Garland Community Garden:  Charles Bevilacqua with recently dug sweet potatoes - November 8, 2015 

HARVESTING SWEET POTATOES

This morning Charlie and I worshiped in the Church of the Garden and Mother Nature duly rewarded us.  We harvested one and a half five-gallon buckets of sweet potatoes and gathered another five-gallon bucket of loofahs.  

Members of Loving Garland green have found the sweet potato grows very well here in North Texas--provided, of course, the gardener has amended our heavy clay soil with expanded shale or perlite prior to planting the slips.  Jane Stroud, an officer of Loving Garland Green's board, has been successfully growing sweet potatoes for several years here in the backyard of her home which is located in the Firewheel area of Garland.

Bucket of Sweet Potatoes from the Garland Community Garden:  November 8, 2015

TIPS ON HARVESTING SWEET POTATOES

1. Harvest Prior to the First Frost

As long as the weather stays warm, sweet potatoes will keep growing.  Unlike white potato vines, the sweet potato vines don't die and signal harvest time.  You do, however, want to harvest them before the first frost.  Cold weather and frost can hurt the sweet potatoes.  When frost blackens the vines, decay can quickly start in the dead vines and spread down to the potatoes.  If a frost hits before harvest, cut the vines off at the top of the soil the first thing the next morning and then harvest the potatoes no later than four days.

NOTE:  Sweet Potato leaves may be eaten in a salad and make a great substitute for spinach.  Unlike the white potato which is a member of the nightshade family, the sweet potato is not.  In fact, the leaves of the sweet potato are even more nutritious than spinach. [Source:  http://skipthepie.org/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/spinach-raw/compared-to/sweet-potato-leaves-raw - accessed Nov 8, 2015.]

2. Cure the Sweet Potatoes

Unlike most vegetables, you should not eat sweet potatoes right from the garden as they will have little flavor and you should not wash them. They must be aged for about two weeks prior to eating. To cure them, place them in a warm dark place that has some humidity.  Eighty Degrees F is an ideal temperature.  After curing, keep potatoes in a dry well-ventilated place at about 60 degrees.  Sweet potatoes can usually be kept up to the next harvest.  It's a good idea to save back a few for growing slips for next year's crop.

Loofahs on top shelf and sweet potatoes on bottom shelf--stored in the garage for curing--November 8, 2015

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OBSERVING MONARCHS ON NOVEMBER 8, 2015 AT THE GARLAND COMMUNITY GARDEN

Garland Community Garden, Garland TX - November 8, 2015 10:30 am - Healthy Male Monarch

Today was another great day for butterfly sighting here in Garland.  While we were down at the garden we saw three large Monarchs and one Gulf Fritillary.  It seems as though we always see at least one of another species of butterflies whenever we see a Monarch.  Perhaps these other pollinators want to remind us they are an important part of the ecosystem as well.

One of the three Monarchs was tagged.

Garland Community Garden- Garland Texas - 75040 - Tagged Female Monarch  - observed about 10:30 AM Sunday November 8, 2015

I saw her first perched on a zinnia near our spent tomato patch.  I followed here around the garden, but never could get close enough to read the tag.  As you can see from the photo below, her right wing is damaged.  It didn't appear to impair her flying capability, but the wing looks like what paper looks like when it gets wet, turns dark and is puckered after drying.  Perhaps the tag was attached shortly after she eclosed and the wing was not dry so the handler damaged it while applying the tag by pressing too hard.  The tag was applied to the opposite wing--not the one that is damaged.  Below is another photo I was able to get of her.  This time she was perching on top of one of the loofah leaves.

Garland Community Garden Garland Texas 75040 - November 8, 2015 - Another view of the tagged and seemingly injured Monarch.

More information on Tagging Monarchs:

Monarch tags are tiny, round stickers made of polypropylene. They are 9 mm in diameter, a little larger than a hole-punch. A tag weighs 10 mg. A typical monarch weighs 500 mgs, so the tag is about 2 percent of a butterfly's weight. The tag is encoded with unique numbers and letters. Tags are supplied by Monarch Watch, a University of Kansas program that documents the monarch migration and promotes conservation of butterfly habitats. Tagging information helps answer questions about the geographic origins of monarchs, the timing and pace of the migration, mortality during migration, the effects of wind and weather, and changes in geographic distribution of monarchs.

More information at Monarch Watch. 

Kevin Keeling checks one of the peanut plants in the hugelkultur down at the Garland Community Garden as (clockwise) Mitch McGowan of Dot Dirt, Anita Opel, Nancy Seaberg and Charles Bevilacqua watch.

Loving Garland Green is closing out 2015 with a bang.  Here are just three of the many items from our action list:

IRRIGATION SYSTEM COMING FOR THE GARLAND COMMUNITY GARDEN!

