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Now that the gardening season has come to an end, I would like to take this opportunity to

thank everyone who made 2014 a productive year and to provide you with a year-end

report.

Two graphs are provided elow. The !rst graph compares our harvests "rom 2010 - 2014.

The second compares our ma#or crops "rom 2012 -2014. Thanks to a long growing season, a

heavy apple crop and many generous property owners who allowed us to glean "ruit "romtheir orchards, this year$s harvest was %&,'%( pounds ringing the total pounds donated

over the past !ve years to almost 1)4 million pounds.

What went well

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1. Harvest: 2014 was our second largest harvest, surpassed only y 2012. This year, we

had a record harvest o" tomatoes *2+,(&' pounds, green chile *,%01 pounds and "ruit

gleaned "rom local orchards *2,(++ pounds.

2. Increase in Volnteer Hors: e had higher volunteer turnout this year. /olunteers

contriuted over 4000 hours planting, maintaining and harvesting the gardens and

gleaning "ruit "rom local orchards. esides eed2Need volunteers *andoval ounty3aster ardeners and the general pulic, we hosted si5 6agle scout pro#ects - three to

plant the gardens, one to glean "ruit and two to clean up the gardens at the end o"

season. In addition, we received help "rom several orporate volunteer groups such as

7i8y 9ue, mith$s grocery stores, :eads ;p 9andscaping and ar3a5, "rom church

groups, oy and girl scout troops, 9os ctinovate

to control nematodes. e added "ertiliBer in#ectors to the irrigation systems at all &

gardens, in#ected >ctinovate into the drip irrigation system 2 weeks e"ore planting, at

planting and 2 weeks a"ter planting. hen we pulled up our tomato plants this "all, very

"ew plants showed signs o" root knot nematode damage. Cor more in"ormation on this

Te5as study see httpD))today.agrili"e.org)2010)12)22)root-knot-nematode)

4. !ontrol o" %road &ea" WeedsD In 201&, we had a heavy in"estation o" pigweed

*>maranth "ollowing the summer monsoon season. e were concerned that this would

lead to pigweed sprouting ne5t to our tomato plants this spring. ecause we cover all

2200 o" our tomato plants with row cover and do not uncover them until the 1st week o"

7uly, this gives the pigweed time to reach $ tall and 1-2E in diameter e"ore the

201& - galls and knots on the tomato plantroots caused y root knot nematodes

2014 - healthy root system on tomatoplants grown in the same !eld a"ter

http://var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/%20http:%2Ftoday.agrilife.org%2F2010%2F12%2F22%2Froot-knot-nematode%2Fhttp://var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/%20http:%2Ftoday.agrilife.org%2F2010%2F12%2F22%2Froot-knot-nematode%2F

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tomatoes can e weeded. Figweed this siBe can easily choke out

and kill the tomato seedlings.

Internet research led us to a study at Iowa tate ;niversity that

"ound corn gluten to e ('-++G e8ective in controlling road

lea" weeds. It also adds 10G nitrogen to the soil. e "ound 40H

ags o" corn gluten at a local nursery and sprinkled it around thetomato seedlings as they were planted. hen the tomato plants

were uncovered in 7uly, there was very little pigweed. Cor more

in"ormation on this study see

httpsD))www-

hort.sws.iastate.edu)sites)de"ault)!les)imported)gluten)pd")grnhsechr.pd"

. !odlin' (oth !ontrol: This year we purchased an orchard sprayer and sprayed the

"ruit trees to reduce codling moth damage. hile researching pesticides e8ective "or

controlling codling moths, we "ound a tale that listed pesticides ased on their to5icityto ees.

httpD))www.entomology.umn.edu)cues)pollinators)TencBar?rischik201&ulletin.pd"

To reduce our impact on the pollinators, we sprayed the orchard with a pesticide called

Intrepid. Intrepid was e8ective. e had very little codling moth damage. Intrepid is

e5pensive and dicult to !nd locally. :owever, less pesticide is re=uired per gallon

making the cost less prohiitive.

%. In"rastrctre: e uilt a garden shed so we could store all e=uipment and supplies

on site *see photo elow. e also purchased a single ottom plow "or the tractor.

In addition, we installed a pallet scale and purchased "orks "or the tractor so we canmove and weigh produce y the pallet rather than y the individual crate. This saved

time and ack reaking laor. It also allowed us to load produce onto the "ood pantry

trucks with the tractor.

