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