Rose Roots Newsletter May 2026: Welcome to Garden Season!

Rose Roots is excited to welcome members to the 2026 gardening season! Dig in; this newsletter is packed with information you need to make this a year a success.

In this Issue:

• MUST READ! Water Conservation

• Key Volunteer Position Needed (No weeding necessary)

• What's New This Season? (Spoiler alert - Merch!)

• Event Recaps

• This & That

MUST READ! Water Conservation:

Colorado is experiencing one of its driest years in modern record. After our warm, dry winter left the Front Range parched, the City of Arvada has declared a drought and mandatory Stage 1 water restrictions are currently in effect. Rose Roots needs to reduce our water usage by a whopping 20%. To give you an idea of the magnitude of this challenge, that's 48,000 gallons less than we used last year. 

What does that mean for you? All gardeners must comply with the following:

1. NO watering between 10am and 6pm - no exceptions! We understand that this might be hard to schedule, but we are required to adhere to Arvada's rule. As a side benefit, our plants are dormant during the heat of the day and benefit more from being watered when it's cool.

2. Remove nozzles from hoses after you're done watering - this will ensure that water has been completely turned off at the tap

3. Do not let water spray in gravel areas or anywhere other than your plants

4. Do not irrigate during rain or high winds

5. Please stay up to date on Arvada's current mandatory water restrictions at this link

Please remember; it's our job to be good stewards.

Other critical tips:

• Be careful when watering. DUG suggests that hand watering allows for precise control, responding to changing soil moisture conditions. When water begins pooling on the surface, it’s time to stop. Avoid evaporative losses by watering close to the soil.

• Use compost to enhance soil. Clay soils are dense and slow to absorb water. Adding compost can enhance water penetration and retention. Enriching soil with 1-2 inches of compost in the spring can reduce water usage by up to 20%.

• Use mulch. Mulching serves multiple benefits: conserving water, moderating soil temperature, preventing erosion, and enriching the soil. Utilize organic mulches like newspaper, straw, or dry grass clippings to cover the soil surface, reducing water needs. Support a local business and shop at Malara Gardens; they've got bales of weed-free straw mulch for $15! Let them know you're from Rose Roots when you stop by.

Read up on water-wise veggie gardening. The Colorado Extension Office published this interesting read! DUG has even more information on their FAQs on this page and additional tips here!

Volunteer Needed:

Rose Roots needs a volunteer to who can update our Chalk Board signs around the garden! This is one of the most direct ways Rose Roots communicates news to gardeners. If you can help, reach out to leadership@roserootsgarden.org.

What's New This Season: Mushrooms, Merchandise, and More!

• Mushrooms: This season, Rose Roots is piloting a mushroom garden. Edible mushroom beds are a valuable and effective component of community food systems. They transform organic materials like wood chips and plant debris into nutrient-rich food while enhancing soil health over time. Mushrooms are extremely eco-friendly. They are among the most sustainably cultivated foods in the US, needing minimal energy and water for growth, and their growing medium is compostable. Keep an eye out for this test-plot in one of the former food forest areas.

• Merch: Want to support Rose Roots and protect yourself from the sun while gardening? Check out the Rose Roots shop at Bonfire - the collection includes a UV hoodie! The garden profits from each purchase, and you can wear your stylish new sun hat while keeping your garden notes in a Rose Roots notebook, while sipping your coffee from a Rose Roots travel mug! Thanks to Osiris Mancera for setting up this cool new option.

• Changes to the Food Forests: The mushroom garden isn't the only change to the shared gardening areas this year. You may have noticed the apple tree is gone; that food forest plot will be used to grow donations for the Veggie Van! 5W will also be used as a donation plot and 77E will be a plot for Zinnias to be donated to the Van. A big thanks to Julie Gleason and Gail Gullickson for their work on these plots! Dan Donaldson's plot 70 will also be a perennial garden. We will need more hands to weed and harvest these plots throughout the season. Check out the photos in the slide show above for a preview of the new sensory garden being created in the former east food forest by Osiris Mancera.

• New Sister Garden Relationship: "Growing with a Purpose" ... Rose Roots has an exciting new relationship with with the Gardens on Quail Residential Senior Center, located at 6447 Quail St. Purpose #1: the residents of Gardens on Quail will be engaged growing, harvesting, and weeding their garden plots. Purpose #2: excess harvest will go to the Veggie Van. Our donation goal for the Quail plots is 400lbs of much needed fresh produce.

Event Recaps:

Rose Roots kicked off the season with two fabulous events before the average last frost date even hit. Opening Day kicked off the year on April 25th with gardeners getting a head start on their service hours. Thank you all or your work cleaning out the barn and shed, setting up hoses and chairs, changing the layout of the food forests, and working on the west and south side pollinator gardens. Then, on May 2nd, Gina Schley joined us once again for her fantastic Workshop: Garden Design 101. Gina is one of the founders of Rose Roots, and has a wealth of knowledge. Attendees passed along the following tips that will be especially important in this year of water conservation:

1. Use organic fertilizer - both liquid and granular, weekly;

2. Add gypsum (calcium sulfate) in the spring. It's a natural soil amendment used to loosen heavy, compacted clay soils, improve drainage, and add calcium without significantly altering soil pH;

3. Harvest your flowers and veggies in the mornings, due to higher water content, for longer lasting produce and blooms. You'll be amazed by how much longer your flowers last!

This & That:

• Upcoming Event - Saturday May 30th 8:30am - Noon: Service Event. Join your fellow gardeners and get your service hours working in the community areas! Check out the calendar on the website for updated information on all upcoming events.

• Don't forget - have your garden planted by June 1st!

• Last year Rose Roots donated 2607 lbs to the Veggie Van! This year our goal is 3000 lbs! Check out more info on the Veggie Van in next month's newsletter.

• New gardeners learn by trowel and error! Have a gardening tip you'd like to share to help the less experienced gardeners skip some of the errors? Email it in here. We'd love to feature tips for new (and seasoned) gardeners next month.

And finally!

Q: What kind of socks does a gardener wear?

A: Garden hose!

Happy Gardening,

Rose Roots Leadership Team

Laura Bennett, Erin Newton, Tom Glum, Patty Sacks, Aaron Amaya, Gary Williams, Dan Graumiller, Jim Richards, Jack Nix, Osiris Mancera, Beth Green

Please contact Michelle, Newsletter Editor, HERE with newsletter additions, corrections, comments, compliments, gardening tips or humor.