PEAT Peaks Environmental Action Team

Fall Garden Meeting, September 14, 2011

Attendees:

Barb Strout
Gail Kelly
Holly Hurd-Forsyth
Jan Thomas
Diane Clark
Jubal Kessler
Karen Friedman
Sam Saltonstall
Susan Hanley
Vinnie Demos

Vinnie presented the results of the garden survey and her comments on them:

There were 12 responses out of 23 gardeners.

1. Nearly everyone had been confronted with an empty water tank at least once.
2. Not everyone was aware of the various soil amendments available and/or how to use them.
3. Hardly anyone worked consistently to help on the 2 community beds.
4. People referred to the garden books infrequently.
5. Not everyone helped take care of the compost bins, but all except one person claimed to understand how they worked and to have helped themselves to compost at least once.

These answers suggest that we should:

1. Pursue getting a summer water line from the city as soon as possible
2. Explain better how to enrich the soil with various amendments and then list what we have on hand and how to use it
3. Get rid of one or both communal beds and let in more people off the waiting list
4. Keep a small collection of gardening reference books, but turn down the large collection of books that was offered to Justin
5. Find a way to encourage more people to do their share of work in making compost

The broader challenges, judging from individual comments as well as the low response rate, are as follows:

1. There needs to be better communication between the gardeners about meetings, supplies, and commitments.
2. The guidelines, to which we have all subscribed, need to do a better job of describing the cooperative nature of a community garden. We need to find a way to emphasize that this is NOT an amenity provided by the city. Newer gardeners will be unaware, unless we tell them, of the tremendous number of hours we devoted to making it a reality.

To this end, those present agreed that we should add the following introduction to the garden guidelines and also include it in the annual registration form that every gardener signs:

The community garden is a cooperative effort. Our goal is to provide a felicitous space for islanders who lack adequate sunlight or open space to grow food for their families. To that end, we expect that all gardeners will use this space as intensively as possible. We ask each plot holder for an annual fee, but this is not to be construed as rental of an individual space. It is money to cover our collective purchases of insurance, tools, soil amendments and other miscellaneous necessities. If the fee is a real hardship, we will find a way to work around it for you. More importantly, membership in the garden assumes a willingness to contribute a token amount of money and a more than token number of hours of work on projects beyond cultivation of your own crops. Membership in the garden is a contract that assumes your willingness to be actively involved in keeping its infrastructure (fencing, paths, tools, compost bins, etc) in good working condition, and your commitment to staying in touch with other gardeners via telephone, mail, or our google email group.

The group went on to discuss whether it was appropriate to grow flowers when the garden has a stated policy of using the space as intensively as possible for food. Answer: yes. Many flowers are edible and they are all food for the soul. They are also useful in attracting pollinators.

As to the compost bins, many people said they were unsure of when and what to turn. Sam offered to send out emails periodically to say what needed turning and what was ready to use.

We discussed what we could do to make expectations clearer but avoid having to police people in an officious manner. Karen had compared notes with another community garden and learned that the Gilson Farm garden expects people to do at least six hours in the garden and to do volunteer hours at Audubon as well. Therefore, we concluded that it was not unreasonable to require our gardeners to do six hours of work annually as well as attending at least one of the two annual garden meetings in order to be eligible to retain a plot for the following season.

Starting next June, there will be a logbook in the shed for people to make note of their volunteer hours in the garden.

We discussed the cleanup requirement and decided that each plot should be fully prepared and at least partially planted by June first. By the date of the fall workday each plot should be cleared of everything not actively growing. If for some reason a gardener is unable to comply with those deadlines, he or she is responsible for contacting the garden community to make other arrangements. If a plot goes unplanted with no explanation, we will call the gardener after one week and then reassign the plot if after two weeks it is still neglected.

We discussed ways to make the email group more effective:

• Don’t email to the entire group when it’s sufficient to contact one or just a few people.
• Don’t reply to the entire group when it’s sufficient to reply to just one or a few people.
• Make good use of the subject line so people can tell what's up and judge its urgency.
• Answer garden group emails so we can have feedback and so that we know we reached you.
• If you are not confident that you can respond to email in a timely fashion, speak with Vinnie or Karen and specify how you wish to be contacted.

