Tag - west104garden

West 104 St. Community Garden
Work-eve minutes, July 11, 2012

Issues discussed at Meeting:

1. Should we make deep watering one of the community gardens with the fire hydrant hose a make-up assignment? (This is a 2 person job, at least one of whom should have experience connecting the fire hydrant hose, and takes @ 2 hours.) A majority voted “yes.” Suzanne Charle’ volunteered to be an experienced person.

2. A reminder to the Cat Crew: Do not feed the cats canned food, which attracts flies and smells, during the summer.

3. Reconstruction of the gazebo is finished. The next job is to paint. A majority voted for Blue. Peter Barzeli volunteered to post a selection of blue paint chips on the gazebo so members can choose which one they want.

4. A row boat is leaning against the wire fence in the back of the West garden. A member of the Steering Committee (SC) will speak to the Super of that building about moving it before any damage is done.

5. Both 12 West 104 and a building around the corner on Manhattan Ave. leave bags of garbage sitting out (not in cans), which is likely to attract rodents. A majority voted to report this to the DOB. Peter volunteered to follow through.

6. The East gate to the backyard to 12 West 104 is broken; there is no gate on the West side. Tenants of that building who are not Garden members have been using the garden for picnics and BBQs. SC to research whether it is legal to have a locked gate in these locations (or prohibited by fire laws). If it is legal we will repair and lock the East gate and put in a gate or other obstacle on the West side. (for East gate, Peter will buy hinges; Jean Jaworik will supply bolt.)

7. The sidewalk in front of the street gate to the West garden is in disrepair. We have removed the broken concrete…which led to the idea of asking the City to plant a tree there. Suzanne or Peter to follow through.

8. Members asked to support the Flea Market this Saturday, July 14–by posting flyers, donating goods for sale, and (at very least) stopping by to shop.

9. The elm tree in the West garden needs to be inspected by an arborist. SC to ask Melissa to ask Green Thumb to make a recommendation.

 

Informal talks

a) Frank Grech volunteered to fix loose metal sheet on gazebo roof

b) Peter and Frank tested the stage and recommended rebuilding (estimated work: 3 people on one workday; cost of materials less than $200)

c) Several members complained about the tone on the monitoring reminder email. / Kim Maitland suggested having a 4-member monitoring committee with each member taking responsibility for one month. Kim would consider being the chair.

d) Peter suggested cutting down the tree behind the large East garden shed, a weed that has grown to tree height.

e) Suggestion that we re-write the descriptions of committee responsibilities in more detail. Ideally committee chairs would write a draft and SC would assist in finalizing.

f) Complaint by one chair about their frustration in trying to communicate with committee members and getting no response. SC asked to be notified in these cases so we can help out.

g) Someone said that Kevin Lee has written a HOW TO for connecting the hose to the hydrant. SC to ask him to laminate these instructions and place a copy in each shed.

h) Special Events committee still does not have a chair.

Work activities included: weeding along the fence in the East Garden, sweeping the sidewalks, giving the green bench a second coat of paint, sanding the picnic table(?) in preparation for treatment with linseed oil, cutting boards to edge West garden patio, and deep watering the West garden.

Garden Workday Meeting (to post)
June 13, 2012

Meeting Chair: Sumana Raychaudhuri
Notetaker: Noreen Whysel

Pruning Fruit Trees
-Discussed recent complaints regarding how fruit trees have been pruned.
-Fruit trees should be pruned so that ripe fruit is easy to reach.
-Suggestion to have any pruning job be voted on by members. Janice Vrana as a past pruning chair advised against this, suggesting that it should be enough for the SC to discuss pruning with the committee chair.
-Ant problem described. Should this be pruning committee responsibility? SC to resolve.

Weeding
-Noted that NYPD requires that foliage be cut back to within 3 feet above the ground along the fence for adequate visibility into the lot.
-Julia Soledispa’s complaint about someone tearing out the morning glory on the west garden fence was noted.
-Workday activity: Removing dead vines from fence and weeding along both fences.
-Caution when weeding along fence to avoid pulling newly planted seedum. This plant is a hardy variety, according to Sumana Raychaudhuri, and will fill in the space which should make it more difficult for weeds to take hold. There should be enough sun along the fence.
-Reminder that plot owners are responsible for weeding around beds.

Bench
-An East Garden bench is in disrepair however there were no maintenance committee members at this time, so we can delay repair.

Finances
-We have just under $6000 in our account. Ariel Behr, Treasurer, was not in attendance

Membership
-New member information is being updated with tips on how the garden works. A cheat sheet will be posted in both sheds.
-New member rosters is being finalized and will be posted to Google Docs.