Yesterday (November 3, 2015) several members of Loving Garland Green met with Mitchell McGowan of Dot Dirt Organic Landscapes down at the Garland Community Garden.

Mitch's background includes studying Bio-Chemistry and Biology at the University of Texas, Austin, from 1988 to 1992. With over 20 total years experience in the landscape industry, Mitch has designed and supervised projects including terraced flower beds and retaining walls, outdoor lighting systems, ponds and fountains, and even a professional photographer's backdrop. During the past 11 years, he founded DOTDIRT Organic Landscapes, an organic-only landscape design firm.

With clientele ranging from homeowners and ranch-owners all over the North Dallas area, to private tennis clubs, parks, and neighborhood associations, to a Highland Park hair salon, Mitch and his team design landscapes, flower beds, walls, walkways, and perform major renovations to all kinds of land areas.

We are very fortunate to have Mitch's services as he is designing and guiding us through the process of installing an irrigation system for the Garland Community Garden.  He is donating his labor and expertise.  Loving Garland Green will pay for the expenses of the materials though a generous donation we received from Jane and Robert Stroud.

Mitch's thorough approach to detail, background and experience inspire confidence.  He will create the design and apply for a permit from the City of Garland for this project.  Among other things at our first meeting yesterday, we learned about the importance of the installation of an anti siphonage device to prevent back flow from our system to city water.

Our battery operated valves will run from 9 volt batteries.  These valves will also have a rain/freeze sensor.  This project will progress over the winter.  We hope to have at least part of it installed by the middle of March 2016.  Also as a note to members:  If you are interested in learning about irrigation systems, you can come help us with the labor for this project and learn as you go.

 Mitch McGowan, owner/founder of Dot Dirt Organic Landscapes, is a living example of the potential that businesses and products related to urban gardening can have for an individual and also for the local economy.  Mitch's business is located right here in Garland Texas.  As a matter of fact, he only lives a few blocks from the Garland Community Garden.  We can't get much more local than that.  

Mitch and the people who work with him offer just about any type of urban gardening related services that you can imagine--from building arbors to taking care of sprinkler systems.  Don't take my word for it visit his website and take a look at his before and after showcase.

http://dotdirt.com 

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BEGINNING OUR THIRD ANNUAL PECAN SALES DRIVE!

We are taking orders now for delivery the first week in December.  So far we have gathered 15 gallons of unshelled pecans.  We will sell them shelled and by the pound.  The price per pound will be set according to current market value on November 15, 2015.  We plan to sell at $1.00 under market value so that we can be competitive.  To place  your order now, please contact us at http://lovinggarlandgreen.org/index.php/about/contact-us .

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OUR LAST 2015 YARD SALE BLAST Saturday NOVEMBER 21!

Get ready for the holidays!  If you are cleaning out your closets and extra bedrooms to make a little room for guests, then give us a call at 972-571-4497.  We would be happy to help you out by carting away some of your good stuff for re-use in our sale.  And remember, as the cliche goes:  "One person's trash is another's treasure."  We are sure to have at least one treasure for you at our sale so stop by and find it!  Our sale this year will be on Pebblewood Drive here in Garland.  Specifics regarding time and address will be forthcoming.

Female Monarch about an hour after eclose--November 2, 2015 2PM  Garland, Texas 75040

This afternoon (November 2, 2015 I peeked into the one remaining Monarch Condo and there she was, still clinging to the outside of her chrysalis. I guess it's not a minute too soon although there are still a few stragglers in our area.  When Charlie and I went down to the Garland Community Garden to release her we saw two other Monarchs and a butterfly that we yet have to identify.  Perhaps if there is a lepidopterist reading this article you can tell us what it is.  We did notice that it is missing parts of its hind wings.  Perhaps a bird clipped them off.

Unidentified Butterfly- Garland Community Garden - November 2, 2015  Garland Texas 75040.  I think it may be some type of Swallowtail.  It looks most like a Spicebush swallowtail but without the distinctive white dots around the outside edges of its wings.

This time around Charlie got the monarch out of her condo.  Like the other Monarch this morning, she was reluctant to leave the human touch.

Charlie Bevilacqua with female Monarch - November 2, 2015 2:30pm - Garland Texas 75040

 This female was so friendly that she went from Charlie's hand to mine.  Although we released her near one of the flower beds, when she eventually took wing, she she flew high up to a branch in a nearby pecan tree.  I think perhaps her wing were not quite dry and she wanted a high safe place to finish the process.  Normally when butterflies are released they are hungry and will go to the nectar flowers for their food.

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THERE ARE STILL A FEW MONARCH RELEASE TALES TO BE TOLD HERE IN GARLAND, but this closes the chapter for this year on my rescues.  I think that at least two other Loving Garland Green members have Monarch chrysalises. Also, Loving Garland Green has delivered four or five Monarchs in various stages of their life cycle to Garland public schools.