We discussed the pros and cons of the community plots and our relationship with the food pantry:

• Many of the crops planted this year were not suitable for their clients, who tend to be fairly conservative in their tastes. There was no good scheme for harvesting and distributing the vegetables.
• The plants suffered from being harvested sporadically. The original idea of growing lots of herbs and selling them seems unrealistic since people didn’t even have time to care for what was there – much less figure out ways to sell it.
• The group voted to keep one plot for the food pantry and give the other to someone on the waiting list.
• The food pantry plot will have a single gardener, who plants and harvests it for her own use during the week, but reserves produce to harvest on Fridays for the food pantry. There will be no fee for that plot. In return, the gardener will provide all the seeds and plants necessary for the food pantry clients. The gardener will choose suitable crops in consultation with the food pantry.
• Jan Thomas will be the gardener for the food pantry plot. Sue Hanley will be the coordinator. Sue will also be the contact person for any other gardeners who want to donate vegetables.
• We will buy a cooler to live in the shed. Jan and any other volunteers will put food in it on Friday afternoons. Sue will pick it up when she does the bread pickup from Standard Bakery and then distribute everything.

We will buy a metal trash can for knotweed pulled out in and around the garden, but also for any incidental trash that can’t go in the compost. It will be stored inside the shed lest it become a receptacle for passing dog walkers.

There’s been a mouse problem at the garden. The Friedmans, especially, would welcome organic and humane solutions!

The fall work day will be November 5 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon.

The deadline to apply for next year’s garden will be December 1.

Vinnie will mail out the new forms well in advance of that date so that you can get them back to her on time. She will also send everyone a hard copy of the revised guidelines.

The plot fee remains $35.

The garden committee remains the same as last year with the exception of the food pantry plot.

Additional notes from Jubal:

Treasurer's report: We have a little more than $1500 in the bank. The shed costs will come to another $300, so the final amount going into the 2012 year may be about $1200. A copy of the 2011 year's report is at:

PICG Budget 2011

Location for next garden meeting: Per Sandy's suggestion, the Senior Center's kitchen seems like a good place to hold meetings, as it has big tables and a kitchen. (No alcoholic drinks may be served, however.) The general consensus at this meeting was that we should hold the next meeting there.

Much thanks to Lisa for hosting the previous three meetings at her cafe.

Community Garden Spring Meeting April 24 at Lisa's Cafe

Attendees:

Angie Kelso
Barb Strout
Diane Clark
Jon Kelso
Jubal Kessler
Judith McAllister
Justin Palmer
Karen Friedman
Lisa Lynch
Phil Friedman
Sam Saltonstall
Sandy Lucas
Sheila Reiser
Steve Demos
Susan Hanley
Tom Morse
Vinnie Demos

The group agreed to amend our guidelines to read that:

• Garden applications are due by December 1
• Dues must be paid by March 1
• Dues are non-refundable

Chresten Sorensen is moving off the island, leaving us one vacant plot at the garden. Vinnie reported that we had one name on the waiting list. She will contact that person and then advertise our opening on the two island email lists.

Jon Kelso asked whether our soil had been tested. We tested it before we began soil building on top of it and it contained no lead. Since then, however, we have applied copious amounts of wood chips. Folks might want to test again, or else just assume a fair amount of acidity and apply lime this spring.

Jubal handed out an address list and new plot plans of the garden. We then reintroduced the ten gardeners who were chosen last spring to be in charge of specific activities:

• TREASURER - Jubal Kessler

  Jubal reports that we have $9?? In the bank, $5?? of which is set aside to pay our insurance fee to the city of Portland.

• SECRETARY - Sandy Lucas

  Sandy will take minutes, or be responsible for designating someone else to do so. She will represent the garden to The Star and the Island Times.

• WATER MANAGER - Lisa Lynch

  Lisa has been in touch with the city in an attempt to have them extend the water line on Upper A somewhat closer to the garden. She’s still working on it.

  We discussed the possibility of bootlegging off the summer water line at the burnt out house closest to the garden and running our own hose up to the garden.

  Jubal says that the city quoted $7000 as the the cost for installing a water meter for the garden. NO WAY!! Lisa says that a number of community gardens in Portland have unmetered water. . .

• COMPOST MANAGER - Sam Saltonstall

  Sam will figure out the best way to maintain the compost bins and teach everyone the dos and don'ts.

