The Arapahoe County Master Gardener program has had a donation garden at City of Littleton Community Gardens since 2011. Our mission began and has remained to grow and donate fresh pesticide-free produce to support our local community foodbanks. “We partner with our fellow Pea Patch gardeners and have donated over 5,000 pounds of fresh produce since the Grow & Give program’s inception in 2020. That makes us the biggest donator in the state!”

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THE PEA PATCH DISPATCH

Welcome to our second year of The Pea Patch Dispatch brought to you by Arapahoe County Extension Master Gardener volunteers. We hope you found our tips helpful last year. We plan to provide you with even more science-based information going forward so you get the most from your garden. If there are particular vegetable garden topics or questions you’d like answered in the Dispatch, email us at cmgppatch@gmail.com. We’re always looking for ideas.

Because of the Pea Patch gardening community’s generosity, we’ve
donated over ONE TON of fresh produce to local food banks so far
this year. We couldn’t have done it without your support.
THANK YOU!

Leaves!

It won’t be long now before the leaves that shaded your home this summer will be covering your lawn. Those same leaves can make a great soil amendment for your vegetable garden in a couple different ways. First, they can be added to your compost pile as essential “brown” material. Or a thick layer of leaves can be tilled directly into your garden soil in the fall. This must be done in the fall to allow the leaves plenty of time to decompose before spring planting. Another added benefit to fall tilling is it breaks up clusters of grasshopper eggs = fewer grasshoppers next year.

Check out this article for more info.

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Extension is Here to Help

CSU Extension has loads of resources available throughout the year to help with your gardening questions. Here are a few:

• CO-Horts Blog – gardening advice and observations from CSU Extension Agents and specialists.
• CSU Gardening Webinars – free monthly webinars on a variety of interesting topics.
• CSU’s PlantTalk – brief articles on a wide range of topics with links to more resources.
• Garden Notes – science-based info you’ll want to care for your lawn and garden.

This is our final edition of the season. We hope you enjoyed the Pea Patch Dispatch. Are there topics or questions you’d like us to cover next year? Please send your thoughts and suggestions to cmgppatch@gmail.com

See you next spring!

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