The Arapahoe County Master Gardener program has had a donation garden at City of Littleton Community Gardens since 2011. Our mission began and continues to be to grow and donate fresh pesticide-free produce to support our local community food banks. We partner with our fellow Pea Patch gardeners and have donated over 25,000 pounds of fresh produce since 2011. That’s over 12.5 tons of fresh produce shared with neighbors in need.

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THE PEA PATCH DISPATCH

Putting the Garden to Bed

It’s that time of year again. Our plants have given us their best over the season and with first chilling night, they’re past their prime. With some prudent clean-up this fall, we can help prevent disease and insect problems in the Pea Patch next year:

• Remove all stems, vines, leaves and other litter from the garden after final harvest. This will reduce hiding places for insect pests, like squash bugs, thrips and flea beetles, and can keep diseases, such as powdery mildew and tomato spotted wilt, from building up.
• Don’t forget to dispose of any diseased or bug-infested perennial weeds like bindweed, mallow and nightshade, too. If left behind, they can be the source of reinfections next year.
• Fall is a great time to till or cultivate the garden and add composted organic matter. You could even add some chopped up leaves from your trees. Cultivating in fall can also expose clusters of grasshopper eggs helping reduce next year’s population.

Because of the Pea Patch gardening community’s generosity, we’ve donated over 2100 pounds of fresh produce to local food banks this year. We couldn’t have done it without your support. THANK YOU!!

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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.
• Extension Resources – science-based info you need 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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