  Lisa gave him the names of people who brought us grass and leaves last year. He will contact them and try to make sure that they understand the necessity of collecting only where no herbicides have been used. (Fertilizers as well?)

  There was some discussion of how to use the piles of organic stuff already there: wood chips, grass, seaweed.

  Lisa will again give us organic waste from the Café. She cannot take the time to remove coffee filters from her buckets of refuse. We should either compost them as is, or buy her unbleached ones if we care that much.

  Islanders have inquired about contributing household garbage to our compost bins. How do we make sure they only put in the right stuff? (Vinnie thinks it’s important to take all-comers, because the garden is meant to teach and demonstrate good practices) Sam will inform himself about all of this and make some guidelines about the compost bins.

  Angie offered to donate a small gas powered chipper for our use.

• MAINTENANCE MANAGER - Diane Clark

  Diane will coordinate our efforts to take care of fencing, gates, water tank & tools.

  We need to make a smaller pedestrian gate up near the picnic table. Mark Hall has offered to give us lumber for this and other projects such as a tool shed. Justin will make a lumber list for Mark and ask if he can give us enough wood so that we can make the gate at our work day on April 30. He will also figure out what hardware we need and coordinate with Diane about purchasing it.

  Our wheelbarrow is listing and limping, but at least not worth stealing. We will keep on with it until it busts. How about a tool inventory to see what and whether we should purchase?

  There is still a problem with water pressure from the tank. Could we raise it any higher? Could we get some kind of solar pump? Once we build a tool shed, the runoff will provide a bit of water for rain barrels. Maybe enough for the waist-high beds? Perhaps Diane could explore the possibilities and get back to us.

• COORDINATOR - Karen Friedman

  Karen calls meetings & runs them, schedules work days & runs them, tries to resolve any conflicts.

  We will have a work day on April 30. Our focus will be on building the small gate, repairing the big ones if necessary, spreading wood chips on the paths and all around the perimeter of the garden for about 2 feet outside the fence. This will keep weeds down and allow Lisa or anyone else to mow. Sam will get back to us about tasks relating to the compost bins.
• CONTACT PERSON - Vinnie Demos

  Vinnie will maintain all the records of the garden, field all phone calls & emails and maintain the waiting list for plots. In order to maintain a fair waiting list, it’s important that everyone refer all inquiries to her.

• PUBLICITY MANAGER - Justin Palmer

  Justin plans and organizes all publicity, fundraising, sales and parades.

  He is looking for suggestions for this year’s Dock Day at PeaksFest. Should we do another raffle? Do folks have any other suggestions? It’s hard for the garden to establish a presence in June when nothing much is growing yet. Email him with any ideas, please!

• COMMUNAL PLOT MANAGER - Barb Strout

  Barb will propose a scheme for this year’s use of our communal plot. Once that’s decided, she will recruit help in maintaining it and make a plan for distribution of its produce. Sheila Reiser will assist her in this.

  The possibilities range from a single crop (like potatoes) for the food pantry, an herb and flower garden from which we sell produce for the benefit of the food pantry or ourselves, a garden where islanders can help themselves (probably not a good idea), anything else that people suggest to her via emails in the next few weeks.

  Vinnie will work with Barb & Sheila to write a grant proposal to the Four Season Island Agriculture Fund for establishing a demonstration square-foot garden on that plot and money to build a three-season hoop house for it.

• WAIST-HIGH GARDEN MANAGERS - Denise Macaronas & Ruth Williamson

  They will coordinate the efforts of the Waist-High Gardeners, represent their interests at meetings and keep them apprised of garden activities.

  Vinnie pointed out the importance and challenges of keeping these gardeners a part of the larger group. Many of them don’t have access to e-mail , and it’s a challenge for them to attend evening meetings. However, they are among our more active gardeners. Their Earthboxes are very successful examples of low maintainance accessible gardens. They have regular weekly lunch meetings during the summer, to which you are all welcome.

