Garden E-News April 1
Patty Zehl
In This E-Newsletter - April 1, 2010
Ø NEW: Each item in the following content list is now connected with a link to the article to help save you some scrolling time.
Ø If you’ve missed any past E-News issues, go to: http://www.cacscw.org/gardens/newsletters/newsletters.htm
1. Events - This Week and Beyond
a. Willy Street Co-op Lunch Benefits Plant-A-Row-For-The-Hungry Program - April 3
b. Free Home Composting Classes, Beginning - April 3
c. Urban Agriculture Networking Meeting - April 5
d. Got Dirt? Madison Training - April 8
e. Designing an Herb Garden - April 18
f. Backyard Composting - April 20
h. Fitchburg Fields - Next Workshop - April 24
i. Eat Your Landscape - April 24
j. City of Madison Community Gardens Committee Mtg - April 27
k. Compost Bin and Rain Barrel Sale - May 1
l. Willy St. Park Plant Sale - May 1
n. Family Horticulture Day - May 15
p. TimeBank Benefit Plant Sale - May 21 and May 28
q. Garden Crusaders Nominations Due - June 1
r. Urban Horticulture Day - Aug 21
s. ACGA'S Annual Conference - Aug 5-8
t. Growing Power’s National-International Urban & Small Farm Conference September 10-12
u. AHTA Conference - Oct 14-16
2. Grants
a. Plant Dane! Cost-Share Program - Due May 15
b. Yes To Carrots Seed Fund Grant
c. 2010 Share Your Harvest Garden Grant Recipients Announced
d. 2010 New Garden Fund Recipients Announced
3. Job or Volunteer Opportunities
a. Wanted - Volunteer Gardeners for “MOM’s” Food Pantry Garden
b. Darbo Urban Ag Enterprises - Mentors and Interns Wanted
c. Internships - with Community GroundWorks at Troy Gardens
d. Fitchburg Fields Volunteers Needed
e. Volunteer Coordinator with The Prairie Enthusiasts
f. Join the City of Madison Community Gardens Committee
g. Earn an Income Teaching Practical Skills: Gardening, Sewing and Raising Chickens
h. Community Garden Research - Participants Wanted
4. FYI
a. Vote Daily for Madison Area Community Orchards
b. Video Narrative of a Community Garden’s First Year
c. Youth Gro Local Conference Resources Available
d. New Website: Community Garden & Urban Agriculture
e. West Ag Research Station Evaluations: Fruits, Flowers & Vegetables
f. Collection of Demographics Information during the Spring Community Garden Registration
g. Community Action Coalition - New Gardens Staff Person
h. Community Gardens Act - Still Needs Your Support
j. Getting Started - a Guide for Creating School Gardens
k. Conference Call Archive - Community Food Security Coalition Urban Agriculture
l. Fostering Sustainable Behavior: Community-Based Social Marketing
Willy Street Co-op Lunch Benefits Plant-A-Row-For-The-Hungry Program - April 3
Willy Street Co-op continues to move forward with its plans to open a new west side store, signing a 15-year lease last week for a space near the corner of University Avenue and Park Street in downtown Middleton. To celebrate the project and engage the community in the drive, the co-op is holding a Willy West Welcome open house at its new Middleton location, and invited interested community members to stop by and learn more about its plans for the store.
There will also be a $5 meat or vegetarian brat lunch benefit, with all proceeds going to support the Middleton Bock Community Garden Plant-A-Row-For-The-Hungry (PAR) program. As part of PAR, Bock community gardeners will grow a little extra and donate the fresh veggies and fruit to the Middleton Outreach Ministries food pantry.
More informational meetings and events about the new west side location will be held over the summer, with construction beginning in April and a tentative opening date set for October.
Willy Street Co-op West
6825 University Ave., Middleton,
Brat lunch benefit: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Free Home Composting Classes, Beginning - April 3
There will also be four free home composting classes in April around Madison.
- April 3, 1:30 p.m. - Meadowridge Library, 5740 Raymond Rd.
- April10, 10 a.m. - Pinney Library, 204 Cottage Grove Rd.
- April 17, 11 a.m. - Sequoya Library, 513 S. Midvale Blvd.
- April 24, 11 a.m. - Lakeview Library, 2845 N. Sherman Ave.
