RCG April 2022 Newsletter

Ridgecrest Community Garden (RCG) April 2022 Newsletter

What’s new at the garden?

Join us on April 16th from 10:00 to 12:00 for our next planting day, with a plant swap and a composting in place demonstration occurring simultaneously.  We intend to have seedlings available for you to take, plant, or trade (longevity spinach, squash, peppers, tomatoes, to name a few).  Bring what you have to share and/or take what we have available.  The event will be held in the garden at 231 W. Haloid in Ridgecrest.  Ridgecrest Community Garden T-shirts will be available for sale ($25 each) at the event with proceeds going toward the Herbal Zen Garden funding efforts.

When you stop by the garden, participate in our monthly RCG scavenger crossword as you tour through the garden for clues.  Take a picture or scan in your completed crossword and submit your filled in crossword with your name and phone number.  Submit in person at the garden at our plant swap event or send via Facebook messenger to Ridgecrest Community Garden. A drawing will occur during our plant swap on April 16th and the winner will receive a Ridgecrest Community Garden T-shirt.  Need not be present to win. 

Our planned “Mental Health Benefits of Gardening” session co-hosted with Ridgecrest regional hospital for April 23rd has been cancelled due to personnel availability.  Please keep an eye out for follow-on events once the details have been worked out for future sessions. 

One of the challenging aspects of gardening in the desert is assuring that plants have enough water.  In ground garden bed watering is a bit different than raised garden bed watering.  With raised beds, the contents of the raised bed soil that help with water retention can also end up repelling water if the soil gets too dry.  When you water your raised beds, make sure and scratch down about an inch in the soil to assure the water is penetrating.  One of the top killers of plants are people thinking they have adequately watered their plants, but the water has only been penetrating half an inch and running off the side.  If you find the water is not absorbing, water the top of the soil, give it a few minutes to absorb, and then come back and soak it again.  Keep checking until you no longer find dry soil underneath the surface.  Topping your raised bed with mulch, such as wood chips or straw, helps the soil retain water for the plants to use just a bit longer.

What’s the news from the garden?

A session of the Mental health garden event was cancelled in March.  We have high hopes that we will be able to resume these events in the near future.

The raised bed subscriber program continues with only three subscriber beds still available.  As of March 28th, the probability of additional freezes has dropped to 50% for Ridgecrest.  By April 24th, the probability of additional freezes will have dropped to 10%.  Determine the level of risk you are comfortable with, but have those seedlings ready to go, regardless of your decision of when to plant (frost dates provided by https://morningchores.com/frost-dates/).  Please visit this link https://www.holisticdivineinnovations.org/subscriber-program for additional information, to sign up for a bed, or sponsor someone else that may not have the financial resources to pay, but would still like to garden.  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.

We are extremely excited to announce our final crowdfunding campaign for the Herbal Zen Garden. This project is finally underway, and we are going to need your help to build a complete garden that will be aesthetically beautiful and will serve as a space for peace and healing. In 2021, we raised enough funds to pay for the concrete foundational work.  Now that we are working with Bernie’s Landscaping to make that happen, we want to focus on making the Herbal Zen Garden comfortable and therapeutic by adding features such as pergolas for shade, solar water fountains for natural sounds, tables and benches for comfort, and plants for aromas. These components work perfectly together to give you a beautiful experience every time you step foot into our garden. The Herbal Zen Garden will be an extension to the Ridgecrest Community Garden to create a wonderful experience of health and wellness (plant nutrition and plant medicine).  At this link, you can see the plans, donate for specific items or to give a general donation https://www.holisticdivineinnovations.org/crowd-funding

Community support continues to promote the welfare of the garden.  Along with our many generous donations on our plant swap day in March, a community member recently donated wood chips to further deter weeds in the pathways and retain moisture in our raised beds and others funded a few of the plants and trees from the zen garden crowdfunding request.  Thanks so much for your support.  If you are interested in contributing or volunteer opportunities, you can email us at communitygarden.ridgecrest@gmail.com

Zen out, Ridgecrest 😊