Peaks Community Garden Meeting, Wednesday May 12, 2010 

The gardeners met at Lisa’s café. Those attending were:

Barb Strout & Tom Morse
Becky & Lisa Lynch
Lisa Wary & Chris DiBiase
Sandra Lucas
Albert Presgraves & Jenny Yasi
Karen Friedman
Judith McAllister
Diane Clark
Jubal Kessler
Justin Palmer
Vinnie Demos

Opening Business

Jenny asked about contracts & fees. Three people have not yet signed and need to pay. Vinnie will contact them as well as Sam Saltonstall, who’s on the waiting list.

We briefly talked about the garden guidelines, and whether they are ironclad at this point. There was discussion about whether asparagus and other perennials were to be allowed or whether every bed should be strictly annuals. We agreed to be flexible about most of the guidelines and discuss variations on a case by case basis. Jubal will post the guidelines online so that they are more readily accessible, and we will continue to wing it, observing them as guidelines rather than steadfast rules for the time being.

Karen would like to expand the Google Group called Gardeners of Peaks (GOP) so that everyone can participate and stay informed about what’s going on. Judith is the only gardener without a personal computer, so she will need to have a buddy who agrees to let her know about things in a timely fashion.

Finance Report

Jubal reported that we have $125.17 as of today. Karen, however, said that she bought soil amendments when she was at Fedco last weekend to avoid shipping costs. We owe her $82.95. When the last three gardeners pay up, that will give us a balance of $147.22.

She purchased granite meal, forage radish and fish meal for everyone to use. There is a possibility that we should substitute something else for the fish meal next year in case there are vegans amongst the gardeners. This year it’s only Justin and he says he doesn’t care.

Gardening To-Do List

We hope that by June 1st, each gardener will be able to spread peat moss, compost, and soil amendments on their own beds and start to plant. This depends somewhat on the weather, because the compost piles need rain to perform adequately. Randy came once with the fire truck and wet down all the peat moss. Lisa Lynch will ask him if he’d come again and water the compost piles.

Before June 1st, then, we need to move the water tank and put it up on a higher platform, finish the fence, find a screen door for the northwest corner and eventually a second one to insert in the larger front gate. Albert pointed out that it would be easier if the tank were put in place before finishing the fence. AJ has said that the front loader’s big wheels would chew up the garden too much so we need to figure out a way to move the tank. Perhaps with no water it is light enough to move by hand. . .

Other ongoing tasks are keeping the main path weed-free, picking up trash and policing the knotweed. Vinnie expressed concern about what appears to be old graffiti on the water tank, thinking that it will encourage new attempts at the same. Jenny said that it was actually old markings from when it was used in some way by the military. Still, if it looks at all like graffiti it may spawn more of the same before we even get it in place. Vinnie feels it’s better to be proactive in a situation like this.

Workday Commitments

The contracts we have signed do not stipulate a certain number of work hours, but especially in this first year we all need to take the responsibility of doing what it takes to get up and running. Jenny estimated that she and Albert had contributed approximately 28 hours of work apiece and feel they have given all the labor hours they are willing/responsible for giving until September. Although not everyone can do that amount of physical labor, we should all look at that number, be aware of the amount of work still needed to set up a garden, and be responsible for pitching in as much as possible beyond the work of setting up and maintaining our individual plots.

Others countered that exact hour totals were not the point, that we should all work as our abilities dictate, keeping in mind, however, that the commitment to make this garden work is an enormous one. Lisa commented that scheduling and timing of jobs makes all the difference, because many of us have other obligations that make Saturday workdays impossible. Tom suggested that we choose a weekday as agreeable to the most members possible and make that a weekly work day, rain or shine. The group agreed that Wednesday evenings would be the designated workday for now through the summer. Folks who can’t come on Wednesday can choose solitary jobs such as turning compost or weeding the main path, which require no set schedule.

Diane mentioned the number of hours she had committed to the garden, which were mostly spent waiting for something to happen so that she could get to work. Vinnie concurred. It’s very frustrating to give up a weekend morning, only to find yourself standing around. Those organizing work days should bear this in mind and plan to have jobs waiting for early (actually, on time) volunteers.

Committee Creation

Jenny suggested that the group be divided into three committees, which would take charge of membership, finance and grounds-keeping. Becky thought that all members should participate in all aspects of running the garden so that they would feel comfortable with any job. Jenny countered that the committees should rotate annually so that everyone would eventually participate in every aspect of the gardening operation. In the meantime, each committee would be sure to inform and instruct the membership as necessary. For instance, the grounds-keepers could run a session in which they explained the principles of composting and showed everyone how to turn a compost pile and how frequently to do it.

