Saturday, January 14, 2012

It won't be long now!!

Letter to Gardeners:

Hello Gardeners!

It won't be long now :-)

Just wanted to let everybody know, I sent an email out to the potential new gardeners (copied below) to get them oriented to the garden and start filling out garden contracts. Depending on who shows up there may be a group of people walking through the garden the next couple of Saturdays.

Tabling: After the two garden orientations, if there are any plots still available, I was planning on tabling in the CAB for an hour or two. I'll let you know if that is happening and it would be great if a couple people could join me.

Contracts: Everybody who kept their plot also has to fill out a new contract. Evergreen staff and faculty and community members will have to turn their contracts in at the cashier's office. Fees are: 12x12 plot, $10 for Evergreen staff and faculty, $20 for community members. Current Evergreen students also have to fill out the contract. If you have a current Evergreen i.d. there is no extra charge. Fees go to help offset the cost of seeds and tools.
Contracts are required, even if you have filled on out before. I will have contracts with me at the work parties after orientation. Be sure to read them over. There are a few requirement we all have to meet in order to participate in the community gardens.

Lock for the shed: I got a new lock for the shed, the old one is pretty shot. I haven't put it on yet.

Seeds: At one of the meetings we can pool our ideas about what sees to order. We should do that within the next month or so to avoid the spring rush.

A few changes from last year: Hopefully there will be a team of people working the community plot this year. These will be folks who don't want to have an individual plot. The community plot will be theirs to work, so it should be respected the same way we respect other peoples plots. This is a change from previous years, in that we should not glean food from the community plot unless we put in the work. Like I said, "hopefully". There are more people interested in gardening than ever, and only a limited number of plots so this will give more people a chance.





---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Community Gardens <tesccommunitygardens@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 11:39 AM

Hello everybody!

Mark your calendars!

Garden orientations will be Saturday,  January 21 and Saturday January 28

at 1 pm. We'll do a stroll through the garden, get familiar with where everything is, go over the garden contract and take a look at some potential projects people might be interested in. I will hand out contracts for people to take home and read over.

After the orientations we will have an idea about how many people we have interested in gardening this season and start doing plot assignments. Plot assignment priority will be given to those who come to orientations and work parties. After that, if there are still plots available, we will start with first come, first served.

 There are a limited number of plots, so sharing is encouraged. We also have a large community plot that will be gardened as a team effort by folks who don't want to have an individual plot.


Something to think about: There are things to do in the garden year-round but spring and summer are the most active. If you are not going to be here for most of the summer you should definitely team up with a friend who is going to be here because plants don't make it through summer without care.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Compost Toilet = Locked for winter

I just got word from the farm manager, Melissa, that the composting toilet will be locked down for winter. I'm hoping we will have other  restroom facilities available to us for meetings. Maybe the work room since there is no PSA clas over winter quarter.
Hello Gardeners and Potential Gardeners!!

Gee, what's happened to winter? So far it has not rained much and it has not been very cold. There, now that I posted that it will rain and snow until July, right?


For winter quarter the garden will have meetings/work parties every Wednesday from noon - 2 pm.

We meet outside in the garden but if there is any interest we will also do indoor meetings/potlucks (pot-luk: bring food)

Our beloved advisor is checking to see if we can use the farmhouse over winter quarter. There is

no PSA class this winter so hopefully it will be open. Alternatively, I will see if we can use the farm

work room.
Meetings are for Gardeners, Potential Gardeners or anyone who wants to do stuff outside in the winter.


The list of projects is getting longer, not shorter :-)  I am posting the winter project list and the status of each project.

Hopefully you will find something that interests you...



List:

Tool Inventory. (DONE!!)


Stack and Organize the donated pots so they are ready for spring starts (currently stacked outside fence by rain barrels)


Store lumber that is over by the greenhouse


Clean out Greenhouse


Tool Cleaning and Sharpening. (Started)


Prepare soil in greenhouse and clean up the surrounding area


"Re-grid" the garden. Plots have been encroaching on paths. Let's find out how many plots we
really have available.(Started)


Restore Pathways. Leveling and applying wood chips in places.


Tool Shopping


Flip Compost Piles. (On-going project)


Build New Compost Piles. This could be smelly as it involves chicken manure.


Mulch Fence line. (I started this, using straw - Also we can plan what we want to plant there this year. Last year we did
pumpkins and cucumbers with some success.


Also, it would be fun to show a movie over the winter. I am hoping to show Greenhorns if that's cool with everybody.

We can pop corn and give away tickets. I was hoping to get a few local farmers to come and chat with the movie goers

too. Anybody want to help on this one? Or have other garden related movies to show?




Later in the winter around mid-February:

Form Central Plot gardening team

Crop planning for Central Plot

Seed Order


(Note: I oiled the lock but it is still kind of bogus so I will be getting a new

lock soon. I will email the combo to registered gardeners.)