Garden news - Work days next two Saturdays

[Golden Community Garden]

Hi, Here's the latest garden news.

Drip Systems

Someone turned off drip timers last week when it rained. If you have a timer, please check that it's set as expected. Please also think about creating a neighborhood watch group to keep an eye on each others' plants and irrigation systems. Things happen, and it would help if neighbors take turns to ensure plants are cared for. 

If you turned off the timers, thanks for caring, but even if it is raining, please do not turn other people's timer off. And we urge everyone to put their name and phone number on a piece of tape on their timer so that calls can be made if there are leaks or other problems.

The Roof is ON!!

Yeah, we got the roof on the pavilion. Thanks to everyone who helped!

Saturday July 2nd at 8 am 

Planting in the butterfly garden - 8 am - Please come help Susan and Kara get the new plants in the butterfly garden. thanks!

Monday July 4th fireworks

Steve Regan and Bob Thurber are thinking to watch the fireworks from the garden. If you're around after dark on the 4th, you may want to join them. And you may want insect repellent, mosquitoes are around in the evenings.

Saturday July 9th

Work day to clean up the garden prior to a visit by city council and staff on July 21st. We're planning to sign a long term agreement with the city and want to garden to look it's best before we show off all your hard work to city council and staff. Thanks for coming to help.

A big Thank You

to everyone who has worked so hard watering and weeding our new native grass areas! Our grass seed has germinated. New seedlings are easy to see on the north front hillside area. Look for these grasses!

 

Volunteers working on their own time:

 

Please keep mulching the soil berms in the orchard area.  We still need 4 inches of mulch on all of the berms. The remaining fruit trees are not coming until next spring so the mulch can be raked out over the berms. Leave a little bare circle of dirt around the base of each pumpkin plant.

 

Continue hand weeding the south front hillside native grass area, working from the edge of the area, staying outside of the yellow tape. To weed the inside, lay boards out and walk on them. Weed out everything that doesn’t look like a grass.

Logging your hours - Click there to the left.

Comment on the Labyrinth from Karen Smith

Early this morning, the first day after we built the labyrinth, I visited the garden. To my delight, there were two people walking the labyrinth who had been lured in from the walking path. They seemed really pleased by the opportunity. Another person riding his bike on the path stopped to ask 'Was this here yesterday morning?" So, the labyrinth is really a visible attraction. It's going to create some new interest in our garden.

A community garden

Community gardens are a positive influence for individuals and neighborhoods. I think it fosters friendships. It also fosters a common interest in eating healthy foods. I personally like digging in the dirt and I get great personal satisfaction from planting seeds and watching them sprout and eventually seeing the final product of my efforts.  I find it very relaxing.

I am also impressed by the volunteer efforts of so many people to help each other have a successful gardening adventure. The city of Golden has become more alive for me on a personal level.  I used to walk by the garden wishing I could be a part of whatever was going on at the garden.  I now feel connected to Golden and it is a great feeling. - Betty Bedinger

Betty Bedinger lives next to the garden at Canyon Gate Apartments, and is gardening in a raised bed generously built by John Spice and the Lions club. She grew up on a farm in rural Montana with 12 sisters and 8 brothers. They always had a garden and at that time it was not a fun thing to do, but work. Gardening has always been a part of her life. She lived in Golden from 1974 to 1984, and moved back here in 1998 to be near her son and daughter and their families. She has one grandson and four granddaughters.  They are the highlight of her life, and she thinks Golden is a great place to live. 

 

And here's a few more comments:

Nathan Bell, 6 years old, says "I like planting carrots.  I also like the spaceships that I build" (holes that he digs in the huge mounds of dirt or compost).  I really like playing on the dirt piles.  Most of all I like the people that I meet at the garden, like Barbara (Haywood)" (an experienced and avid gardener who gardens next to us.)  Mackenzie Bell, 3 years old, says "I like the food that we get out of the garden".   The garden for us has been a great way to provide organic food for our family, to teach our kids the pleasure of growing and harvesting your own food, and a source to meet some great local people of all ages and demographics. Suzanne Morrisette 

 

and

 

Being a true "locavore" isn't always easy, but it's such a great feeling to be moving in that direction.  My humble garden plot will yield some tasty tomatoes, potatoes, snap peas, basil, salad greens, rhubarb, raspberries, etc. that my family can have fun experimenting with in the kitchen this summer. But it's the "community" part of Golden Community Garden (GCG) that really sparks enthusiasm for me.  Sharing our plot with a neighbor has given us a chance to collaborate.  But just as important for me has been getting to know the other gardeners (both novice and veteran), listening to their stories, learningfrom their trials, errors, and successes, and sharing advice and encouragement.  I also enjoy chatting with residents who stroll by and take an interest in what's growing.  It's much more than produce that is growing -- it's community spirit, volunteerism, rich interaction, gratitude for life's simple pleasures, and appreciation for this beautiful town we live in.  -diane witters

And here are some great pictures of our gardeners: Photos of our garden members

thanks!