Those present volunteered as follows:

GROUNDS-KEEPING (organizing work days, selecting and ordering supplies, monitoring invasives such as knotweed and selecting a procedure for controlling them, initiating workshops, speakers)

Jenny Yasi* & Albert Presgraves
Diane Clark
Lisa Lynch
Sandra Lucas
Tom Morse & Barb Strout*

MEMBERSHIP (maintaining phone & email lists, maintaining the community-garden section on PEAT’s website, taking & circulating minutes, maintaining a waiting list, publicity, keeping in touch with city agencies, notifying gardeners of meetings & other events)

Karen Friedman*
Jubal Kessler
Vinnie Demos*

FINANCE/RESOURCES (writing a budget, keeping track of funds, grant writing, publicity, group ordering, shopping or designating shoppers, working with local businesses for in kind donations)

Judith McAllister*
Justin Palmer*
Lisa Wary
Becky Lynch

*Indicates co-chairs of each committee.

Workday Schedule

For the immediate future, every Wednesday night will be garden night – rain or shine.

Tom, Phil and Diane Clark’s husband Bob will work on finishing the fence next Wednesday, starting at 6:00 p.m. Others are encouraged to join them.

Steve will build the framework for the senior gardeners’ EarthBoxes.

Lisa Wary will get more compost buckets from the transfer station, pick up lids for them, and take them to the Café.
Lisa Lynch will get some used tools to start our on-site collection,  and Lisa Wary and Becky will investigate erecting a temporary shed to house them. 10’ x 10’ or less is considered a temporary structure by the city and requires no permit.

Fundraising

Justin is working with PeaksFest on our behalf. He is organizing a “Dock Day” on Saturday from 10 to 4, at which musicians, vendors and non-profit organizations will make noise, display art, posters & balloons, and sell stuff. PEAT will have a table, and the community garden will have a table with raffle items, t-shirts and maybe hats to raise funds for the garden.

Next Workday

Our next meeting is Wednesday evening, May 19, in the garden – rain or shine. This will be for work, not talking. Jenny will demonstrate how to turn a compost pile!

Peaks Community Garden Meeting, Monday March 8, 2010

Barry Chevalier
Brendan Hall
Dan Bernard
Denise Macaronas
Diane Clark
Jenny Yasi
Jo Taft
Jubal Kessler
Judith McAllister
Justin Palmer
Karen Friedman
Lisa Wary
Sandra Lucas
Steve Demos
Vinnie Demos

Senior Gardeners

Stephen outlined the plan for building waist-high beds for the senior gardeners: nine earth boxes, from earthbox.com, which will be raised on a wooden framework that will bring the surface of the dirt to approximately 40 to 42 inches above the ground. The advantage of these boxes, which are self-watering, is that the reservoir has an overflow drain which allows anyone to fill it without concern about overwatering. If there's too much, it just runs out onto the ground. There was a question about what materials would be used for the framework. Those concerned agreed that pressure-treated lumber would last longer and was permissible in an organic garden as long as the wood never came in contact with actual plant material.
The Institute for Human Centered Design (Steve's office) will pay for the Earth Boxes, the building materials, and the potting soil & organic fertilizer for an initial planting. We are responsible for construction. Denise is responsible for recruiting and supervising the senior participants.

News from City of Portland

Justin reported that Jeff Tarling will send over the water tank whenever we are ready for it. He has also ordered us some apple trees! How to cope? Where to plant? Perhaps the Girl Scouts will be able to plant them and care for them. In addition, Jeff may be sending us a load of soil, but no date has been set for this . . . He also promised a sign for the garden with our logo on it, and this will be available as soon as we have a fence up to hang it on.

Fencing & Workdays

The ground is no longer frozen, so we can have a workday next weekend to spread the wood chips already delivered from the transfer station, collect and spread seaweed from the back shore, and lay out the boundaries for the fence posts. Work begins Saturday at 9:00 a.m., with Sunday at the same time for a rain date. If that's no good, we'll go for the following weekend, etc. until done. Vinnie will provide string, and Justin will try to arrange for coffee. Lisa W. will arrange work to start on the post holes as soon as we get everything laid out and clearly marked. She will find cement for the corner posts and probably all the others as well. Chris DiBiase thinks that for ten-foot steel posts, we must have 3-foot deep holes if we don't use concrete.

