In thinking about pre fe r red to m a to varieties, I co l l e cted ideas fro ms eve ral wo n d e rful co m m u n i ty gardeners in addition to my ow nsuggestions. Here are some of their favo r i tes, including other ve g e t a b l e sand annuals and a few pe rennials as well. I will provide their tidbits in theirown wo rds where po ss i b l e .

E ATING TOMAT O E SMIMI T.: Year after year,best-producing and best-tasting tomato is Dona, aFrench hybrid. Dependableand delicious. Annie’sGarden carried it one year.Second is Persimmonwhich is hard to startfrom seed but worthit…productive & tasty.She has beendisappointed with theproductivity ofBrandywine and with thebland flavor of Carmello.Prefers tomatoes withsignificant acid flavorrather than overly sweet varieties.ANNE LA FONTAINE: agrees with Mimi about Persimmon; it would be her pick ifshe could have only one (Johnny’s & Pinetree Garden Seeds;superseeds.com); Garden Peach is a small fuzzy peach-colored tomatowhich is productive although an heirloom. To be sure of having enoughtomatoes, she also plants some hybrids, including Big Boy, Early Girl orJet Star. She too likes tomatoes of different colors, arranged on her largesky blue plate, with fresh mozzarella, garnished with johnny jump ups andnasturtiums. For a feast, add a bottle of wine and some crunchy bread.JUSTINE BERTRAM: grows mostly heirloom/ organic tomato seeds (Seeds ofChange & Johnny’s); selects varieties for flavor and color, including GreenZebra, Marvel Striped, German Striped, Zapotec (with an interestingpleated shape, Oaxacan Pink and orange Brandywine. She makes tomato

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE VEGETABLE?By Julie Abra m s o n

M AY 2005

r NeWS 5N O RT H A M P TON COMMUNITY GARDEN

W WW.N O H O G A R D ENS.O R G

JUNE INSPECTIONDon’t forget that June 1 is thedeadline for beginning work on yourgarden plot. If yo u’ re unable to start by June 1but can do so soon afte r, you mayrequest an extension, by e-mail tomtex@smith.edu or by mail to theRe c reation Dep’t., 90 Locust St.,N o rt h a m p ton 01060; tell us yo u rname and plot number and thed a te by which you can start .

GARDENERS BE WARY!It seems that a thief is preying onour Ga rden. Seve ral items have gonem i ssing from gardeners’ plots andf rom the tool shed. And a tre es l a ted for planting near the too lshed on Cleanup Day was taken. 1 If you saw someone on April 30or May 1 loading a tree onto apickup truck or other vehicle, please let us know.2Please keep an eye out for some-one who drives around the Ga rd e nl ooking things ove r, but doe s n ’ tg a rden. If you see such a pe r s o n ,w r i te down the license number and letus know right awa y.The thefts have been reported tothe Northampton Police Dep’t.; wehope they’ll send a patrol car tomake regular rounds.

LOCK THE SHED!!I t ’s especially impo rtant that yo ul ock the shed after eve ry use. (All gardeners now have keys . )THANK YOU from The Garden Committee

M A RVEL STRIPE by Gloria Santa Anna

M AY 2005 Y PAGE 2

salads that have 4-5 differentcolors and flavors. JULIE A.: after much trial & error,has found Bucks County (Burpee)outstanding…has tried Burpee’sBrandy Boy for Brandywine tastewith greater productivity…notmuch success in last year’s not sogood tomato year so will give it onemore year. Rose de Berne is a pinktomato with wonderfulflavor…good looking too(Totally Tomatoes;www.totallytomatoes.com).

PASTE TOMAT O E SMIMI: favors Amish Paste; Julie: likesOpalka. Mimi recommends a newsource for her, Tomato Fest(www.tomatofest.com)

C H E R RY TOMAT O E SJULIE: still depends on Sweet 100;Anne: loves Green Grape…so doher grandchildren.

OTHER VEGETA B L E SMIMI T.: best bell pepper, King of theNorth (www.highmowingseeds.com);matures without developing rottenspots when ready to harvest.ANNE: Envy soybeans (Johnny’s..shesaves seeds); eats them fresh asedaname..delicious. Best bush beanis Dragon’s Tongue; pole bean,Rattlesnake.JUSTINE: started with 3 heads ofgarlic, now has 3 varieties…expects to harvest 90 heads. She roasts it, stores it in tightcontainer with olive oil; it keeps verywell and the garlic flavored oil isuseful, too.JULIE: ichiban Japanese eggplant willmake anyone a convert; County Fairpickling cuke does not havecurcurbit so is less appealing to

cucumber beetle which means thevines don’t die off so quickly…afabulous taste too (Park seeds);sugar snaps, of course…they nevermake into the house. Starts themas soon as possible, seemed to getbetter yield by covering them withReemay when they first come up,removing it when they begin to vine.GLO R I A SA N TA AN N A (plots T & S 5):Only turnip she will eat is Hakurei fro mJo h n n y’s; it is so sweet and crisp thatit is delicious raw in salads

F L O W E R SANNE: many favorites, includingnasturtiums, Pinwheel marigolds,Persian carpet zinnias, tithonia,verbena bonariensis…good forbutterflies.JULIE: (plots S & R 4.)plans acutting garden for one of her plots,including perennial and annualsalvias, delphinium (raised asannuals…if they come back, all thebetter), lupines, burgundy batchelorbuttoms, knautia, larkspur, tallzinnias, Black Prince snapdragons,lemon gem marigolds, all raisedfrom seed.

