September 10, 2011 workday meeting minutes

October 5, 2011
by garden
3 min read

Ann Levine, who was chairing the meeting, announced that the Parks Department had provided the Garden with pavers for the areas devoted to water barrel storage, and thanked Kevin Lee and Victor Calise for their efforts in obtaining these supplies from the City. The installation of the pavers is a work day task.

Members were urged to support the composting event that is scheduled for October 13, from 6-8. The event will feature a guest speaker and free refreshments.
Another round of discussion was devoted to the possibility of relocating the composter to the rear of the east garden. Various suggestions were offered to mitigate the downsides of the present location. To make the composter itself more attractive, it was suggested that it could be decorated as part of a children’s art project. To improve accessibility at the entrance to the east garden, it was suggested that the platform under the composter could be refurbished and its footprint reduced. Further discussion was tabled until Jean Jaworek, chair of the compost committee, could be present.

Members discussed the option of replacing the Halloween Party with a Harvest Festival. The reason for doing this would be to provide an event with greater appeal to adult members who don’t have young children, and because there are so many Halloween events already. A suggestion was made that we aim to emulate the Harvest Festival done by the Bloomingdale Group. Noreen Whysel, a Steering Committee member, does web design for that group, and has contacts with that group who might be helpful in making suggestions for how we could do a similar event in the Garden. The consensus of the meeting was that the garden should present such an event, but that it would require too much planning to be able to do it this year.

Nikki Kowalski announced that the Garden had received an offer from a group called Green Guerillas to supply perennials and cover crops to the Garden. Members with requests should talk to Nikki during the workday, because the September 16 deadline for requests is rapidly approaching.
Members were reminded that they are responsible for weeding the area around their individual planting bed.

The condition of the fire hydrant from which we get our water supply was once again a topic of discussion. Earlier in the summer, some members thought it was broken, but it turned out that it was just difficult to operate. Now it appears to be really and truly broken. Kevin Lee will report the problem to 311 if he can’t get the hydrant working by the end of the weekend.

NK for the SC

Garden Workday is Saturday, September 10, 10am to 12pm

August 25, 2011
by garden
1 min read

Be sure to come out for the Sept 10 workday, from 10am to noon. With all the rain we have been having, it is a jungle out there, and we expect to have a lot of weeds to pull and perhaps some surprising harvests. Remember to log in your reapings to the Farming Concrete notebook.

Also, if you missed the August workday and need to schedule a makeup, please contact Noreen Whysel at nwhysel@gmail.com.

7/8 Workday Summary

July 13, 2009
by garden
4 min read

Dear West 104th Street Gardeners:

Wednesday’s work evening was very well attended. We covered a number of issues, among them: 1) the status of electrical access in the garden, 2) the addition of new garden plots, 3) addition of benches to the west side of the garden 4) the soon-to-be installed ballot boxes (one each on east and west sides) and 5) a ballot was held to accept or reject Sue Archambault and Alan Tenney to the Steering Committee and, 6) the need to put out the Open Garden sign when one is monitoring.

Establishing Electrical Power in the East Garden
Jean Jaworek spoke about having been referred to an electrician used who works for the Jewish Home for the Aged (W 106th), Singer Electric. Singer is going to make an on-site evaluation and deliver ideas about how to secure power for the garden.

New Ballot System
Alan Tenney and Susan Archambault will design and install weather-resistant balloting boxes in both the west and east gardens.

New Garden Plots
Peter Bazeli led a discussion regarding the pros and cons of the 2 proposed plans for new garden plots to accommodate people waiting for plots (currently on the waiting list). To paraphrase, both versions involved the use of area along the southeastern area of the eastern garden. One included using space behind the sheds, the other did not. Plans were handed out for reference. Gardeners’ discussion was lively and included the issue of whether it was practical to have 4′ beds without more than one–in some cases–aisle access. Another major consideration was whether or not the area behind the sheds was a good choice for new beds because of limited growing light and the projected need for those spaces to be used for storage purposes.

Several constructive ideas were offered. For example, the use of stepping stones was suggested in instances where access to a deep bed is limited. This idea was embraced by the majority and Peter agreed to include in schematically in the final sketch.

After a lively debate for some 20 minutes the plan to install new beds along the fence only, was approved unanimously by those in attendance. Thus, this will be the plan that is offered to the entire membership by paper ballot as soon as the new system is in place. There will be paper ballots available in the east and west gardens for 2 weeks from the date they are made available. Please know you can vote by proxy if you know you will not be here. The balloting will take place in both the east and west sections of the garden (see new ballot system above). If the Membership approves the plan, it will then be submitted to Green Thumb for approval.

New Garden Benches for West Garden
Penny Donnenfeld and Susan Yarnell have volunteered to procure new benches for the west garden seating area. They will report back with their progress.

Susan Archambault and Alan Tenney were voted unanimously to the Steering Committee.

Using the Open Garden Sign
Monitoring members were reminded to put out the Open Garden sign during their shifts.

Work ReCap
Thanks to the 30-odd members who were able to attend the meeting on Wednesday, we accomplished a lot. We weeded the rose garden; the gravel paved meeting area; the gazebo bed and tree wells on the east side; mowed the lawns and transplanted plants. The grassy fringe around the garden plots and communal beds was whipper-snipped.

On-Going Tasks
Robin Mace volunteered to pick-up grass seed and fertilizer from Home Depot. Jean Jaworek said the maintenance committee would attend to the reinforcement of the fence and the rat hole on the West Side. Frank and Jean will be launching the rain collection project to involve runoff from the gazebo roof to barrels opposite those already in place on the east side in the next few weeks. Lou volunteered to ask Larry to touch up the Open Garden signs.

If you couldn’t make it….
kindly notify me at jvrana@verizon.net for a make-up assignment.

Watering
Now that the rain has diminished and we can expect warmer temperatures (?), don’t forget to water your beds and the communal beds–if you have a few extra minutes.

Sat, June 6: Garden Workday

May 29, 2009
by garden
2 min read

Hello all,

This is a reminder that we will be having our next work day on Saturday, June 6 beginning with a meeting at 10 am.

There is also a Green Thumb giveaway on that same day beginning at that same time in Queens (not far from Queens plaza). If anyone is able to travel there to pick up some supplies for our summer season it would be most appreciated and would certainly count as full involvement in the workday. There are a number of items being offered, including wheelbarrows, which we could use. So having access to a car would make this most convenient.

If someone can volunteer for this pickup, please contact me at my personal email to let me know and I will forward you all the information. For any members unable to attend this workday, you should also email me at my personal address for individual chore assignments.

I have contacted the committee chairs to ask about any chores that need attention. If anyone has any additional concerns, please feel free to contact me so that I can try to address them prior to the workday.

I look forward to seeing you all in the garden. Thanks,
Mary Kelly