Lisa needs a timeline and budget constraints for digging the post holes and, if she & Chris do it, for building the platforms for the waist-high beds. They are offering to give us reduced rates, but we need to give them some figures and dates to work with!

Tall Plants

There was some discussion about height restrictions in the current guidelines for the garden. It looks as though corn, for instance, would be too high. Also stuff planted on the fence at the end of every plot. We decided to wing it for the first year, and see if all went well. If there are shade problems, we can dedicate one corner to corn and other tall plants in future years.

Composting

Justin has gotten free pallets from Whole Foods and will begin constructing a three-part compost bin next week. He has tentatively chosen to locate it to the right as you approach the garden (near the copse of trees). Then we'll be able to tell folks where to bring the organic waste they are willing to contribute. The three bins should be labeled so it's easy to identify the waste container in current use. . .

Lisa Lynch will give us coffee grounds and kitchen waste if we provide six lidded spackle/project buckets to hold it, and if we agree to pick it up on a regular basis. There was some discussion about whether this is doable or too onerous an arrangement. Barry said he has the time and equipment to do the pick-up. We still need to talk with Lisa L. and her staff about what can and cannot go in the kitchen waste containers, and to determine whether or not they are willing and able to keep it free of meat, dairy and fatty waste.
Justin pointed out that this amount of vegetable waste every week will require as much as three times as much dry brown material (carbon) to combine with it. We'll need to keep collecting leaves, grass, etc, to have on hand near the compost bin.
Grass clippings would hasten decomposition. We need to find a way to identify and solicit clippings which have NOT been treated with herbicide.

Seed Starting

Lisa has also volunteered the front window of the cafe for seed starting. Jubal has purchased seed-starting flats with individual peat pots in which gardeners can plant seeds of their choice, taking care to label them. We agreed to tell Lisa to go ahead and plant grass as she's done in the past, and we will then take over with our seeds on the Monday after Easter (April 4). This should be about the right timetable for having stuff to plant out before it gets too leggy.

Garden Paths

Jenny asked what material we wanted to use on the center path in the garden. Paths between garden plots will be maintained by individual gardeners according to their own tastes. Jenny recommended ground stone because it would make the path wheelchair accessible, but we made no decision. We talked about a variety of soil amendments and decided that we would purchase those and seed for cover crops from the garden budget. We will also do a bulk order of peat moss and potting soil, but these will be paid for by individual gardeners. Jenny agreed to make and distribute a list of all these items and their prices.

A Plot for Charity

We have one unassigned garden plot left and Justin proposed that we devote it to the Plant a Row For the Hungry program and donate whatever we can raise to a Portland soup kitchen. Sandy pointed out that if we devoted the space to winter root crops like squash, parsnips, etc., we might be able to donate the harvest to our own Peaks Island food pantry. Good idea!

PEAKS ISLAND GARDEN MEETING - Groundhog Day, February 2 2010

Dan Bernard
Diane Clark
Steve Demos
Vinnie Demos
Susan Hanley
Sandra Lucas
Jubal Kessler
Justin Palmer
Barbara Strout
Jenny Yasi
Lisa Wary

Jubal handed out folders containing
1. Garden Guidelines – proposed rules for gardeners
2. Garden Soil 101 – Jenny’s outline for soil building in early spring
3. A participant questionnaire to fill out and return

The guidelines are ours to ponder and amend. Vinnie questioned the prohibition of all plastic mulch. Susan suggested more leeway about furnishing and decoration of individual plots. We discussed adding more specifics about dealing with invasives, particularly knotweed.

Items

• Jenny announced that Keith Hults has offered to find materials and help construct a garden shed, waist-high beds, and possibly even a small greenhouse.
• Lisa Wary volunteered construction help from Chris DiBiase, and later offered a discounted rate for digging post holes in the spring.
• Diane said that her daughter was going to donate seedlings.
• Justin said he would work on signage for the garden.
• Lynne Richard has contacted us to relay a message from Mike Bobinsky: “By the way, we/I , gave permission for AJ to haul the wood chips over to the community garden location.”

