SJSU Community Garden July Newsletter
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Check out this lovely montage video of the garden created by Associated Students’ Multimedia Assistant, Teddy Barnes!
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What's growing on?
We had our first summer vegetable harvests this past month including cucumbers, zucchinis, and onions. Our titan sunflowers have bloomed and are loved by the bees and heroically towers over our garden. Additionally, we had mystery seeds sprout in our beds that finally produced fruit and found out that they are ornamental squashes!
There are lots of other plants growing beyond what's depicted, most of which we hope to harvest soon this month. They include American black nightshade berries, corn, beans, tomatillo, tomatoes, okra, and ground cherries.
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Top left: Rows of fresh harvested yellow onions laying on the table for curing.
Top right: A giant cucumber growing on the vine. Can you spot the tiny cukes coming in?
Bottom left: Three bloomed titan sunflowers standing tall over the garden.
Bottom right: Ornamental squash growing on the vine.
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Installing a Vietnamese-Inspired Garden Bed
With the generous help of community members, Lan, Phong, and bác, they planted out a whole garden bed full of delicious Vietnamese herbs and vegetables, including bitter melon (khổ qua), perilla (tía tô), chayote (su su), Thai eggplant (cà pháo), opo squash (bầu), and Thai chili pepper (ớt)!
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Left: Lan posing with the planted out Vietnamese garden bed.
Right: Phong putting down a Thai eggplant (cà pháo).
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Plums, prunes, and more plums!
We harvested over 240 pounds of plums since the beginning of June and shared it with the Spartan Food Pantry, incoming Spartans at orientation, and San Jose community members. We also put them in a dehydrator to make the most perfect chewy prunes!
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Left: Deep red-purple hued plums hang abundantly on the tree.
Right: Finished prunes among a sea of fresh harvested plums.
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Compost Updates
We unintentionally started a new compost system from piling up our surplus wood chips. Fungi thrives in that environment and will slowly break down into compost in about a year. Adding "fungally dominated compost" to the garden will increase the diversity of fungi that provides unique nutrients that other types of compost can't!
As for our hot compost (bins 1 - 3) which are bactierally dominated compost, bin 1 is the most active at 140°F, bin 2 is coming close to completion at 98°F, and bin 3 is finished and being used to amend our soil in the garden this growing season.
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Wide angle view of three compost bins and wood chip pile.
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Summer Volunteering & Drop-Ins
This month is your last chance to volunteer during the summer term. Join us weekly on Wednesdays and every 1st and 3rd Saturday from 9am - 11am. We are also open for drop-in visits on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8am - 2pm. Come by and hang out!
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Left: Garden volunteer flyer. Click "Sign up for volunteering!" for details.
Right: Volunteers planting some summer vegetables together!
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July Community Board
Check out some events and other opportunities happening in July.
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Job Opening: Basic Needs Coordinator – Spartan Food Pantry
This position is responsible for providing administrative oversight related to outreach & operations of the Spartan Food Pantry. Including oversight of student assistants, volunteers, inventory management, and education efforts. This is a full time professional (non-student) position. Click here for more details.
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Viva Parks Downtown @ Plaza de César Chávez
Viva Parks is a series of FREE events focused on health and wellness resources, physical activity, and community. We connect people to people, build community pride, transform parks with positive programming, increase park usage, and bring resources to the neighborhood. Some events this summer include comedy night, wine & paint night, MACLA art showcase, and jazz shows. Click here for more details.
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No-Cost Green House Call
Provides FREE energy- and water-efficient equipment to households throughout the Bay Area, including LED light bulbs, high-efficiency showerheads, smart power strips, and more! Click here for more details.
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