SACG Prepares for Its 9th Growing Season

The Board of Trustees for the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden met yesterday at the Table Restaurant in the Bexley Giant Eagle to plan for their 9th growing season.  The meeting was attended by Priscilla, Rayna, Mari, Cathy, Sabrina, Amy, Susan, and Ken.  Frank had to work.

Treasurer’s Report.  Priscilla reported that the SACG began 2016 with $445 and ended with $371.  We spent over $445 last year, principally on filling up the tank when it ran dry for a second time (and the City had not yet re-commenced its free refill program), a new fruit tree, soil,  new gate locks, and having the City's donated Com-Til delivered.  We had $120 in plot fees, $80 from Krogers and $150 in donations.  We also have a $50 gift certificate to Oakland Nursery from the Conservatory Women’s Board which will be used to purchase grape vines for the trellis and possibly a new fruit tree.  Frank reported that the Block Watch is ok with us planting another fruit tree on that lot. 

Operations.  Priscilla reported that she had renewed our annual land bank license for $10.  Earth Day Columbus moved up the work days to April 8 and 15.  Easter is April 16.    We're now registered for the April 8 work day.   Capital University has offered student volunteers for April 1.  The City will again provide a $250 Lowe’s voucher.  Priscilla would like to add a picket fence to the front (but can likely only purchase half the necessary length with $250).  We could also plant more rose bushes.  The Board liked the idea of the picket fence to coordinate with our new trellis.  Sabrina suggested that we could buy half this year and half next year and then install it next year.  Ken asked about the length of the fence (and looked like he was trying to figure out how much it would cost him to build one.  Hmmm).  The south fence would be 25-27 feet and the north section would be 20-22 feet.

GCGC increased their annual membership dues from $10 to $40 this year.  That is how we get most of the free flats of flowers and vegetables (courtesy of Strader's Garden Centers).    Few of the gardeners take either, but we’ve used them to fill in our flower beds and the food pantry plots.  The vegetables usually come at the tail end of the growing period.  We don’t really need the materials, but we try to make use of them.  They don’t like us to sell them because that could be diverting business away from Straders.  The Board decided to not renew our membership.

Priscilla meant to update our bylaws (particularly regarding our annual members meeting), but forgot.  Our annual meeting is generally on our Closing Day, but too few people have been attending and it should probably be moved to a better attended date.  Maybe Opening Day.  We’ll deal with this later.

Priscilla shared announcements from the Conservatory and OSU that were shared at the Land Bank Community Garden meeting in early February.   One of the issues that came up was about area food pantries not being able to meet the demand for fresh produce.   St. Stephens Community House has its own community garden, but still sent a representative to beg for more produce donations from the land bank community gardens.  The City responded by sending around a generic list of area food pantries, without checking whether any of those food pantries take and distribute fresh produce.  Most pantries only take canned goods. 

Fundraising.  The Board discussed possible fundraising ideas.  We haven’t had a fundraiser since 2012 when

we raffled off a garden cart (which we won) and raised $350.  In 2010, we raised $110 selling strawberry seedlings.   It would be nice to get some other “big ticket” items donated that we could similarly raffle off or have a silent auction at a black raspberry festival in early June.  We talked about selling seedlings, but the pots by themselves cost more than the seedlings and have to be nurtured.  Highland Youth Garden has an annual butterfly bush sale based on the inexpensive seedlings they purchase from DeMonye’s annual perennial sale.  That’s something we could consider for our side of town.  The Board liked the idea of a berry festival where we could encourage a u-pick berry day to bring people to the Garden for a fundraiser.

The Board liked the idea of planting another fruit tree, but no consensus on what to plant.  Priscilla would like to diversify to plums, but the neighbors had expressed an interest in another peach tree.   The cherries are also very popular.

An OSU class is focusing on community gardens.  A group of students have contacted Priscilla about the SACG being their group/class project.  They want to meet with the gardeners next Saturday at 11.  Several Board members agreed to come. 

Rayna noted that our blueberry bushes look a little peaked and wondered if they required some extra TLC.  Priscilla noted that they were not being watered regularly enough, but that will hopefully improve now that we have a rain barrel back behind the shed.  She also added some more peat moss and garden soil to those beds in September with the Lowe’s voucher.  And, two of the bigger bushes were damaged by two different people falling into them (and breaking some branches).  

Priscilla reported that Frank had told her that the Block Watch has observed an influx of investment in the neighborhood and renovations.

Priscilla also relayed about the vicious attack on Robert Seed, our guardian angel at Keep Columbus Beautiful.

Opening Day.  Priscilla suggested opening on April 8, but the Board wanted to open as soon as possible.  So, April 1 was chosen (which is approximately when we opened last year). 

Priscilla relayed the Old Farmer’s Almanac weather forecast (which, so far this year, has been on the mark for precipitation, but not the unseasonably warm weather).  It is predicting a normal Spring, a cold and wet June (so get planted early), a normal and dry July and August (so plan on a lot of hand-watering), a normal and wet September and a cool and wet October.

The Board reviewed and approved the annual newsletter, Garden Agreement and Rules of Conduct.  The Garden Agreement this year added that gardeners should tell the Garden Manager if they are going to be AWOL for 10+ days so that their produce can be rescued and taken to a food pantry instead of rotting.   The Rules add that gardeners should stay on top of the squash bug problem in their plots so that the Garden Manager does not have to inspect every one’s plots twice each week.

The Opening Day materials should be distributed in the neighborhood March 4 if we are opening on April 1.  Several members volunteered to help distribute the materials.    Sabrina agreed to inventory and organize the seeds and to let Priscilla what we are short on.  She’ll also be in charge of leading the Capital volunteers.