Fees

Jubal announced that, since the number of garden plots has increased and the insurance cost will be shared with the Wind Group for one or possibly two years, the fee for gardeners will be reduced to $35 for at least this first season.

April 15th will be the date for gardeners to return a signed contract along with payment of the $35 fee.

Soil Building

Jenny described soil-building as the single most important activity for gardeners, especially for this year, but also year in and year out. It would be possible to get a head start by purchasing organic soil from off the island, but it’s a far more expensive option, of dubious quality, and doesn’t afford us the opportunity to learn about soil. The group agreed that this was the preferable route to take.

• AJ Alves will move the wood chips to our site.
• Jeanie Alves & Mark Hall will deliver manure to us.
• We should get together and truck in quantities of seaweed.
• Grass clippings would be excellent if we can be sure they’re not contaminated with herbicides that don’t break down.*
• We could collect all this stuff, except probably the grass, in March.
• Plant a green-manure crop in early April.
• Turn the first crop under in May.
• Dig plant material out of pathways onto beds and put down landscape fabric and mulch paths in June. With straw or buckwheat hulls
• Folks could go ahead and plant some stuff after that, but Jenny recommends cover cropping at least a portion of your plot for the first season.

Finances & Expenditures

Jubal says the garden has about $1100 to spend. Jenny figures that the added material she outlined in Soil 101 would cost about $42.60 per plot. A rough range for the expenses, mentioned above and also listed on the back of the Soil 101 sheet, is from $500 to $700 for the entire garden.

Other

• Sandra pointed out that in the Portland community gardens, the individual gardeners are responsible for weeding the pathways. Stuff grows up despite landscape cloth and mulch, but keeping ahead of it is not onerous if everyone helps.
• The Friends of the Parks Commission in Portland is a group that meets monthly to discuss issues about city-owned park land. The Brentwood and Riverton community gardens, both of which are managed by nonprofit organizations, first proposed their gardens in 2009 to this commission. We didn’t take this approach; Justin took a different route last year in getting initial approval for the garden. Either way, Jubal and Justin will go to the Friends of the Park meeting on February 11th and present an update about our garden. He thinks that will help to give us more of a formal presence with the city when we need their help in the future. Someday, for instance, we may want a more permanent source of water.
• Per Lisa Wary: Barry (no last name yet), new to the island, would like to have a plot. His number is 617-413-7832.)

Footnote

* Per Jenny, grass only grows in alkaline soil, so there’s no danger that it would pick up any lead in the soil. Therefore, it’s okay for composting. A greater concern is the herbicides applied to lawns, which can then permeate the compost. We should consider:

a. Asking the local landscape firms what, if any, herbicides they’re using

b. Finding a way to educate islanders about the dangers of herbicides to our soil and to the Gulf of Maine waters. This would be an excellent public service for the garden to perform.

Peaks Island Community Garden - January 18, 2010

Attendees:

Brendan Hall & Patrick
Diane Clark
Gail Trefethern-Kelly
Jenny Yasi
Jo Taft
Jubal Kessler
Judith McAllister
Justin Palmer
Karen Friedman
Lisa Wary
Sandra Lucas
Steve Demos
Vinnie Demos

(Minutes recorded by Vinnie, some corrections by Jubal)

Jubal showed us the current directory of everyone associated with the Community Garden, and urged everyone to check it for accuracy.

He then gave a very brief history of the garden, which was the idea of Justin Palmer in August 2008. Since then the group has become an adjunct of Peaks Environmental Action Team (PEAT), gained the endorsement of the Peaks Island Council and the Portland Parks & Recreation Department. We have negotiated a lease from the City of Portland and purchased a liability insurance policy for the garden, which is a stipulation of the lease. The garden, referred to in this document as PIG (Peaks Island Garden), applied for and received grants from the Island Institute ($1000) and The Peaks Island Fund ($1000) as well as earning $122 from the return of bottles from the island recycling bins. In addition, Norm Rasulis presented us with $100 from the Gardeners of Peaks group.

Of this total of $2222, we have spent $1060 for fencing and $50 for transport of the fencing. This leaves us with $1112.

