Garden 2.0

Dear Garden Friends,
We had our garden meeting this morning. It was a small but mighty crowd! Here's what we've decided to do.

1. Wednesday, June 16 @ 4:00PM - Next Garden Meeting (to prepare for our next gardening day on...)
2. Saturday, June 26 @ 8:00AM - Groundbreaking Day 2!
3. Saturday, June 26 @ 6:00PM - English Meadows BBQ & Potluck (meat provided, bring a dish to pass, serviceware, and drinks)

In order to prepare for gardening 2.0, we've decided to ask each family to contribute $50. If this is a hardship, please contribute what you can. Please get this to me before the June 16th meeting, so we know how much we have to work with for the 26th.

I'll be directing folks in terms of harvesting in the coming weeks or so. Things are coming close to being ready for harvest.

Peace,
Tom

Garden Meeting (tea)

Hey Gardeners,
I hope you've noticed all kinds of new things popping up in the garden. Lots of seedlings. I just added some tomato plants tonight that I got for free from the Garden Project. Its still a little early for tomato plants, but since they were free and were already having tomatoes on them, I thought there wasn't much to lose, but if we get a frost yet, they probably won't make it. So goes the life of the garden.

So a couple of notes:

1. We need to get together to make some plans for the next stages of our garden. Let's plan on this Saturday morning, May 29th, at 9-10AM for garden tea at our house. I put an agenda below.
2. I was switching out the nozzle on the hose at Paul's house and the hose sprung a small leak below the handle of the nozzle. Paul thinks its fine and it will just get your hand a little more wet. Just wanted you to know.
3. Great job on keeping up the watering schedule! Special thanks to Paul for being our fail-safe checker. He's keeping an eye on the garden each night. So far it doesn't look like we've got any bunnies in the garden. Yeah!
4. Sarah and I have chives out the wazoo in our personal garden. Also lemon balm. If you want either of those, let us know and we can get you some or you can just come cut some for your cooking for the night.

All for now.
Peace,
Tom

Garden Tea Agenda
1. Check-in (what's on the agenda and does anything need to be added)
2. Plants
a. Rotation
b. New planting schedule
3. Another box or two
a. square foot gardening?
b. when to build?
c. costs
4. Long-term costs/money
5. Communication/Advertising
6. Next meeting
7. Check-out (what went well in this meeting and where was their room for improvement?)

Groundbreaking - May 15, 2010

Today we had 20 people (kids and adults!) show up to ground break our garden. We began at 9AM and finished around 3:30PM. At first two 4x8x1 gardens didn't seem like much, but we're glad we didn't plan much more. It was quite a day with the kids helping out just as much as the adults. Here's some pictures to show the day's work. For the full album on Facebook click here.

Groundbreaking this Saturday!

Garden Friends,
This Saturday is the big day. We're groundbreaking for our English Meadows Community Garden! We're going to begin with two raised beds, and we'll add more in the coming weeks/months if we need it. Below (and attached) is a schedule of events (and tools needed) for Saturday. As "they" say, "Many hands make light work" so bring your hands (and feet too!). I'd love to have kids join us. If you're not very "skilled", check out the snack times and bring some snacks to feed the grunts (myself included). I'll be giving everyone a call tonight just to remind you. Hope to see you this Saturday!
Peace,
Tom

P.S. Click here to get a better view of the schedule.

English Meadows Community Garden

Groundbreaking Schedule

Saturday, May 15^th

9AM – It’s Done

Time	Activity	Tools/ Supplies to Bring	Who
9:00AM	Tent-setup (for shade) & Moral support	Camping or other outdoor chairs	Anyone (adults, kids, teenagers, etc.)
9:30AM	Build raised bed frames	Power drills (cordless preferred) and extension cords (if corded)	“Experienced” carpenters and helpers (probably not the best for kids)
10:00AM	Snack Time	Snacks & Drinks	Bakers, cooks, waterboys/girls (kids welcome)
10:15AM	Mark-off Sod & Lift Sod	Flat-head shovels or other shovels, wheelbarrows	Those with strong backs (kids welcome)
11:00AM	Snack Time	Snacks and Drinks	Bakers, cooks, waterboys/girls (kids welcome)
11:15AM	Transport topsoil to raised beds	Wheelbarrows and any kind of shovel	Those with strong backs (kids welcome)
12:00PM	Break for Lunch	Bring a sack lunch and we’ll picnic	Anyone!
12:30PM	Put up rabbit fencing	Hammers, mallets, wire cutters	Anyone able to swing a hammer (kids welcome)
1:00PM	Plant plants/seeds	Seedlings, seeds, trowels, etc.	Master gardeners, gardeners, those willing to get their hands dirty (kids welcome!)

Full steam ahead! Ahem...dig deep dirt ahead!

We had our annual association meeting tonight and we got the green light to go forward on the community garden and seven new people signed up! Here's the plan as I presented it right now:

Purpose: to build community by growing good food together!

A team of five English Meadows residents would like to plant a community garden in the common area that will be open to any English Meadows resident who is willing to participate. We have chosen the area next to the current community fire pit (see below).

Our current plans include beginning with two raised beds which will be four feet wide by eight feet long and one foot deep with a rabbit/goose fence staked out around the perimeter. As more people become interested, we will expand into more raised beds of approximately the same dimensions. We currently are focusing on planting vegetables, but we are open to flowers being a part of the garden if we find people who are interested in planting them. Our long-term vision includes planting berry bushes (raspberries, blueberries, etc.) and possibly some fruit trees. Our current budget is a little over $300, and it is entirely covered by those involved and a $100 grant we have received from The Garden Project.

We hope to break ground on Saturday, May 15^th at 1:00PM. All residents of English Meadows are welcome to join us for that ground breaking and to participate in the community garden. The model we will follow will be more of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) model than a traditional community garden where everyone has their own individual plots. We will create a work schedule for weeding and watering (Paul Pirrotta, an EMPOA board member and member of the community garden planning team whose house the garden will be behind has graciously offered for us to use his spigot for watering the garden). We will then have harvest days (one or more a week) and split the food between those who are part of the garden (a buy-in fee may be established for those who have not yet participated to cover expansion costs). We will also be donating some of the produce to the Holt Food Bank. For more info visit www.englishmeadowsgarden.blogspot.com. To add yourself to an email list please tear off the bottom portion and turn it in to Tom Arthur (5058 Glendurgan) or email Tom (tom@saraharthur.com).