Hello Community Gardeners!

If you are receiving this email then you have either volunteered with us in the past, would like to volunteer in the future, or are just interested in the goings-on at the Ridgewood Community Garden. Either way, welcome to the April 2026 RCG newsletter. Below you will find our garden dates for April, some things we worked on last month, and other upcoming events.

April is the time in zone 7b when we begin transitioning to warmer temperatures and can finally really begin planting. Last month we got the garden all prepped and ready for planting so that this month we can plant our greens, peas, radishes, and roots like carrots and beets. We have had a slow warm up to Spring this year, but the last week’s warm temperatures have sent the cherry and magnolia blossoms into full bloom seemingly overnight. Mid-month we can expect the Irises, Tulips, Hyacinths, and more to bring their pops of color back to the garden. April is Earth Month, so we hope to see you in the garden on a Sunday soon!

Ridgewood Community Garden is open to all levels of gardeners whether you come once a season, once a month, or every week, we welcome you to the garden and to share in our community! There is no need to become a member to participate in what we’re doing at the garden.

UPCOMING GARDENING DATES

Hours TBD. Always check our Instagram or Facebook for weather updates and exact hours.

Sunday April 5th - Planting Cold-hardy Veggies: Volunteers will help prep raised beds and sow seeds for carrots, radishes, peas, and more.

Sunday April 12th - Spring Cutback. Cutting back old stems in our ground beds to make way for new growth.

Sunday April 19th - Compost Workshop. Earth day event, volunteers will learn about the process of composting, from kitchen scraps to finished compost, and will help sift compost for use in the garden.

Sunday April 26th - TBD. Possibly prepping our ground plots for planting corn, squash, and tomatoes.

Last Month at the Garden:

Despite our cool temperatures this Spring, our gardeners have already been hard at work for the last several weeks. In the first week of March, we hosted a pruning workshop with Cornell and pruned the fruit trees in our orchard. We also planted new asparagus crowns, thinned and rotated our strawberry beds, and planted potatoes and shallots in the last week of March.

XERCES SOCIETY GRANT RECIPIENT!

In March, the garden was awarded a pollinator kit grant through the Xerces Society, an international nonprofit organization that protects the natural world through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats. Each year, the Xerces society provides pollinator kits for gardens based on their ecoregion—the geographically distinct area containing ecosystems with similar plants, animals, climate, and soil. We will be planting the mid-Atlantic pollinator kit containing ten species of herbaceous perennials and two woody shrubs grown at Pinelands nursery in Columbia, NJ. The planting will take place in late May/early June, so keep an eye out for the official planting dates!

BECOMING A RCG MEMBER

If you are interested in fulfilling the requirements for becoming a member this season, or completed the requirements last season, please let us know and we can send you the full list of requirements. Please consider that membership requires a minimum commitment of 30 hours a season (March-December), participation in monthly meetings, and yearly dues. If this sounds like too much, all are always welcome as volunteers!

LOVE VOLUNTEERING WITH US? JOIN OUR OPEN COLLECTIVE TO BECOME A SUPPORTER!