More classes will be added to this list. Details are available at: http://www.cityofmadison.com/streets/composting.cfm
Urban Agriculture Networking Meeting - April 5
Monday, April 5th at 7:00pm
Willy Street Coop Community Room, 1221 Williamson St.
Purpose: Review the goals and priorities we discussed last time, work more on collaborative fundraising ideas and share updates on where things are at.
Open to anyone with an interest in Urban Ag.
Got Dirt? Madison Training - April 8
The Got Dirt? Gardening Initiative trains teachers and childcare providers to start and maintain youth and school gardens. The class and related teaching aids give teachers and childcare providers the skills they need to establish and sustain successful school garden programs, even with Wisconsin’s short growing season. The Madison training is located at the Dane County UW-Extension building on 1 Fen Oak Court.
School gardens create an active learning environment and increase children's knowledge and consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. For more information visit: http://www.co.brown.wi.us/departments/page_5ddf83a298e6/?department=68d3c3d55278&subdepartment=b2b33ee26bfc
For the 2010 free Got Dirt? Training Sessions offered throughout Wisconsin visit:
Although the training sessions are free, we ask that you please register since space is limited. To register:
Kristen Buettner, Communications Coordinator
Designing an Herb Garden - April 18
This workshop at Olbrich Gardens provides the tools, techniques, and hands-on experience you need to design the herb garden you have always wanted. Guided by Herbalists Lauri Lee and Susan Churchill of the Madison Herb Society, you will learn how to transform a random collection of herb plants into a well-designed garden. Examples of herb gardens will be shown, and information on herb habit, cultural needs, and ideas for theme gardens will be provided. Using handouts and templates provided, you will draft your own custom herb garden design. Bring a pencil, eraser, and measurements of your anticipated herb garden space.
Sunday, April 18, 1:30–4:30 pm
Registration Deadline: April 8
Register online at https://www.olbrich.org/vsiwebtrac.html
$45/$36 member
Backyard Composting - April 20
Are you wondering if your compost pile will smell or attract animals? Are you curious about why you keep putting materials in your compost bin and never get anything out? Are you setting up a compost bin for the first time? Olbrich Gardens is hosting Joan Laurion, owner of Compostbasics, to teach you how to set up a compost pile and the four things you need to make lots of quality compost for your gardens. If you have composting experience, you will get answers to your lingering questions and learn some of the fine points for producing compost.
Tuesday, April 20, 6:30–8:30 pm
Registration Deadline: April 13
Register online at https://www.olbrich.org/vsiwebtrac.html
$15/$12 member
Don't miss this movie at the Earth Week film festival in the Middleton Public Library, at 1:30 p.m.
Good Food is an intimate look at the farmers, ranchers, and businesses that are creating a more sustainable food system in the Pacific Northwest.
Fitchburg Fields - Next Workshop - April 24
Sat., April 24 - "Transplanting Seedlings": make sure that your baby plants get what they need to grow up healthy. Organic lunch optional.
Sat., May 1 - "Spring Garden Preparation": NO FEE. Help get Fitchburg Fields's garden ready for the 2010 growing season while learning how to prepare your own garden.
Sat., May 15 - "Scythes & Other Garden Tools": Learn the valuable skills of using traditional hand-operated gardening tools.
Sat., June 5 - "Garden Planting": NO FEE. Help plant Fitchburg Fields' garden using a variety of planting designs that you can use in your own garden!
Sat., June 12 - "Bentwood Trellis Construction": Build and take home an elegant structure up to 8 ft. tall for your garden goodies to grow on. All supplies provided.
Sat., June 26 - "Vermiculture": make and take home a worm bin for indoor composting, complete with bedding and worms!
For more information about locations and fees visit: www.madison.com/communities/ff, and select “Events”.
Phyllis Hasbrouck
Chair, Fitchburg Fields
Olbrich Gardens has invited Jim Long, author of the popular “Down to Earth” column for The Herb Companion magazine for the past 16 years and of 26 herbs and gardening books, to discuss the many plants in your landscape that are edible. For example, roses, bee balm, catnip, beach rose, goldenrod, juniper, mahonia, red bud, bamboo, cannas, cane, elephant ears, hibiscus, hollyhocks, and many more have a place on the dinner table! Learn which ones are edible and how they are used. He will share lots of information and recipes so you can eat your landscape. An author book signing is to follow the presentation; books will be available for purchase. This program is co-sponsored with the Madison Herb Society.
