Larkspur community garden
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WELCOME 
The Larkspur California Community Garden provides Larkspur residents space in 73 small garden plots, a tool shed, a compost area and a communal orchard. This Organic garden,
located in Piper Park was established in 1982.  

If you are interested in joining the garden community and if you live in Larkspur or Greenbrae, contact and sign up with the Larkspur Recreation Department.


                                                                               See the Contact Us page for details.

Greeting Gardeners!  
FOR ROSES GROWERS: Please read carefully and email with any questions.
NOW is the time to prune all roses. 
There is no need to be intimidated- -you are simply cutting back a plant. 

Roses are very forgiving and want to be cut back.  Whether you cut too high or too low, it won't make a lot of difference….
Pruning is an important aspect of forcing the plant to renew itself with new strong stems and many flowers. If you don't remove the old thatch and small branches, it won't be forced to send out new large canes.
--Get rid of the three  D's  -the dead, damaged and diseased portions of the plant - pruning allows you to shape a rose.

Dress for the occasion. Cover you arms with long sleeves and wear strong, durable, flexible gloves.
Use sharp, Bypass type shears and loppers to make a clean cut without bruising canes. 
A small pruning saw, preferably with fine teeth, will cut large canes and get into places that can't be reached with shears and loppers.
Focus on the main cane and cut fairly short. leave three to five buds on each.
Keep the buds that face outward away from the plant to keep canes from growing together in the middle of the bush.

Allow air and light in. Remove branches that are crossing each other and any with holes on them .
Remove any suckers and any stems thinner than a pencil. Cut out older non productive canes .
--Remove any remaining leaves from the plant and dispose of them and the canes in the dumpster. 
Don't compost them because they carry pests and disease and thorns.
A dormant spray ( a light oil spray), also helps to smother any overwintering pests or disease.
Remember, roses are very forgiving. Pruning won't hurt the rose. It will grow back.


Hello Community Gardener family,                                          January 10, 2021
Happy New Year!
Welcome to our 39th year of organic growing at The Larkspur Community Garden.
We hope you are well and safe at this time.
Many gardeners have already been to their gardens. Larkspur recreation has now received our garden renewals - and we ask you to mark your calendar with our two Spring and Fall garden date deadlines.  Spring start up deadline, March 20th 2021 and Fall clean up deadline, October 23, 2021.

I am writing to let you know that access to the Community Garden is still approved during the COVID-19 event with these stipulations to all of our gardeners:
1.       Gardeners may use the garden at their own risk.
2,       All who come to the Community Garden need to Wear a Mask.
3.       Please bring disinfectant wipes/hand sanitizer.  Please use on your hands after entry/exit and after using Community Garden tools.
4.       Please maintain social distance.
5.       Please only bring members of your family to the garden.  Please don’t bring friends or neighbors.
6.       Please be patient and kind. Folks may be a bit on edge. It’s going to be weird out there for a bit longer and we all need to take care of ourselves and each other.  
We certainly want you to enjoy and tend your Garden plot.
We want you to meet and greet your neighbors in the garden and elsewhere.
Please continue to take appropriate precautions. 

Thank you
Further announcements: 
1. Please introduce yourself to our 4 new gardeners at gardens #18, #20, #47 and #70.
2. Our gate combinations will be changing and you’ll receive an email as soon as those changes are made. 
For garden security, please do not tell others our combinations or we will have to change them. 
3. You will also receive an updated garden telephone list. Use it to ask fellow gardeners to water, share harvests and to pass on garden information. 
We don’t share emails unless a gardener gives us their expressed permission.
4.Please familiarize yourself with our updated garden rules and ask any questions. Visit our garden website at  www.larkspurgarden.weebly.com . 
5. We do not permit any taking without asking nor anyone in someone else’s garden without permission.                                                    Report any suspicious activity to Garden Coordinators and ask questions to anyone you do not know.  All questions welcomed! 
6. “Passing The Hat” 
Your monetary donations have enabled us to repair and replace garden tools and buy supplies, needed paint, brushes, hose washers, straw, wheelbarrow wheels and tools, which The City of Larkspur does not provide. 
 If you would like to donate this year notify me by email that you have done so.
All donations are welcome. Thank you in advance.
I will send updates about how your donations have helped us.

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Thank you to everyone for making our garden look so beautiful and be so nourishing.
Call if you have questions.
See you in the Garden!Stephen Conner, Coordinator, Larkspur Community garden
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Please use this time to keep your aisles “weed-free”and keep your garden area looking nice.
Realize how large your plants will grow and plant them accordingly, so they won’t grow over your borders. 
Remember to organically feed the soil. Use deep mulch so you rarely need to water. 
Check and report any faucet leaks and any damage to hose posts and wooden borders.
Enjoy getting your hands into the soil. 
Say “Hello” to each other and be safe. We look forward to seeing you. 
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This year our focus will again be to keep plants within our garden borders. Most of us like to plant alyssum, calendula, nasturtium, artichoke, zucchini, vines, roses, zinnias, geraniums, etc.. If they are planted too close to the garden’s edge they will grow over the border. *** If needed, transplant them further into your garden so you won’t have to keep cutting them back just as they grow and start to look good. Give them a wide berth to grow. Both they and you will be happier. 
Thank you for all you do to make our garden work so well and look so nice.
See you in the garden,
Stephen
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At this time visitors, friends or neighbors are not allowed to tour the garden. Only gardeners and members of their immediate families.
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Organic gardeners feed the soil and not the plant.
The soil serves as the reservoir for water and the vital nutrients that the plant requires for growth.

In an Organic garden the soil is the foundation of a healthy eco system.
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"BARE- BONES-MINIMUM"  OF GARDEN PARTICIPATION
The Larkspur Community garden is a community of gardeners who grow organically.
Good stewardship is a requirement for every single garden.

The following is a list of the bare-bone minimum of garden participation.
  • Every gardener has the responsibility of preparing their garden plot for Spring planting and again for Winter clean-up; and the weeding of their aisles prior to our March and October workday gathering.
  • As a gardener you need to show that you are making some sort of an effort to be present at your garden and cultivate and care for your plants."Failure to care for your plot will result in termination of your lease."
  • A garden plot: needs to be developed and used.
                         : needs to be planted and tended to.
  • Regular garden maintenance is necessary.
  • Weeds need to be kept in check.
  • Weeds : should not choke other plants
             : should not grow under borders to other gardens or aisles
             : should not reseed or spread
  • Invasive plants require vigilant maintenance
  • Unchecked plants are offensive, dangerous and a nuisance to everyone else.
  • You need to be concerned about everyone else.
  • You don't own your garden plot, you just lease it with the understanding that it will be gardened, used, weeded, pruned as necessary, watered and cared for, (hopefully with loving hearts, hands and enthusiasm). The appearance of your garden effects the community.
  • It is not fair not to use it. We have a waiting list of hopeful gardeners who want your plot.
  • We strive together to grow as community as we continue to enjoy our garden as much as we can. We all can creatively grow organically, therapeutically reduce stress and renew ourselves through recreation in the soil. We endeavor to do this more easily together than alone and share more abundantly as community than as individuals.
Begin the season anew. Renew yourself again in the garden.
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