It was a chilly but very productive day at the garden today, and we welcomed several new gardeners. Thanks to those who made it out!
We started by tidying the garden. We added mulch to beds, turned our (massive!) compost piles, and harvested winter crops. We even made our first donations—cabbages, and some surprise sweet potatoes! Awesome start to the new year!
We had a solid group and got a lot done, but the air was still brisk so we went inside for our meeting.
Dan demonstrated how to plant onion sets and potato eyes, and some of each were available to share and plant. We talked about Best Bets—now is the best time for a limited number of greens, such as spinach, cabbage, mustard greens, turnips, and lettuce. We also offered a quick refresher on Square Foot Gardening (a copy of our recommended book is available to share in the shed–please leave it there so we can all read it!). Now is the time to fertilize and replenish your garden bed with compost.
February will be the prime planting time for many other plants, so come ready!
Greenhouse Update
Bad news on the greenhouse: City guidelines will not currently allow us to have a standalone greenhouse like we were wanting. We can currently add a 2-foot “lean-to” style greenhouse (just for seedlings) attached to the shed, or we can talk to the City to see about getting a zoning variance. Volunteers took on each of these tasks and we will discuss further next workday. We can also use the grant money for other things. Come prepared to help us decide what we should do!
Social Media
Another hot topic that came up today was a way to communicate with all the gardeners. While you are encouraged to make friends with your garden neighbors and help each other out, so far we have not had a linked messaging application, email listserve, or similar to encourage communication among gardeners. Several people thought this would be helpful, so that’s our newest thing to try!
You should have received an email with a list of email addresses of all the gardeners. If you did not get an email, reach out via comment on the blog, on Facebook, or directly to Megan or Dan to see how to remedy this. Please do NOT post your email address or phone number directly on the blog comments, for your own security.
We also discussed several avenues to have a more streamlined conversation method. A few options are listed below, with pros and cons. Please be prepared to help us discuss what option is best for the garden as a whole at the next workday!
| Type |
Pros |
Cons |
| Email List |
Simple to use;
|
|
|
everyone has an email address already;
|
|
compatible with all levels of technology
|
|
The “reply all” phenomenon can be frustrating;can clutter your inbox;shares email addresses with everyone |
| Facebook Messenger |
Already have a Facebook page for the group;
|
|
|
Easy to use;
|
|
Easy to chat to individuals as well as the group
|
Able to control what kind of notifications you receive
|
Privacy concerns, both with Facebook the company and with the group accessing individual pages;
|
|
|
Everyone has to download the app;
|
|
|
| Other Messaging Apps such as Slack, WhatsApp, etc. |
Easy to use;
|
|
|
Easy to chat to individuals as well as the group
|
|
Able to control what kind of notifications you receive
|
More private (only moderator accesses contact information)
|
Everyone has to download the app;not every phone may be compatible |
Special Thanks
Special Thanks go to Craig for tidying and organizing the shed! That’s no small job! Please remember to clean off your tools with the wire brush hanging by the door. This will both keep things tidy and prevent the spread of disease in our plants!
Our next workday will be 9-11 a.m. on February 9. See you there!
Join us this Saturday, February 9th, from 9-11 am for our next garden workday. We will be featuring Spring planting tips, seed swap, and vertical gardening. If you or a friend want a plot this season…make sure you attend this workday. There are only a few plots left!