Our tasks on Opening Day include:

·         spreading a ton (literally) of wood chips with wheelbarrows, rakes and shovels along our paths and along the fence line;

·         topping off the kids’ raised beds with potting soil;

·         measuring and marking off our plots;

·         mowing our lawn;

·         rebuilding a compost bin;

·         turning our compost;

·         restocking our Free Little Library (which can always use some more books);

·         hanging our sign;

·         plant grape vines along trellis;

·         picking up the litter which has blown onto our lot over the winter;

·         hooking up our rain cisterns;  and,

·         if there is time, may start planting Spring crops (like lettuce and kale) in our food pantry and neighbor plots. 

We do not know Stan’s status.  However, Priscilla observed that someone had been working with the western compost bin recently, so she thinks that he’s still around.  We may need some additional pallets to rebuild that bin.  Sabrina volunteered to have her husband Tom pick up a few from work.  Priscilla will let her know how many we need.  Of course, we could also use a different (and more attractive design), but Priscilla’s always liked repurposing materials.

We have a lot to get done between now and Opening Day.   Priscilla looked for volunteers to research and pick up our grapes and new fruit tree.  Cathy and Ken volunteered their trucks (since a tree does not happily fit in the back of my jetta).  Ken also volunteered to help me pick up our Earth Day supplies so that I do not have to make 4 trips to carry mulch in my jetta.

We ran out of time.  Susan picked up the entire tab for our refreshments and donated all of the cash left by the other members to the SACG. 

In a few days, I'll be posting here all of the information which gardeners will need to join the SACG for our 9th growing season.   We've had a number of gardeners drop out and will need to focus on recruiting more new gardeners.

Before the meeting, I started a flat of cold crops (kale, cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, lettuce, etc.).  I planned to start my peppers and eggplants after the meeting but was out of the correct potting soil.  Peppers are finicky and prefer the Miracle-Gro Organic Choice potting soil (over peat moss), but Lowe's was not carrying it this year!!!! Aggghh.  I knew that the orchid mix was the next most preferred for peppers, but the only bag available was too chucky in which to start seeds (so I mixed it with regular potting soil and will keep my fingers crossed).  In addition to Italian and Asian eggplant,  I started bell, jalapeno, cayenne, tabasco, pasilla peppers.  I seem to be out of pablano and giant Chinese pepper seeds, so I need to find some soon (seeing as how -- gasp -- Lowe's was not carrying any of those this year either).    I do not plan on planting potatoes this year and so will also not be starting sweet potato slips this year.   I never seem to have enough room for all of the heirloom beans that I like to grow and potatoes are relatively inexpensive at the grocery. . . . .   Next week, I'll start tomatoes, herbs and flowers.  They do not take as long to germinate.

SACG Prepares for Its 9th Growing Season

The Board of Trustees for the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden met yesterday at the Table Restaurant in the Bexley Giant Eagle to plan for their 9th growing season.  The meeting was attended by Priscilla, Rayna, Mari, Cathy, Sabrina, Amy, Susan, and Ken.  Frank had to work.

Treasurer’s Report.  Priscilla reported that the SACG began 2016 with $445 and ended with $371.  We spent over $445 last year, principally on filling up the tank when it ran dry for a second time (and the City had not yet re-commenced its free refill program), a new fruit tree, soil,  new gate locks, and having the City's donated Com-Til delivered.  We had $120 in plot fees, $80 from Krogers and $150 in donations.  We also have a $50 gift certificate to Oakland Nursery from the Conservatory Women’s Board which will be used to purchase grape vines for the trellis and possibly a new fruit tree.  Frank reported that the Block Watch is ok with us planting another fruit tree on that lot. 

Operations.  Priscilla reported that she had renewed our annual land bank license for $10.  Earth Day Columbus moved up the work days to April 8 and 15.  Easter is April 16.    We're now registered for the April 8 work day.   Capital University has offered student volunteers for April 1.  The City will again provide a $250 Lowe’s voucher.  Priscilla would like to add a picket fence to the front (but can likely only purchase half the necessary length with $250).  We could also plant more rose bushes.  The Board liked the idea of the picket fence to coordinate with our new trellis.  Sabrina suggested that we could buy half this year and half next year and then install it next year.  Ken asked about the length of the fence (and looked like he was trying to figure out how much it would cost him to build one.  Hmmm).  The south fence would be 25-27 feet and the north section would be 20-22 feet.

GCGC increased their annual membership dues from $10 to $40 this year.  That is how we get most of the free flats of flowers and vegetables (courtesy of Strader's Garden Centers).    Few of the gardeners take either, but we’ve used them to fill in our flower beds and the food pantry plots.  The vegetables usually come at the tail end of the growing period.  We don’t really need the materials, but we try to make use of them.  They don’t like us to sell them because that could be diverting business away from Straders.  The Board decided to not renew our membership.

Priscilla meant to update our bylaws (particularly regarding our annual members meeting), but forgot.  Our annual meeting is generally on our Closing Day, but too few people have been attending and it should probably be moved to a better attended date.  Maybe Opening Day.  We’ll deal with this later.

Priscilla shared announcements from the Conservatory and OSU that were shared at the Land Bank Community Garden meeting in early February.   One of the issues that came up was about area food pantries not being able to meet the demand for fresh produce.   St. Stephens Community House has its own community garden, but still sent a representative to beg for more produce donations from the land bank community gardens.  The City responded by sending around a generic list of area food pantries, without checking whether any of those food pantries take and distribute fresh produce.  Most pantries only take canned goods. 

Fundraising.  The Board discussed possible fundraising ideas.  We haven’t had a fundraiser since 2012 when

we raffled off a garden cart (which we won) and raised $350.  In 2010, we raised $110 selling strawberry seedlings.   It would be nice to get some other “big ticket” items donated that we could similarly raffle off or have a silent auction at a black raspberry festival in early June.  We talked about selling seedlings, but the pots by themselves cost more than the seedlings and have to be nurtured.  Highland Youth Garden has an annual butterfly bush sale based on the inexpensive seedlings they purchase from DeMonye’s annual perennial sale.  That’s something we could consider for our side of town.  The Board liked the idea of a berry festival where we could encourage a u-pick berry day to bring people to the Garden for a fundraiser.