The proposed agenda for tonight was to

• establish a time frame for the remainder of 2010
• compare the 3 proposed site plans and select one
• pick a date for the next meeting

Jenny outlined the features she favored:

A central path which more or less follows the existing walking path in Trott-Littlejohn
Two plots that butt up against the outside fence so gardeners can take advantage of that structure to support climbing plants

Vinnie & Karen favored the 4-foot beds because gardeners could reach the center of the plot without stepping on and compacting the soil. Jenny concurred.
The group decided to go with the 4' x 26' beds with the provision that members could choose to combine or trade spaces in order to achieve whatever they thought to be ideal to their particular gardening needs.

The group chose to keep the garden shed and tank in the northwest corner of the garden so that the tank would be at the highest spot and so that the shed would cast the least shade on abutting plots. Jeff Tarling, from the Portland Parks and Rec Department, has described the tank as being approximately the size and shape of two standard home fuel oil tanks. Jubal will try to get the actual dimensions from him.

Karen brought up the question of children’s garden beds: where should they be located so that the kids had the most space to move around, and where their presence would cause the least disruption.

• Judith asked whether the children’s plots were intended for any interested island children or just for groups.
• Justin recalled that the original concept was for a garden for the Children’s Workshop.
• Gail said that her group felt that the kids’ garden would be pretty much on hold this summer due to other commitments. She wondered whether she could maintain their space so that it would be “bookmarked” for them, and they could step in next year. The group indicated that she could have her own plot and then continue to improve and maintain an adjoining one for the future use of the children’s garden.

Jenny spoke about what folks could hope to accomplish in this first summer, and what they should put on hold for later. She recommended planting green manure such as daikon on at least a portion of your plot: something which freezes and breaks down in the following winter so that the soil is broken up and receptive to water and other nutrients. She plans to spend most of this year improving her soil, and won’t plant much of it until the following year.

Karen pointed out that, although the soil is not ready for root crops, there are plenty of leafy greens and legumes that can provide a harvest this year while at the same tie enriching the soil,

Judith described the work done at the Fay Garman house to improve the inferior soil originally provided for their new raised beds. By adding seaweed and other nutrients recommended by Jim Lausier, they were able to plant that same spring and harvest a bounty of vegetables and flowers.

Jenny outlined what she recalled about the land we are now preparing for our garden: When the gravel pit was filled with refuse and stone from various other sites, the city put a French drain in, which is to our advantage because it is continually draining the ground underneath the area we will be cultivating. Although not apparent, it’s to our benefit, as it provides irrigation and controls erosion on and around the site.

Justin brought over the results of two soil tests he had submitted last year, which are available for everyone to consult. However, we are pretty much building our garden on TOP of the existing site, so the results are hardly pertinent. (Ed. note: Nevertheless, Jubal noted that there is no lead in the soil that was tested, a factoid to remember just in case plant roots wiggle past the bottom of a raised bed.)

Jenny outlined the steps we still need to take before planting time:

• Contacting Public Services about delivering the remainder of the woodchips to the garden site as soon as the snow melts
• Arrange to truck in horse manure from Jeanie Alves & Mark Hall
• Get together to collect and spread seaweed
• Choose a site for placing compost, and decide whether or not we require bins

Lisa and Gail talked about identifying folks who’d be willing to do grant writing for us in the future.

There was a suggestion that we might, if funds allowed, have “gardenerships” for people who couldn’t afford the members annual fee.

Jubal reminded us that the liability-insurance policy for the garden is an annual fee of $501. Right now we are splitting the cost with the Peaks Wind Group, who are sharing the policy while their tower is up, probably for two years. In the future, however, we will be responsible for the entire amount.

Vinnie pointed out that while insurance is a boring thing to spend the members’ fees on, it’s still a highly effective strategy, as most of the grants we get and will get in the future will not see fit to cover expenses like taxes and insurance.

Jubal passed around a draft of the PIG guidelines (Ed. note: written in mid-2009, as it was a required attachment to the city lease agreement) so that we could all consider them and decide at our next meeting whether to adopt any or all of the guidelines. He will email everyone a copy. Some of the items in it that he has highlighted for discussion in February are:

• annual fee for members
• planting dates
• members work days – how many and when
• plot assignment
• signed contracts for gardeners

We decided that the next meeting would be at Steve and Vinnie’s house at 25 Crescent Avenue on Tuesday February 3.

Karen made a start on assigning garden plots to individual members. We will send out a draft and discuss it in February.