EECO Farm – AUGUST 2026 Newsletter for Gardeners | | |
“Lullaby, lullaby, lullaby;
Rest for a moment, love;
The August sun is dropping
His firebrands from above...”
- An August Lullaby, Sara L. Vickers Oberholtzer (1841–1930)
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NOTE: EECO FARM’S
WANING CRESCENT MOON
POT LUCK DINNER* IS COMING!
IT WILL BE HELD ON AUGUST 8TH!
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This year’s WCMPLD* event will be held on August 8th at 6:00pm and --- yes --- you may come earlier if you wish to help out! Also, remember, you are indeed allowed to attend the WCMPLD without bringing any food or drink, however, we do ask that you make a monetary donation in lieu of that effort to help defray the common costs.
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Yes, it is true … there will soon be an EECO Farm Board sponsored outdoor WCMPLD held at EECO Farm for the one and only time this year. It will be coming on Saturday, August 8th --- starting at 6:00pm.
Our rules for attendance at the WCMPLD are very simple. If possible, we ask you to please bring one item for all to share that can be home-made or store bought. Any appetizer (sweet or savory), a main dish of food or some salad, bread, wine, soda and/or a dessert is okay and it all goes on the common table. Yes, you may also bring your own food for consumption by just your guest group.
NOTE: The cost of the WCMPLD is FREE for all EECO Farm gardeners and their guests --- but it is not open to walk-ins from the general public.
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We do kindly ask for voluntary donations of cash from the attendees (no credit cards but we do accept Zelle or personal checks). Your generosity will help defray this wonderful evening’s costs for the charcoal, paper plates and utensils, etc. Please be as generous as you feel you can afford to be.
If you attend the WCMPLD (and we hope you all do) you may note that the “waning crescent moon” will have actually been visible all day but it will be “setting” (slipping below the western horizon) at 5:05pm --- just as our festivities are set to begin!
Luckily for all of us, the sun won’t go down that night until about 8 o’clock so there should still be plenty of daylight left. The Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts a relatively clear sky then so you will probably see plenty of stars once darkness falls … and, if you look due eastward, you may possibly notice a planet or two --- like Venus and/or Jupiter.
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You might even be fortunate enough to catch a “falling star” that night (actually a meteor from The Perseids annual meteor shower). That name literally means “sons of Persius” (the Greek demigod known as “The Hunter”). Those falling stars and fireballs noticed by our ancestors seemed as if they were raining down from that heavenly constellation bearing his name. Today we now know that these meteors they saw back then are merely remnants of the recently named “Swift-Tuttle comet” (no, not Taylor!). That celestial body still regularly circles our sun every 133 years just like it did centuries ago in those venerable times.
NOTE: Be careful when looking up at the Summer’s dark night sky! You do not want to make the common error of mistaking a shooting star for one of the 14,000+ man-made satellites or other pieces of space junk that orbits the earth every couple of hours!
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The good gardening news is that August has finally arrived! Of course, the sad news is that the summer season is officially half over at noon on August 7th and the Autumn season arrives on September 22nd at 8:05pm. We point out this meteorological fact not to make you feel sad but to highlight the happy fact that you still have over seven more weeks to enjoy the summer season … so get out there and work in your garden!
The weather has been rather typical for July/August on the East End in that it has been hot and humid. No trees mean no shade to speak of at EECO Farm (a point that many of us consider to be an asset) so, of course, that means nature hasn’t watered our gardens enough to eliminate human involvement. Therefore, it is wise to give your full blooming garden of vegetables/flowers at least one solid inch of water a week. To that end, please bear in mind that every water connection at EECO Farm has two faucets and they must be shared with up to eight other gardens.
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Please do NOT leave your hoses attached to shared water outlets! If your neighbor over in the next garden complains to us, EECO Farm will detach your watering or timing device. Also, if you see there are any leaks --- no matter how small --- please let us know before there is a flooding situation. Send us an email (eecofarmeh@gmail.com) or post a note on the bulletin board outside the tool shed.
It is difficult to check and compare “summer” statistics year-to-year as most geological records are kept by the month and not by the season but, according to many sources, the East End is still about 20% below normal total rainfall since June 1st --- a time period that contains the first 3 weeks of Spring. The seven (7) days we have already had above 90 degrees this summer haven’t helped the watering situation at all.
No, we are not in a rain drought --- yet --- but you will notice many local farms and nurseries are still obligated to water their crops and plants with those high pressure, long-range fire hoses --- therefore, losing your EECO Farm tomatoes, peppers, etc. due to a dry garden these days is a real possibility. Water your EECO Farm patch every other day or even daily if need be!
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Again, remember to often break up the soil in your garden with a hoe, turning fork or long trowel before watering. The soil at EECO Farm has a tendency to harden when it dries and it will then form a hard barrier of thick layered, dried mud which prevents your hose water from seeping down into the deeper roots where it is needed. You do not want only the top three inches of your garden to be super-soaked --- while just below the surface all the rest of your garden’s soil is dry.
Such excessive dryness in your garden forces the vegetable/vine/fruit/flower roots to grow closer up towards the surface --- where they will then dry out even faster. Composting does help somewhat with drainage but aerating the soil in your garden before watering definitely works best at getting water down deeper where needed.
| | Just because we are in the middle of summer and you now have large empty spaces in your garden from harvesting your green leafy lettuce (before it bolted) or your garlic (before the cloves split open) or even your squash or cucumbers (before wilting in the heat) that doesn’t mean you have to stop growing things in your garden. | | |
All gardens have much more to give as we swing into Fall so prepare now for cooler weather crops like collard greens, Swiss chard, kale, arugula (or salad rocket), sugar snaps/snow peas (again!), spinach (one more time!) and many types of leaf lettuce and string beans. Sow these veggie seeds before the 15th or use small garden transplants.
By no later than the end of August, you may also start planting autumn root vegetables that ripen underground such as: carrots, turnips, radishes, most onions, scallions, rutabaga, beets of all kinds, etc. Sow those seeds directly into prepared soil (lightly fertilized and composted, organically, of course) and thin out the plantings as necessary. Harvest will come in late October to early or mid-November. (Most root veggies can last until first frost before being pulled out).
Happy Gardening!
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THE COMMON AREAS, WHERE THE PICNIC TABLES AND CHAIRS ARE LOCATED, MAY BE USED BY ANY EECO FARM GARDENER AND THEIR GUESTS AT THEIR OWN RISK.
SIT --- RELAX --- OR PERHAPS EVEN HAVE A MEAL!
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