GLORIA: her garden is “no fuss, nomuss” and drought tolerant;primarily a yellow/gold and purplecolor scheme. Annual flowers thatmeet those requirements are thewave petunias since they handledryness, spread quickly and requireno deadheading. She Likes thenarrow leaf zinnias which can handledryness unlike the other zinnias;these would include star white &star orange although Gloria’spreference is for star gold. Perennialflowers that are happy in hergarden include sedum; she prefersSedum spurium “tri-color” withleaves that are red, white & green,changing with the season; it alsogrows quickly as a ground cover.Another favorite is Sedum “aizoon”which has deep yellow blooms andtolerates some shade. It growsmore slowly. Was very successfuland the envy of others withRosemary Logee’s Blue from Logee’sGreenhouse although Gloria got itfrom Walker’s in VT. It has thedarkest green leaves, is veryaromatic, is a fast grower and hasblue flowers. S

N O RT H A M P TON COMMUNITY GAR DEN NEWS

DO IT NOW! Don’t wait ’til September to complete your Garden work

requirement. Pitch in now to help make our garden beautiful!

COMMUNITY SERVICE TASKS Survival Center – see article on Survival Center Gardening, p. 4.Tool Shed – contact Alex MacPhail (amacphail@comcast.net)to offer help on finishing the tool shedNewsletter – Submit ideas for articles and illustrations for July Newsletter; contact Gloria Santa Anna(gasantaanna@usadatanet.net)

M AY 2005 Y PAGE 3

GARDEN NEWSSHED RENOVATION April brought few showers, lots of sun, and an enlarged andrefurbished tool shed to theGarden. No more stumbling overthree lawn mowers and fourwheelbarrows in order to reach ashovel! Thanks to Elizabeth Armstrong,Donna Cohn, Stacey Dakai, SueDickman, Jane Hillman, and KathrynStout for their help; to JimFerguson and Art Larson for lendingtheir expertise and many hours oftheir labor; and most especially toAlex MacPhail who conceived theextension, designed it, arranged formaterials, supervised construction,and performed Herculean labors tobring the project to completion.

WAT E RThe water scene at the Garden isalso undergoing change. Bymidsummer, in response to yourquestionnaire answers, there will betwo new water outlets – one nearO11, the other near F25. Anotherimprovement that received lots ofvotes was community hoses ateach outlet, and gardeners shouldfind those in place after CleanupDay. Finally, our water expert, BillGriffiths, who for the past severalseasons has tended the faucets,installed washers, confiscatedleaky hoses, and in general helpedus to avoid unnecessary water use,is retiring (from that job, but not from the Garden) and handing the washers over to CarolStrobelberger, who hasvolunteered to take on the job. Ifyou need to report a malfunctioningfaucet or leaky hose, note the

number of the water outlet, andnotify Carol; you’ll find her name,phone number, and e-mail addresson the bulletin board.

GARDEN IMPROVEMENTSOther improvements slated for thesummer also received your seal ofapproval via the questionnaireincluded with registration forms.Northampton DPW has added totheir list some improvements tothe entry road to the west of theGarden and to the road that runsnorth of rows 1 to 10. Somegardeners feared this mean addingpavement, but that’s not the case:The roads will be scraped and filladded, but left unpaved.

C O M P O S TCompost users, please rememberto PILE YOUR COMPOSTABLEMATERIALS ON TOP OF THEPILES. Otherwise, the pile growslike a sci-fi monster, engulfingneighboring plots.Special thanks to Patrice Luzi of Earth, Water, and Flowers, alandscaping firm, for the large loadof wood chips he donated forgardeners to use. S

GARDEN TIPS FROM THE HAPPY GARDENERThe ave rage last frost date at theGa rden is around May 7 – butbe wa re! Th a t ’s an ave rage. Twoyears ago, there was a hard fro s ton May 15. The Happy Ga rd e n e rwas unhappy to lose seve ra lto m a to plants she had set out in an optimistic moment. Th et raditional time to set out to m a toplants is Memorial Da y. If you wa n tto gamble with an earlier date, be

p re p a red to cover your plants incase of a late fro s t .What seeds can you plant thismonth? Once again, check the soiltemperature. Corn and tomatoseed can go in when the soiltemperature reaches 55° F; wait till65° to plant cucumber and pepperseeds; 70° for squash; 72° forbeans and watermelons.The best gardening purchase of lastyear was a hose that recoils itself.These hoses are now availableinexpensively in a 50-ft. length;they save you the tedious task ofcoiling up that length of heavy hose,and they are easily storeable inyour plot. One of these will make yo ua happy gardener.S

N O RT H A M P TON COMMUNITY GAR DEN NEWS

GARDEN CO M M I TTEE MEETINGS

The Garden Committee meets on the second Monday of each

month at 6:30 P.M., at theRecreation Dep’t. during fall,

winter, and spring, and near theshed in the Garden in summer

(weather permitting).