The Board liked the idea of planting another fruit tree, but no consensus on what to plant.  Priscilla would like to diversify to plums, but the neighbors had expressed an interest in another peach tree.   The cherries are also very popular.

An OSU class is focusing on community gardens.  A group of students have contacted Priscilla about the SACG being their group/class project.  They want to meet with the gardeners next Saturday at 11.  Several Board members agreed to come. 

Rayna noted that our blueberry bushes look a little peaked and wondered if they required some extra TLC.  Priscilla noted that they were not being watered regularly enough, but that will hopefully improve now that we have a rain barrel back behind the shed.  She also added some more peat moss and garden soil to those beds in September with the Lowe’s voucher.  And, two of the bigger bushes were damaged by two different people falling into them (and breaking some branches).  

Priscilla reported that Frank had told her that the Block Watch has observed an influx of investment in the neighborhood and renovations.

Priscilla also relayed about the vicious attack on Robert Seed, our guardian angel at Keep Columbus Beautiful.

Opening Day.  Priscilla suggested opening on April 8, but the Board wanted to open as soon as possible.  So, April 1 was chosen (which is approximately when we opened last year). 

Priscilla relayed the Old Farmer’s Almanac weather forecast (which, so far this year, has been on the mark for precipitation, but not the unseasonably warm weather).  It is predicting a normal Spring, a cold and wet June (so get planted early), a normal and dry July and August (so plan on a lot of hand-watering), a normal and wet September and a cool and wet October.

The Board reviewed and approved the annual newsletter, Garden Agreement and Rules of Conduct.  The Garden Agreement this year added that gardeners should tell the Garden Manager if they are going to be AWOL for 10+ days so that their produce can be rescued and taken to a food pantry instead of rotting.   The Rules add that gardeners should stay on top of the squash bug problem in their plots so that the Garden Manager does not have to inspect every one’s plots twice each week.

The Opening Day materials should be distributed in the neighborhood March 4 if we are opening on April 1.  Several members volunteered to help distribute the materials.    Sabrina agreed to inventory and organize the seeds and to let Priscilla what we are short on.  She’ll also be in charge of leading the Capital volunteers.

Our tasks on Opening Day include:

·         spreading a ton (literally) of wood chips with wheelbarrows, rakes and shovels along our paths and along the fence line;

·         topping off the kids’ raised beds with potting soil;

·         measuring and marking off our plots;

·         mowing our lawn;

·         rebuilding a compost bin;

·         turning our compost;

·         restocking our Free Little Library (which can always use some more books);

·         hanging our sign;

·         plant grape vines along trellis;

·         picking up the litter which has blown onto our lot over the winter;

·         hooking up our rain cisterns;  and,

·         if there is time, may start planting Spring crops (like lettuce and kale) in our food pantry and neighbor plots. 

We do not know Stan’s status.  However, Priscilla observed that someone had been working with the western compost bin recently, so she thinks that he’s still around.  We may need some additional pallets to rebuild that bin.  Sabrina volunteered to have her husband Tom pick up a few from work.  Priscilla will let her know how many we need.  Of course, we could also use a different (and more attractive design), but Priscilla’s always liked repurposing materials.

We have a lot to get done between now and Opening Day.   Priscilla looked for volunteers to research and pick up our grapes and new fruit tree.  Cathy and Ken volunteered their trucks (since a tree does not happily fit in the back of my jetta).  Ken also volunteered to help me pick up our Earth Day supplies so that I do not have to make 4 trips to carry mulch in my jetta.

We ran out of time.  Susan picked up the entire tab for our refreshments and donated all of the cash left by the other members to the SACG. 

In a few days, I'll be posting here all of the information which gardeners will need to join the SACG for our 9th growing season.   We've had a number of gardeners drop out and will need to focus on recruiting more new gardeners.

Before the meeting, I started a flat of cold crops (kale, cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, lettuce, etc.).  I planned to start my peppers and eggplants after the meeting but was out of the correct potting soil.  Peppers are finicky and prefer the Miracle-Gro Organic Choice potting soil (over peat moss), but Lowe's was not carrying it this year!!!! Aggghh.  I knew that the orchid mix was the next most preferred for peppers, but the only bag available was too chucky in which to start seeds (so I mixed it with regular potting soil and will keep my fingers crossed).  In addition to Italian and Asian eggplant,  I started bell, jalapeno, cayenne, tabasco, pasilla peppers.  I seem to be out of pablano and giant Chinese pepper seeds, so I need to find some soon (seeing as how -- gasp -- Lowe's was not carrying any of those this year either).    I do not plan on planting potatoes this year and so will also not be starting sweet potato slips this year.   I never seem to have enough room for all of the heirloom beans that I like to grow and potatoes are relatively inexpensive at the grocery. . . . .   Next week, I'll start tomatoes, herbs and flowers.  They do not take as long to germinate.

Ending the Season Like A B-Flat Cricket and an A-Flat Frog

With all of the snow on the ground and the frigid temperatures keeping most of us inside this week, the last thing anyone is really thinking is how did our season closing fare at the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden.  Not as well as I had hoped, but we are closed for the season.  And we set a new personal record for the amount of fresh produce we have donated to area food pantries and Faith Mission’s Homeless Shelter.  And almost all of the gardeners eventually chipped in to help.

