NCG Newsletter - Issue 9

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Fall Pumpkin Sales Begin Pumpkin booth opens September 29th

The 2012 crop of pumpkins at the Northside Pumpkin Patch have grown beautifully this year! Take your family on a fall pumpkin-‐hunting adventure to find the perfect Halloween pumpkin. The Northside Pumpkin Patch will open on Saturday, September 29th until October 30th and our hours are Monday-‐Friday 3-‐7, Saturday 12-‐6, and we are closed on Sundays . The Pumpkin Patch is located at 2020 North 5th Street, in Niles, MI 49120, directly behind the school. The proceeds from the pumpkins goes towards the Niles Community Schools and the Niles Community Gardens. For a $1 off coupon, please see the last page of the newsletter.

Issue 9 September 2012

Helping others produce their own fruits and vegetables while learning how to live more sustainably in Southwest Michigan


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Letter from the Director

Dear Gardeners,

As we begin to close out the season, I

see so much to be thankful for. I believe

that in general these were the best

gardens that we have had in the last three

years. They were well-‐planned and, for the

most part, well worked. Our harvest has

been exciting and interesting and the

gardens have been beautiful. We are

learning together, and I compliment all of

you on your efforts to grow food in a

healthy and sustainable way. We will talk

about our successes and ways to improve

later in the fall and next spring. For

example: Melons – my wife and I don’t

grow melons anymore because they are

somewhat difficult to grow and we only eat

about two muskmelons and one small

watermelon in a season. Most of the melons

ripen at the same time and half of them rot in

the garden! I recommend putting that garden

space to better use by growing crops like

onions, garlic, beets, Swiss chard, winter

squash, cabbage, beans, peppers, sweet

potatoes, cauliflower, or lettuce.

As you know, the Midwest was under drought

conditions this summer. We were blessed to

have city water for our gardens. In mid-‐

summer our gardens looked like an oasis in

the desert. This blessing, of course, comes

with a price tag. We thank the city for giving

“My garden is my most beautiful

masterpiece.”

-Claude Monet


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us $2000.00 worth of water (which does

not include Ring Lardner or Ballard

School). In June alone we spent $1600.00

of the $2000.00 cap. I estimate that we

will have a shortfall of about $1000.00 for

our water usage. In addition, garden

donations were less than anticipated. So

I am asking for your help to pay for the

water. Send what you can. If all of our

gardeners gave another $10.00 or $15.00

dollars we should be able to cover our

water costs. The Niles Community

Gardens are completely dependent on

donations and grants – please do what

you can. You can send checks to:

“For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of

gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering

abroad.”

-‐Edwin Way Teale

Niles Community Gardens

P.O. Box 304

Niles, MI 49120

Don’t forget our U-‐Pick Pumpkin Sale

starting September 29th at Northside

School. Profits go to the Niles Schools

and Niles Community Gardens.

Thank you for your support,

Mark Van Til

Executive director

Niles Community Gardens


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NCG 2012 Season Photo Yearbook Part 1

A beautiful eggplant in the Arbor Trails garden

A model Napa cabbage from the Northside garden.

Left: Purple sage and parsley planted side-‐by-‐side in Holy Trinity’s beautiful herb garden

A miniature pumpkin variety called “Wee Be Little” at the Northside Pumpkin Patch


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Mark Van Til shows how an African variety of corn at Arbor Trails gardens grows very tall!

A Japanese variety of eggplant produces profusely at the Ring Lardner garden

Rainbow chard and red

cabbage creates a colorful

patch in the Holy Trinity

garden

A bee visits a bright cosmo

in the Holy Trinity garden


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A large head of cabbage from the

Northside garden

Heavy green Brandywine tomatoes gather sun in the

Ring Lardner garden

A crook-‐necked yellow squash rests in the shade of the Arbor Trails garden

Some perfect hot peppers ripen at the Ring Lardner Garden


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-‐ Ipsum

Find Niles Community Gardens on Facebook!

Share with us! If you have any stories, jokes, poems, recipes or anecdotes you would like to share in our

monthly newsletter, please send them to Sarah Markley via email at [email protected]

or via U.S.P.S. at 2625 Holland St, South Bend, IN 46619

If you are not on our email mailing list and would like to receive our newsletter, please send your email address to Sarah Markley via email or U.S.P.S. (address above).

Garden with us! If you would like to volunteer in the gardens or on special projects, or if you haven’t gardened with us but would like to, please email Mark Van Til at [email protected] or call at 269-‐815-‐

5034.

Support us!

To make a monetary donation, please make checks payable to Niles Community Gardens and mail to:

Niles Community Gardens PO Box 304

Niles, MI 49120

NCG Newsletter - Issue 9

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