Do you live in West Hamilton and grow some of your own food? Would you be interested in exchanging your surplus garden produce with other local backyard vegetable gardeners? Join the West Hamilton Produce Cooperative: a free, twice-a-month exchange of fruits, vegetables, herbs & flowers.

Raised beds are notorious for drying out faster than regular gardens. There is more exposure and places for the water to evaporate. Plants then get stressed, more water is used, and it take more of your time. What to do?
Mulch, mulch, mulch! By covering the soil with a 'insulating layer', less water will be lost to evaporation. Use newspapers, grass clippings, straw or anything else to build up a layer.
Some things to keep in mind:

"Plastic pots reduce air flow and make seedlings root bound. A compact, air pruned soil block does not limit oxygen to the roots." (http://www.pottingblocks.com/) On Sunday, March 25, a dozen or so of us gardeners made 40 blocks each to try out with our seedlings for this year.

We had overwhelming interest in obtaining plots this year, and now we are full.
If you'd still like to garden somewhere this year, you have a couple of options:

Watch out for powdery mildew on squash and zucchini plants. Spots of white fuzzy are indicators; dying / wilting leaves mean it's spreading. To counteract:

• if leaf is wilting, cut it off at the vine and put in the green bins (not the compost - don't want to spread it to next year's plants)
• if only some spots, spray every 2-3 days with a mixture of one part milk and 9 parts water. This seems to change the pH of the leaf so the mildew can't grow

If you leave you plant alone, it will die - so keep a watchful eye, especially when it is hot and humid.

(Courtesy of Raymond, everyone's favourite gardener!)

Homegrown lettuce is so tasty and tender for salads. But special tricks are needed to pick lettuce from the garden now, when it’s hot.

This time of year, lettuce tends to bolt — that is, to flower and make seeds. Once a flower stalk starts pushing up through the whorl of leaves, those leaves turn bitter and tough.

If it is raining at 6pm, consider this event postponed until next Wed. However, we do have tents so we can still go ahead if it is threatening to sprinkle. Hope to see you all at 6:30pm.

Bushy tomato plants are lovely, aren't they? However, it is important to sucker your tomatoes as a bushy plant will actually have less tomatoes. A sucker is a non-bearing branch that grows out of the stem at a 45 degree angle off the branch that will have tomatoes (these grow straight out). Pinch these off as soon as you see them started (idealy before they get an inch long). [Picture credits: finegardening.com and about.com]

The Hill Street Community Garden is one of two Hamilton recipients this year receiving the annual award of excellence from Greening Sacred Spaces. GSS is a practical program developed by Faith & the Common Good to assist faith communities with both the educational and spiritual dimensions of working towards a more sustainable future. Well done!