Sunday, April 12, 2009

ALL HANDS ON DECK -- WE NEED YOU TO VOLUNTEER THIS WEEKEND

This weekend is the BIG volunteer weekend for the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden and WE NEED YOU (and all of your friends and neighbors) on April 17, 18 & 19, 2009. Luckily, the weather forecast is good. There will be much fun and goofiness. Besides, many hands make light work. Even if you do not plan on gardening with us, please stop by for an hour or so and pretend to do some work with us. Trust me, you'll feel good about it.

Weather permitting Bill G. had planned to till the lot on Thursday. However, weather did not permit and now he plans to till it late Friday. Nonetheless, I might stop by with a lawn mower to trim the edges of the Garden. Wrights Tree Service will also be delivering some wood chips Thursday afternoon. I'm also in the process of painting the Garden's sign.

On Friday, April 17, 2009, 20 cubic yards of leaf compost donated by Kurtz Brothers in Groveport is being delivered in the afternoon. Bill will also try to till the lot and mark significant construction debris with flags. I’m not going to stop anyone who wants to get a head start on digging out the construction debris after Bill has been through. Wrights Tree Service will drop off another truck loads of wood chips in the afternoon. (This will not be a long day because I plan on getting to DeMonye's to see if they are selling any perennial herbs -- like thyme -- because they did last year and I have to get to Bible study before 7:00 p.m.).

On Saturday, April 18, 2009 -- beginning at 11:00 a.m. -- we will be cleaning out construction debris, staking out the Garden paths and spreading as much compost and mulch as we can before we collapse, it rains or we can no longer fight the urge to run over to DeMonye's annual perennial plant sale before all the good stuff is gone. (Tip to the wise: go to DeMonye's on Friday before the Saturday morning crowds snake traffic all the way to the airport).

On Sunday, April 19, 2009 – beginning at 1:30 – IF IT IS NOT RAINING -- we will be finishing up as much as we can. Then I'll run over to DeMonye's and see if they won't donate their leftovers to a worthy cause.

When it stops raining (and probably on the weekend), Bill will come back and re-till the Garden to loosen up the soil we compacted during the digging and spreading process and to work in the compost we spread on the plots. Once he had finished, I will mark off each Gardener's plot and you can begin planting!!!

Volunteers should bring:
Þ Gloves
Þ Shovel
Þ Garden Rake
Þ Wheelbarrow
Þ Small hammer

We are in particular need of wheelbarrows to move mulch and compost from a large pile to their ultimate home. I have 1-1/2 wheelbarrows. I tried to borrow my sister's, but it would not fit in the back of my Jetta. Sigh. Please beg your mother, your brother, your neighbor and your landscaper to loan us their wheelbarrows for Saturday. If we finish early, we'll have wheelbarrow races and I'll post pictures on the website:)

These are the various tasks for which we need volunteers:

Þ To dig out construction debris from the site with shovels;
Þ To stake out the Garden’s paths (straight lines would be nice);
Þ To spread mulch on the Garden paths with wheelbarrows and garden rakes;
Þ To spread compost on the Garden plots with wheelbarrows and garden rakes;
Þ To put fence stakes in ground around the Garden;
Þ To hang fence from the fence stakes;
Þ To tap fence tacks into fence stakes to hold up the fence;
Þ To staff the refreshments table (with iced tea, water, brownies, sandwiches, etc.)

Please call or email me if you can help (or can drop off cookies, brownies, pizza and/or sandwiches).

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