Although (1) we set our closing date in February, (2) it’s our only second mandatory work day of the year, (3) I ask if folks want to close early and (4) I remind everyone weekly for six consecutive weeks, we always seem to have a few people who do not show up.  I’m rarely pleasant about it.    This year, we suffered that in spades even though I offered to feed everyone lunch.  Cathy and Amy made other plans, but came early to chop down and bag most of our brambles.   Neal, who has never come to our final work day (or ever offered an excuse), didn’t even clean out his plot on time or before closing day (as required in the agreements that everyone, including him, signs).  When I nagged him (and a few other people for blowing off their responsibilities) and letting food rot in his plot, he resigned from the Garden and our Board.  Rayna, who was the very first gardener to sign up in 2009, but has been unable to get to the Garden after August for 3 years in a row, decided that perhaps she wouldn’t sign up for another plot and would try to help us out as she could over the summer.  She started to clean out her plot late on Friday as it started to get dark, but then reported on Saturday morning that she was too sick to come that weekend to finish.  (Winter came shortly after we closed, so this is a problem).  Sabrina called off sick on Saturday morning, too.  Stan didn’t show up or offer an excuse or clean out his plot.    This was particularly awkward because he was selected to win the SACG’s Volunteer of the Year award, which I had brought with me to give him.  I’ve never had a Volunteer of the Year NOT show up to our mandatory closing day.  Sigh. 

That left me, Susan, Alyssa, Taylor, Marcel and Zion to do all of the work that is required to close our community garden for the season (and Marcel spent the morning cleaning out only her plot).   Neighbor Rose stopped by (as she had for the last couple of weeks to help me clean out food pantry plots every weekend) and helped to glean peppers, etc. that Rayna had left us from her plot.  Alyssa and Taylor were given the traveling gnome trophy for having the tidiest plot for the year.  Alyssa was so tickled.  She apparently loves gnomes and had wanted to put some in her plot all summer, but didn’t want anyone to think she was claiming to be special.  Now she can decorate next year with all of the gnomes she wants.

I picked up donuts and cider that morning to keep us well sugared.  I had also stopped by earlier that week at the Silver Avenue Lowe’s to pick up garden soil, grass seed, and had emptied the tall rain tank (and disconnected it).   Alyssa and Taylor took on all of the hardest projects on our Closing Day. They finished brambles on the north side of the Garden, dug up our old daffodils along the west side of the fence, moved two of the kids raised beds up against the fence and refilled them and cleaned out the neighbor bed (which had peppers and tomatoes).  They also donated most of what was left in their own plot.  Susan cleaned out some of the food pantry plots (both to harvest for our pre-Thanksgiving donation and for the season) and the south flower beds.  I trimmed brambles along the south side of the Garden and harvested for our food pantry donation and cleaned out some of the food pantry and abandoned plots. 

When I was there on Friday harvesting produce from my own plot (because I had a bumper Fall crop of napa cabbage, kale, leeks, etc.) and cleaning out the rest of my peppers and aphid-infested crops, a utility worker stopped by to ask if he could have some of our yard waste bags to feed his pigs back home.  Sure, I said.  Problem is, his pigs don’t like stalks from tomatoes or peppers, so we had to segregate what went into what bag.  No problem.  We did that when we cleaned out the Garden on Saturday.  And, we put his bags outside the fence next to the shed so that he could easily get them when he next returned.    Keep this in mind.

I took Marcel, Zion and Susan back to my house at 1 to have a late lunch of butternut squash and poblano quesadillas and black bean soup before Susan and I delivered over 55 pounds of produce to the LSS food pantry and Faith Mission.  Taylor and Alyssa had wanted to come, but we were running an hour late by this point and they had to get ready for the very important MSU/OSU game that afternoon.   When Susan and I drove back to Bexley from Faith Mission, we drove by the Garden and Neal had been there, cleaned out his plot, retrieved his fancy tomato cages and left.

By and large, community gardeners are a fairly responsible bunch. Sabrina returned and cleaned out most of everything that we hadn’t gotten done on Saturday.  Rayna eventually returned, pulled the rest of her crops out of the ground and left them in piles around her plot. Marcel learned how annoyed I was that she hadn’t cleaned out her plot in advance or helped us clean up the Garden in general, so she returned and plastic-bagged Rayna’s piles (which are still there because I haven’t been back to throw them in the trash cans).  Sadly, Marcel hadn’t paid any attention to the numerous emails I had sent about the importance of preserving our soil from erosion and the microbes in it.  Susan, Sabrina and I had taken great pains to cut our stalks off just above the ground to hold the soil in place over the winter and to feed the soil.  Sometimes, the kale crops even return from those roots in the Spring.  Marcel had some time on her hands and decided to pull out of the ground all of the stalks left behind in the Garden (except for my  plot).   Sigh.  She meant well. 

Showing why he was our Volunteer of the Year this year, Stan returned, built us a fourth compost bin, turned the materials in all of the other bins, but seemed to have destroyed the western bin.  It’s possible that he’s fixed or rebuilt it since I was last there.  At least I hope so because it was an eyesore when I was last there.   I also found a bunch of giant weed stalks (full of seed heads) in the compost bins (which I did my best to pull out and throw in the alley).   Because he needed our wheelbarrow and shovels, etc. to do all of this, he messed up the shed which Sabrina had tidied.  Men!   Stan also returned before I did the Monday after we closed to pull the yard waste bags to the curb.  He didn’t know about my arrangements with the pig farmer (but all of the other gardeners who came on Saturday knew about this).  For some reason, he thought that instead of pulling the bags to the curb to be picked up by the City on Tuesday, he would load them onto his trailer and personally deliver them to Ohio Mulch  -- including the bags I had put aside for the pig farmer.  Sigh.  He meant well.   I couldn’t contact the pig farmer to apologize.  So, we just look like jerks. 