Saturday, April 24, 1:30–3 pm
Registration Deadline: April 15
Register online at https://www.olbrich.org/vsiwebtrac.html
$15/$12 member
City of Madison Community Gardens Committee Mtg - April 27
Charged with preserving, expanding and enhancing opportunities for community gardening, the Community Gardens Committee works to raise the visibility of community gardening and create better understanding of its many benefits.
All meetings are open to the public, with Hmong and Spanish interpreters available to facilitate participation by all attendees.
Next meeting: April 27, 2010 at 5:00 p.m.
Where: City-County
Building, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd,
Rm. 103A
For more information about the Community Gardening Committee: http://www.cacscw.org/gardens/committee%20update%20report.doc
To access the city Web Site:
http://www.cityofmadison.com/residents/communitygardens/index.cfm
Compost Bin and Rain Barrel Sale - May 1
The City of Madison and Dane County are again offering compost bin and supplies for sale, as well as rain barrels from SustainDane. The sale will be Saturday, May 1, 9am-4pm (or until supplies last) at the Olin Avenue Parking Lot next to the Alliant Energy Center.
For more information about the sale, visit: http://www.cityofmadison.com/streets/index.cfm
Willy St. Park Plant Sale - May 1
Willy Street Park - corner of Williamson and Brearly - veggies, bedding plants, wildflowers - benefit for the non-profit all-volunteer community corporation that owns and operates the park.
For more information call 242-0712 - donations welcome
The UW-Madison Arboretum annual Native Plant Sale is scheduled for Saturday, May 8, 2010, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the wildflower tent near the UW-Madison Arboretum Visitor Center, 1207 Seminole Highway.
You may order native plants (including a rain garden, butterfly/hummingbird garden, savanna garden, prairie garden) and native shrubs, vines and trees, now through March 23. All the species are native to the area, propagated plants (not dug from the wild).
The pre-order brochure is available at www.uwarboretum.org/foa or phone Linda Bishop at (608)263-7760.
Over 100 varieties of woodland and prairie plants are available.
* Propagated plants -- not dug from the wild
* All plants native to area
* Experts on hand to answer questions
* Information sheets detailing care with each plant
* Order prairie mixes, native shrubs, vines and trees
Family Horticulture Day - May 15
This science based Horticulture Field Day is at the Madison Ag Research Station, 8502 Mineral Point Road, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Learners of all ages are invited to explore how plants grow. Sow seeds, transplant seedlings, learn about rainwater gardens, explore the Rain Garden and spring-blooming plants, cultivate your science skills at our hands-on Exploration Stations, or relax with a Babcock Hall ice cream and colored popcorn treats.
Website - http://www.cals.wisc.edu/westmad/garden/
For questions: 262-2257, jreith...@wisc.edu
Sponsored by Dane
County TimeBank
Tuesday, May 18, 2010 (Rain date: May 25th), 4:00 pm-7:00 pm
Eastside Farmers' Market - New location! 953 Jenifer St. (Wil-Mar Center
parking lot)
http://www.danecountytimebank.org/
TimeBank Benefit Plant Sale - May 21 and May 28
Friday, (Rain or shine) 5:00 pm-7:00 pm
Corner of Commercial and Oak, Eken
Park neighborhood
Plant sale to benefit the Dane
County TimeBank.
Donations of plants, seedlings, bulbs, seeds, etc. are most welcome.
http://www.danecountytimebank.org/
Garden Crusaders Nominations Due - June 1
The annual Garden Crusader Awards program was established by Gardener’s Supply to honor individuals who are improving the world through gardening. “Garden Crusaders” are individuals who are gardening beyond their own backyards to grow food for the hungry, beautify their communities, and help friends and neighbors discover the rewards of gardening.
The award honors individuals in the United States who are improving their communities through gardening. There is no age requirement. Nominations are due by June 1, 2010. Organizations may apply by choosing one person to represent the group.
