Valley Community Garden

	SERVICE TIMES: 9am - Sunday School 10am - Contemporary Service

Valley Community Garden Happenings!

Harvest Time is upon us!

Hopefully we are harvesting "too many" by this point! Too many cucumbers, too many tomatoes, potatoes, ears of corn, ZUCCHINIS! What a great reward it is to be blessed, and be able to bless others with our abundance! If you do have extras on Sunday / Monday please place them on the short table (piece of plywood) out by the sign, we are working out the details on arranging a pickup of our abundance on Tuesday morning for distribution at the Wilsonville food bank at Frog Pond on Tuesday.

Upcoming Events

We'll be having an informal Pot Luck on the 19th of September at 11:30. I hope to see you at this event and even sooner in the garden!

What to do with those Maters!

In talking with Eric he suggested that we send out a recipe for preserving tomatoes. So here goes. (Thanks to the Minnesota Extension): Wash tomatoes and dip in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until skins split. Then dip in cold water, slip off skins, and remove cores. Trim off any bruised or discolored portions and quarter. Heat 1/6 of the quarters quickly in a large pot, and crush them with a wooden mallet or spoon as they are added to the pot. This will exude juice. Continue heating the tomatoes, stirring to prevent burning. Once the tomatoes are boiling, gradually add remaining quartered tomatoes, stirring constantly. These remaining tomatoes do not need to be crushed. They will soften with heating and stirring. Continue until all tomatoes are added. Then boil gently 5 minutes. Add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to jars (add 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid per quart of tomatoes. For pints, use 1 tablespoon bottled lemon juice or 1/4 teaspoon citric acid.). Add 1 teaspoon of salt per quart to the jars, if desired. Fill jars immediately with hot tomatoes, leaving a 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process in a boiling water bath for 40 minutes for pints, and 50 minutes for quarts.

Important Dates

October 10 - Preregistration begins for existing gardeners.

November 4 - Garden shutdown for non 365 day a year gardeners.

November 7 - Garden cleanup work party 9am to 11am.

November 15 - 2010 registration opens for new gardeners.

For more information please contact Jim Fitch.

Current Project List Current Garden Map Photos