I returned later in the month (or maybe earlier this month) to plant the daffodil bulbs under our new sign location, open the spicket and drain the barrel next to the shed, and to retrieve the sign to store in my garage for the winter.  I had already transplanted peony divisions from my yard around the sign and I put the daffodils in front of them.  (I'm more confident in the bulbs than I am in the divisions, however).  I used garden soil donated by the City of Columbus through our Lowe's voucher.    I think I also repaired the stand for our small informational sign and removed the front gate lock (which is not particularly weather hardy).   Our neighbor still hadn’t cleaned out much of their garden.  I saw a squirrel checking out our Garden, which is definitely NOT a good sign.  Squirrels get very hungry and really like tomatoes.    I was able to prune some of our front flower bed (and none of the other gardeners felt comfortable pruning it because they are unclear about the difference between perennials and annuals).  However, the north flower bed really needed more work.  Also, the utility crew really messed up AGAIN our stone curb.   However, I had my own yard to tend and haven’t been back to the SACG to fix the unfinished tasks.

I should really go back now that winter has really arrive and rescue our canna lily bulbs.  For the first

time, I also did not plant any more Spring bulbs (which Strader’s Garden Center always generously donates to area community gardens each December).  I’ve been a little busy and a little discouraged.    I don't know why people don't understand the importance of us being there at the same time so that these types of miscommunication mistakes don't happen when everyone wants to work only on their own schedule.

By the end of the season, we had donated well over 650 pounds of fresh produce this year, which is a record for us and brings us to over 3600 pounds since breaking ground in 2009.  I know that this is not a lot in the great scheme of things, but considering that we keep most of the produce for ourselves and are a tiny little plot garden with very few hands, I’m unduly proud of it.

At this point, I need to recruit a new Treasurer and three new Board members before we start our organizational activities next February or March.  Anyone interested should just email me.   I’m likely to be more energetic and optimistic when the Spring returns than I’ve been this Fall.

Readers should also feel free to help us out by buying their holiday gifts through smile.amazon.com and designating the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden.  Even better, select us as your designated charity with your Kroger's Plus Card (which cuts us a check every quarter based on how many folks designate us as their charity of choice).   Every little bit helps, especially because we only charge $10/plot (and waive that for neighbors who cannot afford it) and still supply almost everything a gardener would need, including seeds, water, seedling and tools.

Ending the Season Like A B-Flat Cricket and an A-Flat Frog

With all of the snow on the ground and the frigid temperatures keeping most of us inside this week, the last thing anyone is really thinking is how did our season closing fare at the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden.  Not as well as I had hoped, but we are closed for the season.  And we set a new personal record for the amount of fresh produce we have donated to area food pantries and Faith Mission’s Homeless Shelter.  And almost all of the gardeners eventually chipped in to help.

Although (1) we set our closing date in February, (2) it’s our only second mandatory work day of the year, (3) I ask if folks want to close early and (4) I remind everyone weekly for six consecutive weeks, we always seem to have a few people who do not show up.  I’m rarely pleasant about it.    This year, we suffered that in spades even though I offered to feed everyone lunch.  Cathy and Amy made other plans, but came early to chop down and bag most of our brambles.   Neal, who has never come to our final work day (or ever offered an excuse), didn’t even clean out his plot on time or before closing day (as required in the agreements that everyone, including him, signs).  When I nagged him (and a few other people for blowing off their responsibilities) and letting food rot in his plot, he resigned from the Garden and our Board.  Rayna, who was the very first gardener to sign up in 2009, but has been unable to get to the Garden after August for 3 years in a row, decided that perhaps she wouldn’t sign up for another plot and would try to help us out as she could over the summer.  She started to clean out her plot late on Friday as it started to get dark, but then reported on Saturday morning that she was too sick to come that weekend to finish.  (Winter came shortly after we closed, so this is a problem).  Sabrina called off sick on Saturday morning, too.  Stan didn’t show up or offer an excuse or clean out his plot.    This was particularly awkward because he was selected to win the SACG’s Volunteer of the Year award, which I had brought with me to give him.  I’ve never had a Volunteer of the Year NOT show up to our mandatory closing day.  Sigh. 

That left me, Susan, Alyssa, Taylor, Marcel and Zion to do all of the work that is required to close our community garden for the season (and Marcel spent the morning cleaning out only her plot).   Neighbor Rose stopped by (as she had for the last couple of weeks to help me clean out food pantry plots every weekend) and helped to glean peppers, etc. that Rayna had left us from her plot.  Alyssa and Taylor were given the traveling gnome trophy for having the tidiest plot for the year.  Alyssa was so tickled.  She apparently loves gnomes and had wanted to put some in her plot all summer, but didn’t want anyone to think she was claiming to be special.  Now she can decorate next year with all of the gnomes she wants.

I picked up donuts and cider that morning to keep us well sugared.  I had also stopped by earlier that week at the Silver Avenue Lowe’s to pick up garden soil, grass seed, and had emptied the tall rain tank (and disconnected it).   Alyssa and Taylor took on all of the hardest projects on our Closing Day. They finished brambles on the north side of the Garden, dug up our old daffodils along the west side of the fence, moved two of the kids raised beds up against the fence and refilled them and cleaned out the neighbor bed (which had peppers and tomatoes).  They also donated most of what was left in their own plot.  Susan cleaned out some of the food pantry plots (both to harvest for our pre-Thanksgiving donation and for the season) and the south flower beds.  I trimmed brambles along the south side of the Garden and harvested for our food pantry donation and cleaned out some of the food pantry and abandoned plots. 

When I was there on Friday harvesting produce from my own plot (because I had a bumper Fall crop of napa cabbage, kale, leeks, etc.) and cleaning out the rest of my peppers and aphid-infested crops, a utility worker stopped by to ask if he could have some of our yard waste bags to feed his pigs back home.  Sure, I said.  Problem is, his pigs don’t like stalks from tomatoes or peppers, so we had to segregate what went into what bag.  No problem.  We did that when we cleaned out the Garden on Saturday.  And, we put his bags outside the fence next to the shed so that he could easily get them when he next returned.    Keep this in mind.

