To all those with a confirmed plot in the 2026 Mason Community Garden = our opening day is now delayed to Saturday, May 16
It is with great regret, but for the good of the order, that we have no choice but to postpone the opening day of the 2026 Mason Community Garden from the previously scheduled date of Saturday, May 9, to the following Saturday, May 16. When (circa February) the original date was projected, the conditions as we now find them were not foreseen.
The basic problem is the difficult weather in late April into the first week of May, despite dryer conditions before this. Excessive rainfall last week has made the ground unworkable by tractors/heavy equipment necessary to do a third & final tilling for proper gardening and weed control. (Viewing the garden this weekend, it’s not only soggy, it’s full of new-growth weeds.)
Also, a few expected days of showers this week will delay the ability of your coordinators to do the careful surveying & layout of the 121 plots. And we seriously think it would not be wise or desirable for any of us to try to lay down the wood-chip pathways in muddy conditions on May 9th — let alone trying to put in your seeds or plants in your muddy plot.
It was always the rule of farmers and gardeners of this Cincinnati region that to avoid a killing frost, you were safe to plant spring/summer crops after Mother’s Day or May 15, whichever was later. (Understand that we had a frost warning just this morning!) We are wary that young tomato plants are sensitive, some were lost to frost a few years ago. A muddy field, packed solid under heavy equipment, is not desirable for gardening either.
Let’s give it another week to dry out and warm up — and open the garden under better conditions, on Saturday May 16, when we all will meet to put in the pathways and start working your own plots.
To answer a recent question from a gardener new to our community garden, a sufficient number of forks, shovels and wheelbarrows needed to establish the wood-chip pathways will be provided on May 16th. You are free to bring your own garden tools that day if you intend to start gardening in your own plot, once the pathways are in.
We appreciate your patience!
Your Mason Community Garden Volunteer Coordinators