Award categories include Education, Feeding the Hungry, Urban Renewal, and Restoration. There are five winners for each category — first, second, third, plus two honorable mentions and one grand-prize winner, for a total of eighteen winners overall. The grand-prize winner will receive $2,500 in cash and a $2,500 gift certificate from Gardener’s Supply. First-place winners receive a $1,000 gift certificate, second-place winners a $750 gift certificate, third-place winners a $500 gift certificate, and honorable mentions a $200 gift certificate. All prizes will be awarded to the winner’s organization in his or her name.
For more information: http://www.gardeners.com/Garden-Crusader-Awards/5549,default,pg.html
Urban Horticulture Day - Aug 21
Time: 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Location: West Madison Ag Research Station, 8502 Mineral Point Road
Join other gardeners and enjoy a day tasting new vegetables and fruits at the Trial and Demonstration Garden at West Madison's research station. Bring your gardening questions and find answers.
Extension experts will be available to answer questions and identify plant problems. Programs for children: face painting, garden scavenger hunt, puppet making and seed planting for fall harvest
Web site: http://www.cals.wisc.edu/westmad/garden/
Contact: 262-2257, jreith...@wisc.edu
ACGA’S Annual Conference - Aug 5-8
Save this date for the American Community Gardening Associations annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The topic is “Holistic Approach to Building Sustainable and Healthy Communities, the Choice is Yours.”
To register go online to: www.communitygarden.org and indicate that payment is for conference.
Growing Power’s National-International
Urban & Small Farm Conference September 10-12
Come to Milwaukee and help grow the good food revolution. Hosted by Growing Power—a national organization headed by the sustainable urban farmer and MacArthur Fellow Will Allen—this international conference will teach the participant how to plan, develop and grow small farms in urban and rural areas.
Learn how you can grow food year-round, no matter what the climate, and how you can build markets for small farms. See how you can play a part in creating a new food system that fosters better health and more closely-knit communities.
http://www.growingpowerfarmconference.org
The 2010 annual conference will take place at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Chicago, Illinois. Horticultural Therapy is the active or passive use of plants, gardening, gardening spaces and related activities to promote personal physical, emotional, and mental well-being.
American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA) is proud to announce its new partnership with the Chicago Botanical Garden. More information will become available at the AHTA website: http://www.ahta.org/
Grants
Plant Dane! Cost-Share Program - Due May 15
Now in its 6th year, the Plant Dane! cost-share program provides homeowners, schools and nonprofit organizations with native plants, seeds and information to establish rain gardens and restore prairies through a gift from the Graham-Martin Foundation. The cost-share program provides native plants for less than half of retail prices.
For an online application: http://www.myfairlakes.com/PlantDane.aspx
A free rain garden workshop will be offered on March 6 to participants. Orders may be placed through May 15th, 2010. Plants will be delivered on June 26th.
For more information: Marcia Hartwig, 608-224-3746, har...@co.dane.wi.us
Yes to Carrots Seed Fund Grant
Yes to School Gardens
Yes to Healthy Kids
Yes to Making a Difference
Yes to Carrots, the Environmental Media Association, and Emmanuelle Chriqui are searching for the best story of why your school would love to build a NEW garden, or give your existing school garden some TLC! One lucky school will win a Yes to Carrots Seed Fund Grant, celebrity garden mentorship from Emmanuelle Chriqui, and a year’s worth of supplies from Kellogg Garden Products!
Enter the challenge: http://www.ngagardenshop.com/campaigns/show/5927
2010 Share Your Harvest Garden Grant Recipients Announced
Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin, Inc. (CAC) is pleased to announce the recipients of a new grant from the Madison Community Foundation to encourage community gardens, food pantry gardens, youth gardens and neighborhood gardens in Dane County to grow fresh vegetables for donation to food pantries, meal sites or other agencies that provide hunger relief at no cost. The total amount awarded is $20,290.