I took Marcel, Zion and Susan back to my house at 1 to have a late lunch of butternut squash and poblano quesadillas and black bean soup before Susan and I delivered over 55 pounds of produce to the LSS food pantry and Faith Mission.  Taylor and Alyssa had wanted to come, but we were running an hour late by this point and they had to get ready for the very important MSU/OSU game that afternoon.   When Susan and I drove back to Bexley from Faith Mission, we drove by the Garden and Neal had been there, cleaned out his plot, retrieved his fancy tomato cages and left.

By and large, community gardeners are a fairly responsible bunch. Sabrina returned and cleaned out most of everything that we hadn’t gotten done on Saturday.  Rayna eventually returned, pulled the rest of her crops out of the ground and left them in piles around her plot. Marcel learned how annoyed I was that she hadn’t cleaned out her plot in advance or helped us clean up the Garden in general, so she returned and plastic-bagged Rayna’s piles (which are still there because I haven’t been back to throw them in the trash cans).  Sadly, Marcel hadn’t paid any attention to the numerous emails I had sent about the importance of preserving our soil from erosion and the microbes in it.  Susan, Sabrina and I had taken great pains to cut our stalks off just above the ground to hold the soil in place over the winter and to feed the soil.  Sometimes, the kale crops even return from those roots in the Spring.  Marcel had some time on her hands and decided to pull out of the ground all of the stalks left behind in the Garden (except for my  plot).   Sigh.  She meant well. 

Showing why he was our Volunteer of the Year this year, Stan returned, built us a fourth compost bin, turned the materials in all of the other bins, but seemed to have destroyed the western bin.  It’s possible that he’s fixed or rebuilt it since I was last there.  At least I hope so because it was an eyesore when I was last there.   I also found a bunch of giant weed stalks (full of seed heads) in the compost bins (which I did my best to pull out and throw in the alley).   Because he needed our wheelbarrow and shovels, etc. to do all of this, he messed up the shed which Sabrina had tidied.  Men!   Stan also returned before I did the Monday after we closed to pull the yard waste bags to the curb.  He didn’t know about my arrangements with the pig farmer (but all of the other gardeners who came on Saturday knew about this).  For some reason, he thought that instead of pulling the bags to the curb to be picked up by the City on Tuesday, he would load them onto his trailer and personally deliver them to Ohio Mulch  -- including the bags I had put aside for the pig farmer.  Sigh.  He meant well.   I couldn’t contact the pig farmer to apologize.  So, we just look like jerks. 

I returned later in the month (or maybe earlier this month) to plant the daffodil bulbs under our new sign location, open the spicket and drain the barrel next to the shed, and to retrieve the sign to store in my garage for the winter.  I had already transplanted peony divisions from my yard around the sign and I put the daffodils in front of them.  (I'm more confident in the bulbs than I am in the divisions, however).  I used garden soil donated by the City of Columbus through our Lowe's voucher.    I think I also repaired the stand for our small informational sign and removed the front gate lock (which is not particularly weather hardy).   Our neighbor still hadn’t cleaned out much of their garden.  I saw a squirrel checking out our Garden, which is definitely NOT a good sign.  Squirrels get very hungry and really like tomatoes.    I was able to prune some of our front flower bed (and none of the other gardeners felt comfortable pruning it because they are unclear about the difference between perennials and annuals).  However, the north flower bed really needed more work.  Also, the utility crew really messed up AGAIN our stone curb.   However, I had my own yard to tend and haven’t been back to the SACG to fix the unfinished tasks.

I should really go back now that winter has really arrive and rescue our canna lily bulbs.  For the first

time, I also did not plant any more Spring bulbs (which Strader’s Garden Center always generously donates to area community gardens each December).  I’ve been a little busy and a little discouraged.    I don't know why people don't understand the importance of us being there at the same time so that these types of miscommunication mistakes don't happen when everyone wants to work only on their own schedule.

By the end of the season, we had donated well over 650 pounds of fresh produce this year, which is a record for us and brings us to over 3600 pounds since breaking ground in 2009.  I know that this is not a lot in the great scheme of things, but considering that we keep most of the produce for ourselves and are a tiny little plot garden with very few hands, I’m unduly proud of it.

At this point, I need to recruit a new Treasurer and three new Board members before we start our organizational activities next February or March.  Anyone interested should just email me.   I’m likely to be more energetic and optimistic when the Spring returns than I’ve been this Fall.

Readers should also feel free to help us out by buying their holiday gifts through smile.amazon.com and designating the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden.  Even better, select us as your designated charity with your Kroger's Plus Card (which cuts us a check every quarter based on how many folks designate us as their charity of choice).   Every little bit helps, especially because we only charge $10/plot (and waive that for neighbors who cannot afford it) and still supply almost everything a gardener would need, including seeds, water, seedling and tools.

Raspberries in November

Saffron is Harvested in October

Who expected 80 degree temperatures in November?  Our first frost not coming until mid-November?  Not me.  But then, we didn’t have our last frost until late May this year.  I picked red raspberries this week from my backyard.  I still have tomatoes and peppers coming in, as well as my saffron.

As readers know, I pulled tomatoes out of the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden a couple of weeks ago.  I hung some of the vines from my plot in my garage, where those tomatoes are ripening out of the harsh night time temperatures.

We’ve pulled so many tomatoes and sunflowers out of the SACG, that I needed extra help to get our lawn waste bags hauled from the Garden to the curb.  Amy and Cathy came to my rescue on a balmy Halloween afternoon and Susan donated more lawn waste bags after we used up all of these.