All Gardeners are welcome toattend and participate; check

with the Recreation Dep’t. (587-1040) the day of the

meeting to confirm time and place.

Gardeners are welcome tosuggest items for the agenda.

E-mail Mimi at mtex@smith.edu or call 584-0317.

N O RT H A M P TON COMMUNITY GAR DEN NEWS

M AY 2005 Y PAGE 4

GARDEN SURVEYRESULTSSummary: Many thanks to the 130 gardeners who responded tothe 2004 survey. As a direct resultof those surveys, the GardenCommittee will be instituting manychanges and new additions toenhance the community gardensand to make your experience moreenjoyable. The majority of gardenerslike the community gardens for theinteraction with other gardeners;sharing of information; learningfrom others and the communityspirit. An equal number ofgardeners expressed their desireto grow their own food; to enjoy thenatural beauty , peace and solitude;as well as a space to experiment asreasons they like being apart of theGarden.Co m m i t tee Act i o n s : Based on yo u ra n s wers to questions whicha d d re ssed issues of tool ava i l a b i l i ty ;adding new equipment; and genera li m p rovements, re s pe ct i ve l y, theGa rden Co m m i t tee will be purc h a s i n ga new wheelba r row, ya rd ca rt, set ofhand tools, a few wa tering cans, and ahose and “y” for each wa ter outlet. Inaddition, road improvements, as infilling in the huge ruts and holes, areon the DPW list to do this summer.DPW will also extend wa ter lines totwo new loca t i o n s !Question 2, “What improvements orchanges would you like to see?” dre wthe most mixed and there fo re non-co nc l u s i ve re s ponse. Co m m u n i tyevents such as monthly gatherings;

s pe a kers, demonstrations wo r k-shops; and seed/plant swap we re themost frequent re s ponses (less than10% of surveys). It would be wo n d e rf u lif a gardener who has an inte rest inany of the above improvements co u l dt a ke the initiative as part of his/herco m m u n i ty serv i ce hours.A few members expressed concernabout vandalism and theft. Thebeauty of the community gardenbeing an open space also makes itmost vulnerable. We are all our bestbuddies and defense against suchactions. Should you see somethingsuspicious and/or notice anyrecurring instances please reportthem to the Recreation Dep’t.(587-1040) and the GardenCommittee (mtex@smith.edu).Lastly, one suggestion of improvingthe identity of plots could best beaddressed best if each gardenermade a sign for his/her plot(s). S

SURVIVAL CENTERGARDENINGThe Su rv i val Ce n ter garden isexpanding to two plots this seasonso that we can inc rease the amountof prod u ce we donate to help familiesin need. Flip Filippi is coo rdinating theGa rd e n ’s effo rt and is looking for vo l u n teers to pre p a re plots fo rplanting, to plant seedlings, and tokeep them wa te red and weeded. You can co n t a ct her via e-mail ( m p fi l i p p i @ tds.net) or phone (584-6951) to set up a time to work onthis pro j e ct .

GARDEN WORKSHOPMay 14We’re pleased to announce the firstin a series of occasional workshops.On Saturday, May 14, from 10:30a.m. to noon, Julie Abramson, a NYState Master Gardener, will talkabout “Getting your GardenStarted.” She grows many of herplants from seeds and is planning a cutting garden for one of herCommunity Garden plots this yearand vegetable patch in the other.Julie’s talk will cover:Clearing your plot; use of compost,fertilizers & mulch; deciding on whatto grow; cultural needs of varioustypes of plants; selecting varieties;spacing of various vegetables,annuals, perennials; organicpractices; growing “up” with fences,teepees and trellises. Mostimportant! She will try to answeryour questions, so be sure to asklots of them. Gardeners new to theCommunity Garden are especiallywelcome.The workshop will be held in theGarden at the picnic table; bring afolding chair if you have one. In caseof rain, the workshop will meet atthe same time at the RecreationDep’t. (90 Locust St, behind Smith Voke).Registration isn’t necessary, butJulie would appreciate knowing ifyou plan to attend. Her e-mail isjabramson@albany.edu and phone is 585-0719.S

PLEASE STOW WHEELBA R R OWS !

PLEASE LOCK THE SHED!