- Allied Neighborhood Container Gardens - $960
- Bashford Food Pantry Garden - $320
- Birch House Farm Food Pantry Garden - $874
- Blackhawk Church Food Pantry Garden - $1,800
- Bock Community Garden - $1,000
- Cottage Grove Community Garden - $1,000
- Darbo Community Garden - $1,000
- Eagle Heights Community Garden - $1,166
- East High Community Youth Farm - $1,000
- Fitchburg Fields Food Pantry Garden - $1,000
- Glendale Elementary Youth Garden - $1,000
- Hammersley Park Community Garden - $300
- Hershberger & Malmquist Food Pantry Gardens - $1,000
- M.O.M.'s Food Pantry Garden - $1,000
- Madison Christian Community Youth Garden - $750
- Monona UMC Community Garden - $500
- Russett Rd Front Yard Garden Initiative - $1,000
- St. Dunstans Community Garden - $300
- St. Vincent De Paul Food Pantry Garden - $1,000
- Sembrando y Cosechando Juntos, Centro Hispano - $320
- Severson Learning Center - Cambridge - $1,500
- Sun Prairie/Marshall Food Pantry Garden - $1,500
Please contact Patty Zehl at pat...@cacscw.org or 246-4730 x234 for more information.
2010 New Garden Fund Recipients Announced
The New Garden Fund panel would like to congratulate the recipients of 2010 New Garden Fund grants:
- McCormick Community Garden creation ($500)
- Darbo Community Garden creation ($500)
- Lindbergh Elementary Community Garden creation/expansion ($350)
- Reindahl Community Garden expansion ($200)
- Troy Enabling Garden creation ($200)
- Allied Neighborhood Container Garden Project creation ($150)
Since 2005, the New Garden Fund has provided funds for 17 new and expanding community gardens in Madison to support the growth of community gardening. The New Garden Fund panel, comprised of community gardeners from around Madison, meets 3-4 times each winter to review applications, perform site visits to meet applicants and learn more about proposed projects, and make the final funding decisions as a committee.
Since 2008, community gardens which receive support from CAC or the City of Madison have been asked to support the creation and expansion of community gardening in Madison through a yearly donation to the New Garden Fund. The suggested donation asked of each city-supported garden is 10% of their garden plot fees. If you or your garden would like to support the New Garden Fund through a donation or if you'd like to participate on the New Garden Fund panel, please contact Nicole Craig at nic...@cacscw.org or 246-4730 x208 for more information.
Job or Volunteer Opportunities
Wanted - Volunteer Gardeners for Mom’s Food Pantry Garden
Middleton Outreach Ministry (MOM) is seeking volunteers for their new food pantry garden, located across the street from the MOM Distribution Center, 8710 Montclair Drive in Middleton. All produce raised in this garden will be available for the food pantry clients at MOMs. Volunteers are needed from April through October.
1. Volunteer Gardeners - Multiple volunteers needed for planting, weeding, watering and harvesting. Garden workdays will be Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings.
2. Volunteer Garden Educators - Multiple volunteers to teach pantry guests all aspects of vegetable gardening, with the intent that they will have their own garden plot when they “graduate”. Ideally, the individual will be a Master Gardener or have other gardening credentials.
Cheri Farha, Distribution Center Manager
Email: ch...@mompop.org
Web site: http://www.mompop.org
Darbo Urban Ag Enterprises - Mentors and Interns Wanted
We are recruiting experienced gardeners, farmers, restaurateurs and entrepreneurs to mentor Eastside youth for the 2010 gardening season. Help open doors for youth in the growing urban agriculture movement and local food scene. We need to recruit mentors to work with youth at each step of the process of creating and maintaining the new small businesses listed below:
- Garden Installation Service
- Garden and Lawn Maintenance Service
- Specialty Greens Production
- Cut Flower Production
- Ripe Tomato Delivery Service
- Darbo Drive Salsa Company
If you have a specialized skill or talent, please share your knowledge and wisdom with an eager Eastside youth. Even if you think you don't have any experience that might be helpful, you can still help organize and build this project. Get involved and do something positive for your community while you do the things you love anyway!
To volunteer, or for more information, contact Joe Mingle at <jwmi...@tds.net> or call (608) 332-1493.
Internships - with Community GroundWorks at Troy Gardens
Community GroundWorks at Troy Gardens seeks students and adult community members to assist with sustainable agriculture, natural areas restoration, environmental education, and nonprofit administration. We offer both paid and unpaid internships under a variety of arrangements including academic credit.