Compost
-Our new perforated barrels would smell less. Pleases use these for collecting green matter. Note that “greens” does include coffee grounds, tea bags and coffee filters. “Browns” are typically garden scraps such as leaves, grass trimmings and twigs.
-Jean Jaworek noted that new instructions for compost collection are available in handouts located in a box on the East Garden fence and contain a full explanation of the types of materials we are collecting and what to avoid contributing. More information is on the Composting page on our website.

Pavers
-New slate pavers will be dropped off by the Parks Department Friday Morning at 10:30am.
-444 CPW has allowed us to use their dumpster for collecting rubble while they are undergoing construction. At the moment the dumpster has been removed but should be back by Friday.
-Thank you to Victor Calise for arranging the drop off.
-Also congratulations to Victor on his appointment as NYC Commissioner of Disabled Affairs.

West Garden Lawn
-The area in the west garden between the fig tree and the cold frame has been seeded. The area is blocked off by string, which someone has been removing.
-Please do not remove the string or pass through this area so the grass has a chance to grow.
-The SC will post a sign stating the date at which it should be safe to pass through that area.

New Cat Shelteer
-Huge thanks to Nikki Kowalski and the Cat Committee. The cat shelter has been completed!

Workday Tasks:
-Volunteer to bring unsold flea market items to thrift store (Thanks??)
-Trim branches over east garden shed (Thanks Alan Tenney and Paula McKenzie)
-Move bricks from cat shelter to east side of west garden to construct the narrow bed (did someone already do this? Suzanne?)
-Weeding outside fences (thanks to Julia Sepulveda and Noreen Whysel)
-Clear up brick path in East garden to make room for slate (a huge job for which we thank everyone!)

Also at the meeting we forgot to mention two upcoming events:
-June 21, 1-8pm, Make Music New York
-July 14, time TBA, Summer Flea Market

West 104th St Community Garden.
Monthly Meeting Saturday 5/12/12

Minutes

Meeting started at 10:21 am

1) ART WORK in the garden

SC: Morse code – current art installation
Vote: To be kept, or to be removed?
Remove: 9 votes
Keep: 9 votes

Opinions:
Jean: Said that in 2011 the garden voted the art to be kept as a permanent installation.
Ann: Proposed it to be revisited.

Flamingo Parade – installation on east building wall of the East Garden.
Concern about the vine. Was the art going to cover it? Was it going to affect its growth?
SC: Proposed an online vote for approval of graphic.
Garden Members approved suggestion.
On-line vote to be sent with picture attached and more details about the art size and way of attachment.

Vote: If it is to be a temporary installation, will the garden agree to host it?
Yes: 23 votes
No: 3 votes

Opinions:
Mary K: Said that the art installation was accepted in 2011 as a temporary piece. However, it remained unclear if every member had seen the graphic previous to that approval.
SC: Even if garden votes to allow the installation, the building owner/management has not agreed (or not) to the installation and the final decision will remain with them.

2) Request for a volunteer to be chairman for the Special Event committee.
Nobody volunteered.
Current members of the committee will select somebody among themselves.

3) Proposal from SC: Installation/extension of a fence at the back of the east wall end on the West Garden.
Reason: To prevent tenants from building in the middle to use garden as their private backyard.

Vote: whether to install new fence or not?
Yes: 2 votes
No: 18 votes

Opinions:
Walli: Concerned about spending money. Expressed concerns about financial status of garden.
Lou: Added that screws were methodically removed from existing gate that grant access to East Garden.
SC: Could we have somebody from the garden contact the building’s owner?

4) Replacement of crumbling brick path in front of east wall communal bed in East Garden.
Vote: bricks on path
Remove during work day (5/12/12): 7 votes
“Clean up” only during work day: 16 votes

Vote: brick path
Replace with another hard scape material: 14 votes
Replace with sod: 5 votes
Clean up: 6 votes

Extra: Dinorah and Paul to have a final proposal of materials for the meeting to be held in June.

Opinions:
Jean: Bricks to be removed once we have a plan in place.
Nikki: Encouraged plan of brick removal to be done on Saturday May 12th because it is a chore that has to be addressed by all members.
Susan Bernofsky: Offered to write grants if Walli will also join her on the task. Walli declined.

5) SC announced decision to not increase membership fee. Current: $20.00

6) Announcement of MMNY – Make Music New York, Thursday June 21st event.

7) Gazebo
Frank to begin work the week of June 21st.

