2025 October Newsletter
Harvesting plans for next year
Even though the wonderful harvest continues, the Board is already planning for next year to include more blueberry bushes in the Community Garden, a refurbished website, and a new pollinator bed along the entire front of the garden, to the right as you enter the gate. The existing pollinator garden continues to attract a wide range of helpful bees, butterflies, and other insects. As always, if you have any questions or any recommendations for how to improve the gardening experience this year, reach out.
Keep sending those gorgeous photos from your bed and around the garden to Ari Ragonese who will continue to prepare the wonderful social media content. Thank you, Ari!
ACTION ITEMS
Happy Hour of the seasonWednesday, July 16 Please take home any rotten tomatoes or any fallen fruit instead of putting it in the compost area as they attract voles. The plants themselves are fine to compost! Speaking of compost, if you have an extra 20 minutes during your garden time, please consider “turning” the compost bins. If you need a quick tutorial, reach out and remember to log your time spent working on the whiteboard. This Sunday,
October 6 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. is our final Community Time event of the season, register via Sign-Up Genius if you can join this work effort.
End of Season Prep
Start to think about getting your garden bed ready for the off season with the following steps:
Clean out your beds by the Monday, December 1 deadline
It is perfectly OK to keep perennial herbs over the winter
Remember to take down stakes or garden decorations, although it is fine to lay stakes flat in your bed
Please take your tomato ages home as the shed is not a winter storage area for our members
Cut any plant matter for the compost bin into one foot or smaller pieces … the smaller the better
Once again, you will have access to straw to cover your beds over the winter to help with weed and pest control (Dry leaves are another good option for winter bed coverage.)
Reminder to collect all plastic plant tags and take them home for disposal
when you clean out your beds.
End of Year Put the Garden to Bed Event and Potluck Meal
Sunday, October 26
Meet at the garden on Sunday, October 26 for the End of Season Event. We’ll work together from 10:30-11:30 a.m. and then have the harvest meal until 1:00 p.m. Bring something delicious to share! Building on the success of our two Happy Hours this season, we hope for a great turnout to share best practices and enjoy the garden together.
Note that straw will be available on a “first come, first serve” basis to cover your beds for the winter. Please take home any diseased plants instead of putting them in the compost bin.
Get tools sharpened
Get your garden tools sharpened before you put them away for the season so they’ll be ready for you in the spring with Trevor Bartlett at wickedshopnow.com.
$20/per piece or pay for five and get one free
Bring your tools in a bag with your name clearly
marked Tools will be returned to the garden shed in the same bag within two weeks Payment by cash or Venmo when you drop off your bag
Thank you to Board Member, Donata Random for recommending this fantastic local vendor. She is delighted with her newly sharpened tools!
2025 Donations Recap to Gather
The 2025 voluntary donations (including the dedicated beds) to Gather now top 786 pounds, a record setting year for the garden with a few more weeks to go. In the first three seasons, we donated a total of 1,000 pounds, but have hit it out of the park this season!
Members Lynn Wren, Christine Groleau, and Maureen McDonald work with Board Member, Jen Cotrupi to keep the produce cool and to make twice weekly deliveries to Gather.
Remember if you plan to be away, place a blue flag in your garden if you have veggies ready to drop/rot. Volunteers will select only the most ripe items and add them to the Gather cooler. You will find a green “thank you” flag next to the blue one after collection.
Wood Chips Make the
Garden Better
Portsmouth High School, Jonny Geigengack, donated hours to the Portsmouth Community Garden to meet his National Honor Society commitment and spread out the big pile of woodchips. Thank you, Jonny!
Watch for more deliveries from garden member, Chris Duprey, and please spread them between the beds if you have 10 minutes to spare. Be sure to mark your time spent on the whiteboard in the shed.
Tips for Garlic Planting Success
If you are a returning member and love garlic, consider planting a few (or many) cloves in late October or throughout November. Note the following tips for success:
Look for hard-neck variety, available now at local farmer’s markets, which are hardier for planting than the soft-neck variety
Use large cloves, the trick is to select the largest, healthiest cloves from the bulb to plant
Break apart the bulb by separating the cloves from the bulb just before planting, being careful not to damage the basal plate at the bottom of the clove
Plant cloves 4–6 inches apart with the pointed side up, and cover with 1–2 inches of soil
Prepare the soil by mixing in compost before planting to ensure the soil has good drainage
Mulch with straw, hay, or chopped, dry leaves to help protect against winterkill, to moderate soil temperatures, and to keep weeds in check
In the spring, remove scapes, those curly green flower stalks, and consider using them to make pesto. For hard-neck garlic varieties, remove the scape in early summer to help the plant grow larger cloves and develop a bigger head.
Water during dry periods, but stop watering a few weeks before harvest, for best results
Check out the Portsmouth Community Garden on Instagram or Facebook
New to the garden? Find us on Instagram and Facebook – search “portsmouthcommunitygarden.” Be sure to check out the fun posts on social media, led by Ari Ragonese. If you see them at Bed 4D, say hello to her, her husband Daniel and her gorgeous children, Auggie and Gemma. If you take a great picture, send it to Beth Hartnett.
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