For more detailed internship information and the application visit: http://troygardens.org/get-involved/internship-opportunities
Fitchburg Fields Volunteers Needed
Join us in creating a center for teaching and practicing small-scale, organic agriculture and sustainable living. If you're looking to volunteer in our garden, or to schedule a group of volunteers for a workday, please contact us soon.
If you can do specialized, non-garden tasks, check out this link for our current needs:
http://volunteer.united-e-way.org/uwdc/org/opp.aspx?agency_id=10288108881
Or contact: Catherine Murray: ffvolu...@gmail.com, (608) 335-7295
For more information about Fitchburg Fields: http://www.fitchburgfields.org
Volunteer Coordinator with The Prairie Enthusiasts
The Prairie Enthusiasts (TPE) is a private, nonprofit organization committed to the protection and management of native prairie and savanna of the Upper Midwest. TPE is a grass roots organization run mainly by volunteers, actively working on the ground in prairie preservation & restoration, land protection and education.
The Volunteer Coordinator will be responsible for expanding the capabilities of the volunteer community in the Empire Sauk Chapter of TPE. The two major goals for the position are to increase the number of volunteers in the organization through active recruitment from the greater community and to increase the level of involvement of active volunteers through communications, coordination, mentoring and recognition.
We seek a person with experience recruiting and motivating volunteers, with a passion for conservation and land management/protection, proven organizational skills, and strong oral and written communication skills. Job will involve some work evenings and weekends, and travel in Dane and surrounding counties. Position 15 -20 hours/week.
Email your letter of interest and resume to: kjcart...@verizon.net
Or send to:
K. Cartwright
304 Forreston Drive
Cottage Grove, WI 53527
Join the City of Madison Community Gardens Committee
The City of Madison Community Gardens Committee (CMCGC) is currently seeking two new citizen members to represent community gardeners in Madison. Representatives of certain city committees (Plan, Parks and CDBG), citizen gardeners, and staff (from the Mayor’s office and Community Action Coalition) comprise the committee. Membership is open to any Madison resident who has an interest or role in Madison's community gardens. The committee meets monthly (except in the summer months). All meetings are open to the public, with Hmong and Spanish interpreters available to facilitate participation by all attendees.
The CMCGC was established in 2005 and given the charge of preserving, expanding and enhancing opportunities for community gardening in Madison. The committee works to raise the visibility of community gardening and create better understanding of its many benefits.
The committee fosters collaborative partnerships and leverages limited resources by harnessing support for gardens from within the community and multiple units of city government. The Community Gardens Committee provides an invaluable public forum -- a place where garden advocates and city government work together to build a productive and sustainable system of community gardens in Madison.
Next meeting: Tuesday, March 23, 5-6pm
Where: City-County Building, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Rm. 108
For more information about the Community Gardening Committee:
http://www.cityofmadison.com/residents/communitygardens/index.cfm
If you are interested in being a member of the City Community Gardens Committee, contact Nicole Craig at nic...@cacscw.org or call her at 246-4730 ext. 208.
Earn an Income Teaching Practical Skills: Gardening, Sewing and Raising Chickens
The Heritage Skills Institute is Madison's new center for teaching and learning about sustainable living skills. Committed to accelerating the transition to a low-carbon, low-energy future, HSI seeks to harness the wisdom and experience of the community to create the changes we seek. We are recruiting instructors to lead "mini-courses" on a wide range of relevant topics. Share your special knowledge, help your community and make a little money -- what could be better than that?
The first round of workshops is planned for spring 2010. Have an idea for a simple course or workshop on a sustainable living skill? Do you already have a program and need more students? Let's work together to build our shared capacity to educate ourselves and create a more resilient community!
Send comments, inquiries, proposals for courses, etc. to jwmi...@tds.net or leave a message at 332-1493.
Community Garden Research - Participants Wanted
UW PhD student Vincent Smith, at the Nelson Institute for
Environmental Studies, UW-Madison is searching for gardeners willing to assist
in a study this summer. He is currently conducting research on the
socioeconomic value of gardening in the Madison
area. He is looking for gardeners who would be willing to collect data on their
garden this summer. If you do not feel you have the time to weigh your bounty,
but you have a garden that you are willing to have him look at this summer,
please contact Vincent.