I’ve put my dehydrator to good use drying red jalapenos, cayenne and serrano peppers to make my own chili pepper flakes and powders.  I slice the peppers and dry them overnight in the dehydrator.  Then, I run them through my herb mill to flake them.  To convert them to powder, I can then put them in my tiny herb grinder.   Luckily, I bought lots of different types of herb jars from World Market.

We have one more week left in the SACG growing season.   On Saturday, November 12, we will be cleaning out the kids’ gardening beds, moving two of their raised beds up against the fence (after relocating some daffodil bulbs), cutting back our flowers, cleaning out the food pantry plots and tidying up our shed.  We could always use more help.  We’ll start at 9:30 and finish around lunch time.

Before then, I’ll be harvesting peppers and

parsley (which I can dry and save) and clearing those plants away.

All of the tomatoes that we harvested in October helped the total pounds that we have donated to area food pantries and homeless shelter.

And, Chris Bradley is predicting another polar vortex this winter, although maybe later than in 2014.  Maybe in February or even March.

Raspberries in November

Saffron is Harvested in October

Who expected 80 degree temperatures in November?  Our first frost not coming until mid-November?  Not me.  But then, we didn’t have our last frost until late May this year.  I picked red raspberries this week from my backyard.  I still have tomatoes and peppers coming in, as well as my saffron.

As readers know, I pulled tomatoes out of the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden a couple of weeks ago.  I hung some of the vines from my plot in my garage, where those tomatoes are ripening out of the harsh night time temperatures.

We’ve pulled so many tomatoes and sunflowers out of the SACG, that I needed extra help to get our lawn waste bags hauled from the Garden to the curb.  Amy and Cathy came to my rescue on a balmy Halloween afternoon and Susan donated more lawn waste bags after we used up all of these.

I’ve put my dehydrator to good use drying red jalapenos, cayenne and serrano peppers to make my own chili pepper flakes and powders.  I slice the peppers and dry them overnight in the dehydrator.  Then, I run them through my herb mill to flake them.  To convert them to powder, I can then put them in my tiny herb grinder.   Luckily, I bought lots of different types of herb jars from World Market.

We have one more week left in the SACG growing season.   On Saturday, November 12, we will be cleaning out the kids’ gardening beds, moving two of their raised beds up against the fence (after relocating some daffodil bulbs), cutting back our flowers, cleaning out the food pantry plots and tidying up our shed.  We could always use more help.  We’ll start at 9:30 and finish around lunch time.

Before then, I’ll be harvesting peppers and

parsley (which I can dry and save) and clearing those plants away.

All of the tomatoes that we harvested in October helped the total pounds that we have donated to area food pantries and homeless shelter.

And, Chris Bradley is predicting another polar vortex this winter, although maybe later than in 2014.  Maybe in February or even March.

Leaving Havoc and Devastation in Their Wake

Usually, by this time of the growing season at the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden, we would have started putting the Garden to bed (and wouldn’t have much choice after our first hard frost).   We had a hard killer frost a week earlier by this time last year and I regretted my procrastination in pulling out summer crops (because it’s not fun having to garden when it’s cold and windy).   Not to repeat my mistake this year, I danced a gig when the Gamma Phi Beta sorority at OSU contacted me last month about wanting to volunteer this last weekend.  No one everwants to volunteer in a community garden at the end of October (when there is so much unglamorous but necessary work to do).  I assigned them the tedious task of pulling out our extensive collection of tomato plants from our food pantry and abandoned plots. 

This week, we set some heat records during our late Indian Summer.  Even the trees have delayed turning yellow and red.   On Saturday, Sabrina, Zephyr and I spent a cold morning pulling tomato plants out of our own plots.  This involves pruning them cutting them from around their trellises and cages, saving what tomatoes can still be turned and/or eaten and tossing the rest.  We filled many lawn waste bags.  I then conducted our regular food pantry harvest (but didn’t have enough plastic bags with me to get everything that was available).  When cleaning out the melon patch, I found almost 15 pounds worth of watermelon.  Stan also stopped by after feuding again with his neighbor to fix the rain cistern, but wanted me to buy an additional part so that he didn’t have to clean it out.  Oh well.  He put most of it back together so that I could finish the job next week. By 4:30, I decided that I had saved all of the tomatoes from my plot that could be saved and the rest of the vines and cages could be addressed the following week.  After all, I had to return on Sunday morning to meet with the ladies of GPB.    I found a large preying mantis in the food pantry tomatoes and advised it to find a more secure home by the morning (and warned the ladies not to hurt it if it had failed to move along).

 

I asked the ladies to delay starting until 9:30 because I knew that I would be tired from watching the OSU-Penn State game (which I foolishly predicted we would win).  They didn’t get the message apparently and were waiting for me when I arrived at 9 (with cider, donuts and bannanas).  As fellow Buckeyes, they shared my pain.  After giving them a brief tour of the Garden, I initially split them up into two teams (for the two food pantry plots).  As stragglers wondered in, I assigned them Colonia’s former plot where they did battle with the raspberry bushes to cut out the tomatoes.  One team was better than the others and really cleaned up (including raking up behind them).  Another team chatted a fair amount and wasn’t very careful about where they stepped (in our very compactly planted garden).  I sent them over to organize our stakes, cages and trellises (which they did very well). 

Another team picked up litter around the Garden and our neighborhood.  They filled two bags.  I   grabbed a bunch of them to help me fix the rotating composts bin which had again fallen off its tracks. This involved removing everything from behind the shed (so that we could stand back there), hammering one of the tracks back into place, emptying much of the bin so that we could lift it, and then putting it back on its tracks and re-filling it.  Then, they had to put everything back.

