RCG April 2023 Newsletter

What’s New at the Garden?

Our March planting day event occurred on March 18th.  We really appreciate all the community that came out to support.  We planted trees, cleared beds, provided subscribers with planting options, planted spring plants that were cold tolerant in the community beds and met with potential subscribers and volunteers from the community. 

Our next event will be on Earth Day. The Earth Day Event will be held at the Ridgecrest Community Garden at 231 W. Haloid on April 22nd from 10 to 12. We will be planting trees, checking harvests and weeding with volunteer assistance. The event will be sponsored by Umoja.

What’s New in the Garden?

The Urban Farmer suggesting safe planting dates between 1-20 March for Ridgecrest was not aware of our impending hailstorm.  We lost a few of the plants that we planted to the cold, but are planning to try again on Friday, the 7th of April when temperatures at night are expected to stay consistently out of the 30s.  The plants we suggest considering for planting are as follows:

Arugula
Artichoke
Basil
Beets
Cantaloupe
Carrots
Catnip
Celery
Chard
Chives
Cilantro
Collard Greens
Corn
Cucumber
Dill

Pumpkin
Radishes
Spinach
Squash
Tomatoes
Tomatillos
Turnips

Eggplant
Fava Beans
Kale
Lemon Balm
Lettuce
Luffa
Melons
Mint
Mustard
Oregano
Okra
Onions
Parsley
Peas
Potatoes

Bonnie Plants donated a truckload of plants to the community garden that we were able to share with subscribers. We want to thank them for their generosity.

The Kerr McGee spring kids camp came to the garden to learn how to make seed snakes. They made it back just before it started to hail.  Lots of fun had by all to get our spring wildflowers ready to plant.  If you’d like to try this at home, here are the instructions for creating your own start to a wildflower garden…

•Add 1/2 cup each of soil and kitty litter

•Pick out seeds

•Place all together in a Ziplock bag

•Mix together by shaking and massaging bag

•Open bag and add water until moist

•Close bag and mix again until uniformly moist

•Roll mixture while still in bag to form a snake (or form into a ball if you prefer to create a seed bomb)

•Allow to dry, dig a hole the size of the seed snake, remove the snake from the bag and plant in your favorite garden pot or flower bed

If you are interested in contributing or volunteer opportunities, you can email us at communitygarden.ridgecrest@gmail.com.  If you are a subscriber and would like to see your bed featured in a future newsletter, along with an interview on your “why” for gardening, please send a message via Facebook messenger to Ridgecrest Community Garden.

Thank you for all the community support…

Zen out, Ridgecrest 😊