Opinions:
Jean: to meet with new carpenter to assess scope of work to be done. Meeting to occur not later than Tuesday, May 15th, 2012.
Question to be asked: “What is duration of job?”
Mary K: pointed out that last year, garden members had decided to forgo
putting any gutters on the gazebo for rainwater gathering; and that the garden
tried to give the barrels and other water collection materials away.

8) Fire Hydrant.
Should all members call 311?
It was reiterated water should be used moderately due to lack of water access and plenty of rain. Tank in West Garden is full. It will provide enough water to irrigate plants on both sides.

9) Lids for water barrels.
Request for new flat lids that don’t hold water to discourage mosquito breeding.

Jean suggested drilling a small hole in the middle to drain accumulated water into barrel.
Garden approved suggestion. Experiment to be applied.

Concern: Wouldn’t this hole encourage mosquito breeding?
Jean thought small hole size might not encourage breeding.
Answer not completely satisfactory.

10) Removal of plants in communal beds. Main issue: East Garden removal of butterfly bushes and smoke bush.

Kim requested clearer rules regarding communal bed management to avoid future misunderstanding.
Mary K explained that each person in charge of a communal bed has the liberty to rearrange plants (add or remove) on their own behalf.
SC agreed with this remark.

SC representative (Kate) suggested:
a) Email or note has to be sent to all members in the garden before (NOT AFTER) removing any plant of considerable importance, size, aesthetic qualities, or sentiment attached to another member. This step aims to give enough time to the community to ponder the possibility of using the planting material.

1. Rules for Communal beds should be written down from now on, and be posted somewhere where people can refer to. It could be in the website or a copy posted inside the sheds.

11) Ants on peach tree.
Suggestion: Use of ant traps or mix potions suggested by Jean.

Meeting chaired by Ann Levine.

1. Dumping: The patio in the West Garden and the stage in the East Garden have become dumping grounds for various pots, furniture, etc. Please ask the Steering Committee or the chairs of the Communal Beds before introducing new items. In case you have not done so, please leave a tag with your name on it so that we know who to contact.

2. Lou Ludyny suggested and Ann agreed that furniture covers would extend the life of garden furniture considerably.

3. The garden shall henceforth enforce the $50 deposit to ensure that all trash is carried out after a private event. Also, we shall try to insert private events into the garden Google calendar so that all members know of parties ahead of time.

4. The chairs of the Communal Beds request help with watering of these beds — as well as the lawns, as long as there are no restrictions on water usage — in case of drought (please water if ground is dry an inch under the surface). We all enjoy the communal parts of the garden, so let us come together to help if and when need arises.

5. Julia Soledispa is organizing a flea market at the garden on May 5. There will be flowers/ plants sold and a table for donated baked goods and clothing and other household items to benefit the garden as well as private vendors. Dinorah has designed the fliers — please let us know if you can photocopy them at work. Some color and some black and white would be great. Please donate baked goods/ gently used items, help spread the word and attend the flea market to make it a success.

6. The combination to the garden lock needs to be changed and will be made official at the next workday.

7. As NYC has legalized bee-keeping, and supporting honey-bees has environmental benefits, Carly Tribull, an entomologist and member of the garden, has done preliminary research into the possible location of a bee-hive in the garden. The New York City Bee-keepers’ Association has visited the garden to investigate and has suggested the SW corner of the East garden as the best location. They would provide a bee-keeper who would be responsible for caring for the bees and covering the bee-hive in case of a private event, etc. If the members want honey, there may be “honey-share” options, by which those who wish might obtain honey at market-price or less. While the hive will generate some income for the garden (exact sums were not discussed), there are several members who are allergic to bee stings and may require hospitalization should they be stung. The garden might also be liable if visitors are stung.

There will be a full membership vote by phone and email next week. Carly will be happy to answer questions related to bees over e-mail.

7A. Other options related to bees are (a) keeping “stingless” bees that can bite (akin to a mosquito-bite) and don’t yield honey but may attract mud-wasps which sting and (b) helping with a City of NY Dept. of Parks and Recreations study of honey-bees that offers 6 native flowering plants (free) and instructions on how to observe and report honey-bee activity for an ongoing study on the catastrophic decline of European honey-bee populations in the United States. These options will also be on the ballot.

8. Work was done on tree-pits, the West Garden lawn and paths, replacing the sides of member beds.

9. Florice Peterkin has been the telephone crew for years without a break and deserves a break. Susan Bernofsky will replace her.

10. Frank Grech will work on the gazebo in a couple of weeks.