Vincent M. Smith
vmsm...@wisc.edu or call 608-852-7774
FYI
Vote Daily for Madison Area Community Orchards
Janet Parker with Madison Nuts and Fruits requests all you edible landscape and orchard enthusiasts please take a few moments for a good cause? Please vote daily for the Madison Area to win a grant for up to five fruit and nut community orchards. Winners will receive trees and training for orchard care from the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation.
Here's where you can vote for one proposed orchard site daily:
http://www.communitiestakeroot.com/Home/SiteMap, and click on “List by State”
Madison submitted four orchard proposals and Middleton submitted one. Each person can vote once a day. The first round of voting ends April 30th. Please consider making it a daily practice to take a moment to vote, and spread around your votes between sites proposed in our community:
- Bock Garden in Middleton (currently in 6th place - your votes may push them into 5th)
- Eagle Heights Garden on UW Campus
- Marlborough Park in the Allied Dunns Marsh neighborhood
- Troy Kids Garden on the North side
- Wingra Park in Dudgeon Monroe neighborhood
Please share this email with your friends and relations so that they will vote too. Let's use the same Madison internet voting power that elected White House Farmer Claire Strader to now win this contest and add five new orchards in the Madison area!
Did you see Madison Fruits and Nuts in USA Today? Good press for urban fruit! There is a photo of our fabulous Jess Bullen Memorial Orchard at Quann Garden.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-08-fruit-trees-city-park_N.htm
Video Narrative of a Community Garden’s First Year
Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ on the southwest side of Madison created a church community and food pantry garden in the spring of 2009 that they named the Vegetable Village. To view a wonderful video about the church’s decision process to create a community garden, all the loving work that went into its creation, and the benefits their community and others reaped from the garden, go to: http://www.orucc.org/2009/12/05/vegetable-village
For more information about Orchard Ridge UCC’s community and food pantry garden, please visit http://www.orucc.org.
Youth Gro Local Conference Resources Available
Want to learn more about gardening with youth? All the PowerPoints and audio files from the extremely successful February Madison Youth Grow Local conference are now on their website.
Visit: https://sites.google.com/site/youthgrowlocal/home/resources-and-handouts
New Website: Community Garden & Urban Agriculture
Visit Cooperative Extensions new website and blog providing information valuable to Wisconsin urban gardeners, including Wisconsin Gardener pod casts with Shelley Ryan to be available in the future. Go to: http://fyi.uwex.edu/cuga/
West Ag Research Station Evaluations: Fruits, Flowers & Vegetables
Each summer the West Madison Agriculture Research Station trials hundreds of new flowers and numerous new vegetable cultivars.
Check out: http://www.cals.wisc.edu/westmad/garden/Evaluations.html for links to evaluations, and posting of WMARS Favorite Picks for peppers, tomatoes and other various vegetables. Watch this website for new Favorites for annual flowers trialed during 2009 season.
2009 Vegetable Evaluations:
http://www.cals.wisc.edu/westmad/garden/PDFs/VegEval%20Final%202009AA.pdf
Collection of Demographics Information during the Spring Community Garden Registration
Each spring, Community Action Coalition (CAC) asks community gardens that receive CAC assistance through funds received via Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) or Community Services Block Grants (CSBG) to fill out demographics forms during garden registration days. These anonymous demographics forms are essential in the grant reporting process for CAC, as it allows our organization to demonstrate that we are serving the target communities specified by our grantors.
Demographics forms are anonymous and are not used for any other purposes other than for grant and program reporting. Only compiled data is reported, and data from individual forms is not shared outside of CAC.
Filling out the demographics form is not required for all gardens, but your participation will help us to ensure continued funding for the CAC Community Gardens program and assistance for your garden. Demographic forms are also useful to individual gardens as they help tell a specific, quantifiable, story about the garden and what it means to the community or neighborhood in which it operates.
While, as gardeners, we recognize the aesthetic and personal meaning of the space used for growing, not everyone sees it through our eyes. It is best to have as much hard data on gardens in general, as well as on specific gardens, so that when we need to describe or defend our mission we have hard facts to go with our stories.
Updated demographics forms for 2010 have been sent out to garden leaders, along with revised plot fee schedules. If you have not received this information or have any questions about demographics forms, please contact Nicole Craig at 246-4730 x208 or nic...@cacscw.org.
