This year the Master Gardeners will be planting several beds at the community garden with a selection of vegetable and herb varieties bred by Cornell University for disease resistance and vigor. Members of the community are encouraged to come and see how these varieties respond to the weather and pest challenges of the 2018 growing season. These variety trials will also tie into a series of monthly garden talks, which will take place at the Penn Yan Community garden from May to October. The “Garden Happy Hour” meetings, will be held at 5 pm on the first Tuesday of the month and will focus on the skills and knowledge needed for successful home vegetable gardening at any scale. Each happy hour will begin with a short talk on a seasonally relevant subject and a skills demonstration such as soil sampling or insect identification. Time will be provided at the end of each session for questions as well as insect and disease identification.
The list of planned topics for 2018 is as follows:
May 1st- Planning and planting. The goal will be to learn about how to select and plant vegetables, herbs and flowers based on flavor, yield and pest resistance. The importance of pH testing will be explained and demonstrated.
June 5th- weed control and garden IPM.
July 3rd - Tomato troubleshooting. An overview of the pathogens and insects that affect tomatoes, along with physiological issues due to weather and nutrient availability.
August 7th - Planting for extended fall harvest, late summer harvesting, and food preservation techniques.
September 4th- Planning and planting for spring- garlic and overwintering greens.
October 2nd- Season recap, effective garden clean-up, and composting demonstration.
FREE
Caroline Boutard-Hunt
Agricultural Educator
cb239@cornell.edu
(315) 536-5123 ext. 4375
Penn Yan Community Garden
Pleasant Street
Penn Yan, NY 14527
Last updated August 21, 2018