Planning for winter and more music in the garden

One of the great things about gardening in the San Francisco is being able to grow vegetables and other plants year-round. That's why gardeners at Page Street are encouraged to use their plots throughout the year. But if you are not planning on gardening during the rainy winter months, you are required by the garden agreement to prepare your plot for the season.

There are a few events coming up this month that will help you make plans for the winter. If you are interested in learning more about year-round gardening, check out a special "Fall & Winter Gardening" workshop sponsored by the UC Cooperative Extension Service on Saturday, October 20, at Merritt College in Oakland. This workshop features a number of interesting topics, including "Extending Your Growing Season with Winter Crops," led by Pam Pierce, authjor of Golden Gate Gardening. The deadline for signing up for this workshop is October 12.

If you are not planning on gardening during the winter, be sure to attend our workshop on preparing your plot for the season on Saturday, October 27, from 11am-1pm. Brent Patterson, who heads up our compost team, will do a demonstration on sheet mulching. This is an excellent way of keeping weeds in check, improving nutrient content and water retention in soil, and encouraging favorable microbial activity and worms in your plot. It's also very easy to do.

In addition to the sheet mulching lesson, Brent will instruct gardeners on planting winter cover crops for their plots. Cover crops add nitrogen to the soil and also produce plant material that can later be added to the compost for building more soil.

Please keep in mind that gardeners who aren’t actively gardening during the winter or who fail to prepare their plot for the winter by the end of the year will have to give up their plots.

Music in the Garden: Saturday, October 27, 1-4pm

After the workshop is done at 1pm, we'll take a break to enjoy a potluck lunch and another open-mic music event. Music in the garden will continue until about 4pm. If you are interested in performing or know someone who might be, please call Zo at 845-1489. More details to come.