Community Action Coalition - New Gardens Staff Person
Hello Fellow Gardeners!
I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the newest addition to Community Action Coalition's (CAC) community gardens staff. I've worked as a Food Security Specialist in CAC's Food & Gardens Division for nearly 2 years, where our primary focus is providing food resources to pantries, meal sites and other community agencies throughout Dane, Jefferson, and Waukesha counties. During the last two years, I’ve had the pleasure of working on a variety of CAC projects including food drives, our Gleaners food recovery program, as well as working with some of our local youth gardens and community gardens.
This season, I will be the CAC liaison for the Waunona, Burr Oaks, and Darbo-Worthington community gardens. I'm very excited about my new position here at CAC and look forward to working with you all.
See you in the gardens!
Jason Clay, jas...@cacscw.org
Community Gardens Act - Still Needs Your Support
ACGA continues to advocate for additional federal support for community gardening. H.R. 3225, filed by Rep. Inslee of Washington State is titled Community Gardens Act of 2009. Its purpose is to provide funds for community gardens, and other purposes.
Go to http://thomas.loc.gov and enter H.R. 3225 in the bill search for the complete bill language and current list of co-sponsors.
ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO CO-SPONSOR THE BILL. (Simply go to https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml for an online form.) If your Representative is already a co-sponsor, send them a thank-you.
The Organic Learning Center (OLC) is located about one mile north of the Milwaukee County Cooperative Extension offices. The OLC is used for hands-on training and demonstration of intensive cropping systems, drip irrigation, extended season hoophouse growing, crop rotations, and composting, all on just 1/4 of an acre. An independent farmer is establishing a business model for the site, selling through farmers markets, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), and wholesale and sharing records to show whether micro-scale organic farming is viable.
http://milwaukee.uwex.edu/urbanag/organic.cfm
Vegetable Publications and Research available:
- Scheduling Vegetable Planting for Continuous Harvest: ATTRA
- Sustainable Soil Management: ATTRA
- Organic Soil Conditioners: UWEX
- Biological Control of Insects and Mites: UWEX
- Managing Insects in the Home Vegetable Garden: UWEX
- Garden Facts - handouts on specific pests: UWEX
- Organic controls for specific pests: ATTRA
- Growing specific vegetable and fruit crops in Wisconsin: UWEX
- What is Organic Agriculture? : ATTRA
- Post harvest Handling of Fruits and Vegetables: ATTRA
Getting Started - a Guide for Creating School Gardens
The Life Lab Science Program distilled their years of world-wide school garden experience into a concise 50-page guide that asks and answers most questions you need to consider for creating an outdoor classroom garden.
Items covered include your garden’s purpose; school staff, volunteers, and students; connecting with curriculum; site selection and design; theme gardens; fund-raising; public awareness; and more. Get this guide if you are thinking about starting a garden for your school or program.
This publication is available free as a PDF download: http://www.lifelab.org/pdfs/GettingStarted.pdf
Conference Call Archive - Community Food Security Coalition Urban Agriculture
The Community Food Security Coalition Urban Agriculture raises the profile of urban agriculture as a tool for reaching Community Food Security in partnership with the American Community Gardening Association and other constituencies.
Their conference call archive is available at: http://www.foodsecurity.org/ua_home.html#getinvolved
Fostering Sustainable Behavior: Community-Based Social Marketing
A useful and action-oriented 77-page book "Fostering Sustainable Behavior" by Environmental psychologist Doug McKenzie-Mohr, Ph.D. can be downloaded for free at: http://www.cbsm.com/public/images/FosteringSustainableBehavior.pdf
"Community-based social marketing draws heavily on research in social psychology which indicates that initiatives to promote behavior change are often most effective when they are carried out at the community level and involve direct contact with people.
This guide will provide you with the information you need to incorporate community-based social marketing techniques into the programs you design. After reading this online book, you will have a new set of tools at your disposal which you can use to create effective community programs to foster sustainable behavior." - From the preface of the online-book.
Please send a note to Patty Zehl at: pat...@cacscw.org if you would like to get off this email list, add a friend to it, or share an announcement with your fellow community gardeners in the Madison area. If you receive this email more than once, please contact me so I can remove duplicate messages.