Time Poll for Sunday

Planting!

Naomi writes:

More amazing teamwork and progress today:

Larry met with a few members at 10 o'clock this morning to set up the two water towers which will be used to irrigate the garden. The water pressure is adequate but not spectacular and we'll no doubt do some more tweaking.

The cool weather was perfect for planting and we had moist soil to work with from the recent rain. Flocks of people showed up promptly at 3 o'clock and our ten beds were planted in under an hour with plenty of time left to place newspaper around the perimeter of the fence to cover the mesh on the ground. This paper was then covered with wood chips to prevent birds or other small creatures from getting trapped in the mesh. With 16 households represented, we continued working and covered the inside perimeter in the same fashion. As soon as more wood chips are ordered and delivered we will finish the job.

Larry has arranged with AAA Tree Service that in return for their cleaning up the area all along the tree line, they can dump their wood chips there. This arrangement is a win-win situation and thanks go again to Larry. (AAA supplies free wood chips and are often used in Mount Washington in the common areas and by private residents.)

What we planted today: spinach, pepper, egg plant, bean, kale, lettuce, collard, broccoli, red cabbage, cauliflower and green cabbage plants; carrot, radish, beet, and turnip seeds.

The Garden is Fenced

From Naomi with afterthoughts from Larry

The fence went up in record time today. We worked from 10:00 until about 11:45 - well under the 3 hours that we had estimated it would take. 19 of 27 households were able to participate this morning which made for a fabulous turnout and the main reason the work went so fast. When we were done, we sat down and had a meeting. Here is a synopsis of what transpired and what was learned.

Water:

Not only do we now have hoses running from the small building on site, but we discovered today that there is decent water pressure. We have the city's permission to use this water at the city's expense. We will not be receiving a water bill.

Finances:

All households have each paid the joining fee of $50 resulting in a total budget of $1,350. We have spent approximately $1,000 of this money on composte, renting the sod cutter and bobcat, seeds, and now the unexpected cost of the fence supplies which came in at about $300. We anticipate that the plants for both spring and summer will cost about $300. Unfortunately, this will deplete our funds, leaving us without money to purchase supplies for the sprinkler system, a fence gate, fertilizer, and tomato supports.

A vote was taken and it was unanimously decided that all members will pay an additional $20. We agreed that if there was any surplus money at the end of our first year of operation, it would be equally distributed amongst all members.

Planting:

Larry informed us that we have seeds for radishes, carrots, beets, turnips, and beans. He will be purchasing plants this Thursday. Swiss chard is not available. When planting, we will utilize an "intercropping" technique whereby we plant lettuce with broccoli and cabbage. The lettuce can be harvested in 40 days while the other crops, which take longer, grow to fill the space once the lettuce is harvested. Likewise, radishes are planted with carrots.

Scheduling Workdays:

2 hour group-work sessions will occur every other week. It was decided that we will rotate between Saturday and Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m.

These sessions will begin two weeks after planting occurs.

The new, revised, and ever changing workday schedule:

Saturday, April 23, 10:00 am
Sunday, May 8, 10:00 am
Saturday, May 21, 10:00 am
Sunday, June 5, 10:00 am

A Sign:

Debra Roter generously offered to cover the expense of a sign for the garden and it will be made by Meaghan Harrison.

Next Saturday, We Plant: Saturday, April 9, from 3:00pm to 6:00pm!

HI All'
I have a little to add to Naomi's excellent report. One big job we will be doing next Saturday will be mulching around the new fence.I now agree with Naomi that we should bring news paper{white pages only} to put down before we lay the wood chips.We will need to bring wheelbarrows, hard rakes and trowels for planting.See you Saturday. Larry