garden. The last Sunday of June marked the first workday we’ve had at the garden since February. The compost program is back in full swing. The gates to the parking lot are now open to cars Friday-Sunday and plots around the garden are full of summer plants. On the flipside, watching a small group of gardeners complete a workday while wearing masks reminds us that the world is anything but normal at the moment.
- Around the garden this is a time of surplus but for many times are hard. Don’t let your extra produce go to waste. Share some with a friend, a neighbor, leave some under the big tree or on a Sunday you can leave your produce by gate 4 (in phase II) for OVF Donates.
- It’s hard to keep up with the garden in July. Plants can get by with a slow deep water once a week once the weather turns hot but harvesting will need to be more frequent. You also need to stay on top of plant diseases. It’s been a damp second half of June and as such, powdery mildew and tomato blight are showing up in force. You can treat powdery mildew, but there is not much you can do for a blighted tomato except to remove the diseased leaves to try to save the plant long enough to harvest. Just a friendly reminder for our new OVF gardeners: in order to slow the spread of tomato disease, please put all tomato waste in the dumpster (diseased or not) and not in the compost area.
- Speaking of compost, please make sure take the proper care when adding materials to be composted. Aside from making sure to keep tomato plants or any other plants with diseases out of the compost, we also ask the you put nutgrass, false garlic and bindweed or horsetail in the trash. Please makes sure to dump plant waste as far from the path as possible. As always woody material goes to the side. Please make sure their are no nails or metal objects in the wood for the safety of our compost crew.
- Lastly, the recycling program at OVF is on hiatus. Please do not leave recyclables at the garden.
- As always, the Gardening in LA blog has some tips for what to do in the July garden. Again, you may need to make some adjustments for coastal gardening. For example, take her advice about sowing some cool-season crops at the end of the month with a grain of salt. We usually have our hottest weather in the fall and starting cole crops too early often results in unhealthy, aphid-infested plants.
OVF Announcements:
A Letter From The President
Things are looking up at OVF. Many plots, pathways and IPs are looking much better. See, the garden missed you. There is still time to plant warm season vegetables, herbs and flowers.
OVF had its first workday in months on June 28th. Members and associates had to reserve space since we have to limit the number of people at a workday. Other members can still work in their plots. We will continue to have regularly scheduled workdays on the 2nd Saturday and last Sunday of the month, but you must reserve a space on the website. There are 24 reserved spaces with 6 spaces reserved for walk-ins.
The shred pile is OPEN. Only take trash and evil weeds to the dumpster: false garlic, bindweed, nutgrass and horsetail. Please no palm fronds or sunflower stalks. Cornstalks can go to the shred pile.
The most recent water bill for OVF was an astonishing $3406 which is the highest bill in over 2 years. The water bill is the main driver of our yearly membership dues so if you want the dues to stay low, it’s everyone’s responsibility to conserve water. Carefully consider if your plot or IP needs water. Tomatoes, for example, only need water every 10-12 days once they start flowering and fruiting. Mulching your plot with a 2 inch or more layer of compost or horse manure conserves moisture and helps keep down weeds. Only newly sown seeds or newly planted seedlings need daily or every other day watering until they are established. Unattended watering can result in a citation. If you see a leak from a hose bib or hose, PLEASE fill out a plumbing request form in the wheelbarrow shed.
Many members have asked about OVF t-shirts. They will be offered for sale at workdays.
-Nina Rumely
Watering
There are a couple things to keep in mind when watering the summer garden. First remember that slow, deep water encourages plant roots to grow deeply. This will help them find water for longer periods of time even when the weather heats up. Less frequent, deeper watering helps save water in the long run because more water gets used by the plants instead of evaporating into the air. If you don’t know if you are deep watering correctly, you can always take a small spade and dig down next to your plant after you water. Don’t get too close you don’t want to damage too many roots. A less invasive method is to invest in an inexpensive moisture meter. Moisture meters are available at most garden stores and hardware stores with a decent garden selection. You can also find them online. As an added bonus, if you have children in tow at the garden, using a moisture meter to test the soil dampness of each plant is a great job for some of our youngest garden helpers.
Always water the soil, not the leaves. While some plants do enjoy a garden bath when the weather gets hot, overhead watering should never be your primary form of getting water to plants. Not only does it encourage diseases like powdery mildew and tomato blight but as alluded to previously, much more of the water gets lost to evaporation. More critical to plant health, overhead watering encourages plants to set shallow roots near the surface of the soil. Plants with shallow roots have a much lower tolerance to heat waves than plants with deep root systems.
Lastly, please remember to never leave a running hose unattended in your plot. Unattended watering often results in wasted water and a phase rep could issue a citation for the offense.
Help keep your plants healthy, conserve water and keep our dues down by being smart as to how you water.
Help Wanted
Gate Closers needed through the end of the year. Please sign up in the main office shed.
A Note from Our Membership Coordinator About Associates
There has been some confusion as of late about associates. Membership Coordinator Carrie Manaugh shares this information:
This is from the most current Rules and Regulations:
Associates: Friends or relatives living at a different address must become associates in order to work in the garden.
Phase Reps must meet proposed associates before this status can be approved. Associates must complete an Associate Assignment and Waiver form and pay an associate fee for insurance.
Associate status may be established for persons who are friends or family members and are actively assisting the member with their plot(s). The purpose of the associate status is to provide a remedy to garden members who need help with maintaining their plots and/or completing community work.
The garden member assumes responsibility for all actions of the associate and monitors the associate's activities for compliance with OVF Bylaws and Rules and Regulations. Citations will be issued to the member for violations by an associate. If the member wishes to terminate the associate, it is the member's sole responsibility to take such action.
If a member is terminated, the associate is automatically terminated at the same time.
Garden members must actively participate with the associate in maintaining the member's plot(s). Under no conditions may a garden member relinquish a plot to an associate for their sole use. A member may not have more than one (1) associate and that associate may not also be a garden member.
Burrata Caprese Salad
Let’s braing this newsletter to a close on a high note: OVF gardener Anthony Lai has shared this recipe for a Burrata Caprese Salad. We're pretty most of our garden members could make a caprese salad without a recipe - but Anthony elevates his version with burrata and an some beautiful plating. Remember, you can always submit your own recipes and columns for the newsletter to askovf@oceanviewfarms.net. Not only will you be contributing to the OVF community but you will also be awarded service hours for your time.
Summer is here but there is still time to plant some tomatoes. Packed with Vitamin A and C, tomatoes are easy to grow. To get a good harvest make sure you plant your tomatoes in an area that gets at least 8 hours of full sun and water well at least weekly. Once you have a good harvest of tomatoes, here is a simple, light recipe that you won’t get tired of eating. Replacing mozzarella with its creamier cousin, burrata, makes for a better caprese salad with ripe, juicy tomatoes.
Ingredients
· 1 large tomato (approximately 0.5 lb)
· 3oz burrata cheese
· fresh basil leaves
· olive oil
· balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
· salt and pepper
* Serves 2 as a side dish
1. Slice the tomato into 1/4 inch slices
2. Drizzle olive oil onto two plates
3. On each plate place 3-4 slices of the tomato slices
4. Place 1-2 leaves between each tomato slice
5. Spoon the burrata over the tomato and basil arrangement
6. Place some additional basil leaves on top
7. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper
8. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
We hope you enjoy this simple, summery dish!
Thank you,
Anthony
Member Snaps
Luna Gooding shares this unusual vantage point of a swallowtail caterpillar while Peggy Caton captured a recent pandemic visit to OVF in slideshow form.
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!