We also cleaned off the trellises, rolled them up and stored them away for the winter.  I had one of the ladies rake out all of the wood chips under one of the platform raised beds (and distribute the chips on the paths).  I suspected that we had rodents living there (not that I told her that), but we didn’t find anything (other than a baby garter snake, which freaked her and a few of the ladies out.  I moved the limp snake to a sunny spot in Amy’s plot.  It slithered away once it warmed up).  Finally, one of the ladies cleaned out a row of Rayna’s tomatoes (and stacked the cages and rolled up the trellis).    And, they gathered up all of their tools and returned them to their locations before leaving at lunchtime.

On top of the 77 pounds of produce that I harvested on Saturday, we harvested a couple pounds of peppers and over 50 pounds of mostly green tomatoes that I took to Faith Mission on Sunday.  I also collected over 20 pounds of green roma tomatoes in the thought that some of them will turn red if stored in a warm location.  We shall see.

Some of their sorority sisters spent the morning volunteering at COSI and at Good Will.  Considering our good weather on Sunday (when we started outwith coats and ended up in t-shirts), I think my team got the better deal.  They wouldn’t have thought so if it had rained.

So, we have three more weeks left in our

growing season.    I’ll be cleaning out more of the Garden in smaller bits and pieces over the next week.  The aphids have done a number on our greens during the Aug-tober dry spell.   In three weeks, we’ll need to prune back the raspberry brambles, harvest the rest of the peppers and greens and sweet potatoes, clean out at least one of the neighbor plots, empty the rain cisterns and organize the shed.    Completely doable, right?

Leaving Havoc and Devastation in Their Wake

Usually, by this time of the growing season at the Stoddart Avenue Community Garden, we would have started putting the Garden to bed (and wouldn’t have much choice after our first hard frost).   We had a hard killer frost a week earlier by this time last year and I regretted my procrastination in pulling out summer crops (because it’s not fun having to garden when it’s cold and windy).   Not to repeat my mistake this year, I danced a gig when the Gamma Phi Beta sorority at OSU contacted me last month about wanting to volunteer this last weekend.  No one ever wants to volunteer in a community garden at the end of October (when there is so much unglamorous but necessary work to do).  I assigned them the tedious task of pulling out our extensive collection of tomato plants from our food pantry and abandoned plots. 

This week, we set some heat records during our late Indian Summer.  Even the trees have delayed turning yellow and red.   On Saturday, Sabrina, Zephyr and I spent a cold morning pulling tomato plants out of our own plots.  This involves pruning them cutting them from around their trellises and cages, saving what tomatoes can still be turned and/or eaten and tossing the rest.  We filled many lawn waste bags.  I then conducted our regular food pantry harvest (but didn’t have enough plastic bags with me to get everything that was available).  When cleaning out the melon patch, I found almost 15 pounds worth of watermelon.  Stan also stopped by after feuding again with his neighbor to fix the rain cistern, but wanted me to buy an additional part so that he didn’t have to clean it out.  Oh well.  He put most of it back together so that I could finish the job next week. By 4:30, I decided that I had saved all of the tomatoes from my plot that could be saved and the rest of the vines and cages could be addressed the following week.  After all, I had to return on Sunday morning to meet with the ladies of GPB.    I found a large preying mantis in the food pantry tomatoes and advised it to find a more secure home by the morning (and warned the ladies not to hurt it if it had failed to move along).

 

I asked the ladies to delay starting until 9:30 because I knew that I would be tired from watching the OSU-Penn State game (which I foolishly predicted we would win).  They didn’t get the message apparently and were waiting for me when I arrived at 9 (with cider, donuts and bannanas).  As fellow Buckeyes, they shared my pain.  After giving them a brief tour of the Garden, I initially split them up into two teams (for the two food pantry plots).  As stragglers wondered in, I assigned them Colonia’s former plot where they did battle with the raspberry bushes to cut out the tomatoes.  One team was better than the others and really cleaned up (including raking up behind them).  Another team chatted a fair amount and wasn’t very careful about where they stepped (in our very compactly planted garden).  I sent them over to organize our stakes, cages and trellises (which they did very well). 

Another team picked up litter around the Garden and our neighborhood.  They filled two bags.  I   grabbed a bunch of them to help me fix the rotating composts bin which had again fallen off its tracks. This involved removing everything from behind the shed (so that we could stand back there), hammering one of the tracks back into place, emptying much of the bin so that we could lift it, and then putting it back on its tracks and re-filling it.  Then, they had to put everything back.

We also cleaned off the trellises, rolled them up and stored them away for the winter.  I had one of the ladies rake out all of the wood chips under one of the platform raised beds (and distribute the chips on the paths).  I suspected that we had rodents living there (not that I told her that), but we didn’t find anything (other than a baby garter snake, which freaked her and a few of the ladies out.  I moved the limp snake to a sunny spot in Amy’s plot.  It slithered away once it warmed up).  Finally, one of the ladies cleaned out a row of Rayna’s tomatoes (and stacked the cages and rolled up the trellis).    And, they gathered up all of their tools and returned them to their locations before leaving at lunchtime.

On top of the 77 pounds of produce that I harvested on Saturday, we harvested a couple pounds of peppers and over 50 pounds of mostly green tomatoes that I took to Faith Mission on Sunday.  I also collected over 20 pounds of green roma tomatoes in the thought that some of them will turn red if stored in a warm location.  We shall see.

Some of their sorority sisters spent the morning volunteering at COSI and at Good Will.  Considering our good weather on Sunday (when we started outwith coats and ended up in t-shirts), I think my team got the better deal.  They wouldn’t have thought so if it had rained.

So, we have three more weeks left in our

growing season.    I’ll be cleaning out more of the Garden in smaller bits and pieces over the next week.  The aphids have done a number on our greens during the Aug-tober dry spell.   In three weeks, we’ll need to prune back the raspberry brambles, harvest the rest of the peppers and greens and sweet potatoes, clean out at least one of the neighbor plots, empty the rain cisterns and organize the shed.    Completely doable, right?