Unity Gardens Inc Newsletter
We Are Growing More Than Vegetables Here 
"For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together.   
For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad." 
-   Edwin Way Teale

 


3rd Annual Taste of Unity 
Harvest Party 
This is a don't - miss event !

Thursday October 24th 
4pm to 8pm 

10 Chefs 
Cash Bar
Silent Auction
 


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Some 5k Picks 
Ryan Greutman 2 Time Winner 

Andrea;
Womens Winner
Quick Links
Mayor Pete is Not a Slacker For Sure 

Willow Excited about the prize

Peter, winner for males under 18
(and second place overall)
Run Toward Unity 5k - Another Win
Sept 14th, 9am was a great day for a run on the IUSB Campus. It was our 2nd Annual Run Toward Unity 5k. Perfect weather prevailing, everyone enjoyed themselves and it was a special treat to run with the Mayor. Okay- Mayor Pete is pretty fast so most ran behind him!

Pictured: winners in each category - congratulations!
Greentown Michiana Oct 10th & 11th
Coming in October is something a little different. Its Greentown 

What is Greentown ?
GreenTown: The Future of Community is designed to help create sustainable communities. Since 2007, mayors and other elected officials, city managers, public works directors, park district directors, planners, developers, builders, architects, landscape architects, engineers, school leaders, teachers, healthcare professionals, environmental advocates - and many others interested in sustainable development - have gathered to hear inspiring speakers, learn from been-there case studies and discuss actionable steps to make communities-and people and planet-healthier. At GreenTown, people learn. Network. Act. 

Make Your Voice Heard  Register Here
A Twist For Me 
Let me start by saying I am not a Chef, though I hold them in high regard for all the magic they make. Recently in some causal conversation with Chef Alan, I was discussing the fact that over the past 5 years in the garden I have seen a lot of weeds harvested to eat and that some were even good.   With that in mind Chef decided it would be fun to present a dish at The American Culinary Federation meeting. Next thing I know, I had a sharp knife in my hand cutting veggies and serving weeds in front of a room full of chefs!!   Purslane to be exact. 

What's Bugging Me 
Dreaded Cabbageworm
It's hard to say which bad insect "bugs" me the most because it changes from year to year.  Let me pause here before I go down the dark path of evil insects. Less the 1% of all insects are bad for the garden. So if you do not know what it is...leave it alone!!  It could very well be your garden's best friend. Now, back to the dark side. The worst bug of 2013 was the Cabbage Worm.  Its a horror story in the making. A warm summer day in the garden; things are green and the pretty white butterflies are in the air.  But wait!!! What are they doing?  They keep landing on your kale, cabbage, and other brassica plants.   Hmmmm. What evil lurks? Could they be laying eggs that will produce an evil spawn that will chew through your entire crop?  The answer is yes. Those innocent looking butterflies are laying groundwork for destruction.

 There are 2 types of common cabbageworms: The Cabbage Looper and the Imported Cabbageworm.  Both have similar life cycles. The pupa over-winter and emerge as moths or butterflies. They lay eggs on the leaves which hatch into a larvae which, in turn, eat the plant leaves before repeating the cycle.

Remember the Good Guys?  There is a natural enemy, the parasitoid wasp, that will lay cocoons on the catapiller. They will feed on the caterpillar, killing it. There will be plant damage but the result breaks the cycle.  So, by all means do not kill a caterpillar with cocoons on it.

 Other generalist that will feed on the larvae include lady beetles, lacewings, spined soldier bugs, hover fly larvae, spiders, yellowjackets,paper wasps, and ground beetles.  Inviting these insects into you garden is a whole different topic, but worth investigating.

Of course other non-insect methods include the tried and true picking method which works if you like that sort of thing. Again, it is all about breaking the cycle.
You can also use row covers in the spring and summer preventing them from laying eggs.

Good Luck!

Watch for our winter gardening series starting in January and we will talk about all sorts of more cheerful gardening things. 

 
Pretty ?
Cabbage Looper Eggs

Packet Pick-up