Joung volunteer sprinkling

corn gluten around each

tomato seedling during

https://www-hort.sws.iastate.edu/sites/default/files/imported/gluten/pdf/grnhsechr.pdfhttps://www-hort.sws.iastate.edu/sites/default/files/imported/gluten/pdf/grnhsechr.pdfhttp://www.entomology.umn.edu/cues/pollinators/TenczarKrischik2013bulletin.pdfhttps://www-hort.sws.iastate.edu/sites/default/files/imported/gluten/pdf/grnhsechr.pdfhttps://www-hort.sws.iastate.edu/sites/default/files/imported/gluten/pdf/grnhsechr.pdfhttps://www-hort.sws.iastate.edu/sites/default/files/imported/gluten/pdf/grnhsechr.pdfhttp://www.entomology.umn.edu/cues/pollinators/TenczarKrischik2013bulletin.pdf

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What did not 'o well ) New learnin' opportnities

1. Her*icide da$a'e+>"ter we spread manure in one corner o" the garden, plant growth

in that corner showed signs o" hericide damage. e sent plant samples to N3; and

this con!rmed our suspicions. Curther research pointed to hericide damage caused y

using manure "rom animals that ate hay harvested o8 o" a pasture treated with a roadlea" hericide such as picloram, clopyralid and aminopyralid. Cor more in"ormation see

httpD))www.ces.ncsu.edu)Aetcher)programs)ncorganic)special-

pus)hericideKcarryover.pd"

>n article pulished y lemson ;niversity reported that spreading activated charcoal on

a contaminated !eld will deactivate the hericide.

httpD))www.clemson.edu)e5tension)horticulture)tur")pestKguidelines)pesticideKdeactivatio

n.html

e will do additional research over the winter and we will proaly treat the garden with

activated charcoal this spring.

2. S,ash *'s+ This spring s=uash ugskilled most o" our cucurit crops *cucumers,

s=uash and melons e"ore the plants were 2E tall. This reduced our total harvest y

appro5imately 10,000 pounds. The only cucurit crops that survived the season were

covered with row cover until the 1st week o" >ugust.

@ver the years we have tried a variety o" ways to control s=uash ugs, e.g. e5amining

every lea", killing the s=uash ugs and smashing their clusters o" eggs, planting

companion plants that are purported to repel s=uash ugs, torching the s=uash ugs

when the in"estation gets out o" hand and trap cropping *planting a crop that attracts the

s=uash ugs to encourage them to stay away "rom the other cucurit crops. o "ar, the

score is =uash ugs , eed2Need 0. Nothing we have tried has een e8ective.

I" we decide to grow cucurit crops ne5t year, we will plant them under row cover and

leave them covered until late summer. esides protecting the young plants, row cover

provides a nice, white ackground that makes the s=uash ugs easy to spot and kill.

&. %losso$ end rot+ @ur tomato crop was heavily hit y lossom end rot this year despite

spraying the "oliage with gypsum *N3;$s recommendation was to spray the "oliage with

a mi5ture o" 1)4 c. gypsum per gallon o" water.. e will research other solutions over

the winter.

2014 - using the tractor and "orks to move

and weigh the produce. Note the new

garden shed in the ackground and the pallet

scale elow the tractor "orks.

& - two (0L year-old volunteers using a

on to move produce "rom one end o" the

den to the other. @ne wagon o" tomatoes

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletcher/programs/ncorganic/special-pubs/herbicide_carryover.pdfhttp://www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletcher/programs/ncorganic/special-pubs/herbicide_carryover.pdfhttp://www.clemson.edu/extension/horticulture/turf/pest_guidelines/pesticide_deactivation.htmlhttp://www.clemson.edu/extension/horticulture/turf/pest_guidelines/pesticide_deactivation.htmlhttp://www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletcher/programs/ncorganic/special-pubs/herbicide_carryover.pdfhttp://www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletcher/programs/ncorganic/special-pubs/herbicide_carryover.pdfhttp://www.clemson.edu/extension/horticulture/turf/pest_guidelines/pesticide_deactivation.htmlhttp://www.clemson.edu/extension/horticulture/turf/pest_guidelines/pesticide_deactivation.html

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4. %acterial %li'ht on the 'reen *ean crop+ In 201, we will look "or a variety o" green

eans that is resistant to acterial light.

lans "or 201.

e are already planning the 201 gardens. e have a seed starting workshop scheduled in

mid-3arch, and we will e planting &0 more are-root "ruit trees this spring.

e will e speaking to other civic and community service groups over the winter to recruit

more help gleaning "ruit "rom local orchards.

e are looking "orward to another

success"ul garden season.

Thanks again "or supporting eed2Need

and "or helping us provide "resh "ruits

and vegetales to the "amilies in our

community "acing "ood insecurity. Jour

participation and support is greatly

appreciated.

est wishes "or a #oy"ul holiday seasonM

eed2Need