Rain date - RSVP

[Liev Aleo Black]

Dear Gardeners,

In this cold spring weather, those newspapers are not going to rot fast enough for the roots of our spring crops to grow down as far as they need to.  We can plant lettuces there, and maybe cooking greens like kale (maybe).  So Tom is going to strip the sod again, but we need all hands on deck!  We can't let it rain between cutting the sod and pulling it up.  The best day for this is Saturday.  Please come and help us get this done once and for all!  Then it's time for sowing seeds.  The fun part!

See you Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. and be ready to put in a good half-day at it.  RSVP and let me know how long you can stay.  Bring a friend, bring your family.  Let's make this happen!!

Liev

[cle...@att.blackberry.net]

Liev, I have grandkids for 2 days then out of town for wknd. Do u still need me wed? I can come but I'll have kids :)

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From: Liev Aleo Black <liev....@gmail.com>

Sender: yr...@googlegroups.com

Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 08:39:58 -0600

To: <yr...@googlegroups.com>

ReplyTo: yr...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Rain date - RSVP

[Liev Aleo Black]

Awesome, Cleasa!  How old are they?  I guess if they're old enough you won't spend the whole time chasing them out of the street :)

BTW, I'd love to talk to you (and your husband) more about what you're doing over at your place.  Sounds really fantastic.  This year will be my first experience with canning, for example.  I have lots to learn :)  Did you say you have chickens?  I need to figure out how to care for them, which ones to get, whether to get them as hatchlings or hens, etc.  So much to learn, wow.

Liev

[Liev Aleo Black]

Hi, Cleasa,

Don't worry about coming tomorrow.  The weather is really just not cooperating, LOL.

You were talking about your 18-month old, weren't you?  I don't remember how old you said the other one is, but Eden is used to kids of all ages, and I'm sure she'll have fun with them if you want to bring them over at some point.  Anyway, I think that, once the fence goes up, it'll be a lot easier on us all, but even so, if you think they'll be happy at the easel or playing with sand, we can keep them safe.  One especially vulnerable time, of course, will be when we're putting seeds into the ground, and the first several weeks after.  I know that when Eden was younger, she liked "pulling weeds" a lot...and petting young seedlings.  Eeek!  I'm even thinking that we could get a volunteer to help with keeping little ones happily preoccupied, maybe someone from a local high school, who wants to do some community service once a week or so.

Liev

On Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 12:41 PM, <cle...@att.blackberry.net> wrote:

[cle...@att.blackberry.net]

Ok. How late will u b working sat? If I can get finished early enough I may can come help.

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From: Liev Aleo Black <liev....@gmail.com>

Sender: yr...@googlegroups.com

Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 19:07:57 -0600

To: <yr...@googlegroups.com>

ReplyTo: yr...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: Rain date - RSVP

[Liev Aleo Black]

Hmmmm.  As long as people will stay.  I wouldn't be surprised if several people couldn't come at 9, so probably a new round of folks will come late in the morning or noon or so.  I expect Tom and I will be out there well into the afternoon.  We could very well order pizza.  Come on over :)

[Liev Aleo Black]

Oh, and it'll be a lot easier this time.  We're doing the sod cutter again, and we'll all be able to pretty much roll it up.  Last time the problem was, we cut the sod and then it rained before we could get it all up.  It all just gelled back together again.  Whoops!

On Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 7:14 PM, <cle...@att.blackberry.net> wrote:

[Danna Fields]

Liev, I can't be there Saturday, so if this isn't possible, I completely understand, but I would LOVE to get several more rolls of sod.  I put out all that I brought the other day and I could use quite a bit more.  I could come by and pick it up probably Sunday afternoon/evening in my husband's truck.

Again, I know that's asking a lot since I won't even be there, but if it's possible, I would really appreciate it.  Just the little that I put down sure looks great!   I'm loving that it has rained on it a couple times already. 

--
Danna Fields
Your jewelry lady
www.premierdesigns.com
479-841-8247

[Liev Aleo Black]

Ok, Danna, that's actually no problem.  How many do you need?  Just let me know.  We'll have plenty!

Liev

[austin]

Liev and Tom,

Sarah, Martha, and I will be there between 9 and 9:30am this Saturday.
We'll be trying to put in 4 hours for the day. Hopefully we'll get
some more gardeners to RSVP for Saturday. The weather is looking good.
See you there.

Austin

[austin]

Liev and Tom,

Since we're stripping the sod, we won't need to use the newspaper,
right? Just confirming so I know if we need to continue collecting
newspaper.

Thanks,

Austin

[liev....@gmail.com]

That's great, Austin! It definitely looks like great weather for it.

I know that Cleasa has to work, but wants to come when she's off. Steve will be there. Danna will be out of town. I still have to hear back from David and Kara. A new member, Jeremiah, might be there; another, Morgan, is currently in Australia and won't be back till Monday. Vanda, who was having trouble getting my emails till recently, is very excited, and I think will be there, and Amanda, who's visiting family in San Francisco, might be back in time to come, but probably won't make it.

So, have heart! There really ARE other gardeners likely to come, and even if not on Saturday, they are involved, too - just not able to be present then. Looking at the weather, I'm planning a work party for them during the week.

A few have dropped out, being too busy to commit, but that's fine - it still leaves us with ten members, which was our original goal. (Oh! With Martha, that's actually eleven. Which I'm sure will be fine, as I was playing it really safe, wanting to underestimate harvest per member rather than overestimate.)

The main thing, at this point, is to get the garden ready to plant seeds, and if we have enough people on Saturday, we could start sowing by Monday. But once I can see our progress by Saturday night (Tom and I will be at it all day), I will be able to tell whether the spring crop seeds are ready for chitting (pre-sprouting), and will start this process in jars probably Saturday night. To the seeds, this is like being put in the ground Saturday. With some of the crops, if you count 30 days from then, you can estimate your first bag of harvest!

Then, in that scenario, we will be sowing seeds in the ground probably Monday (we have to wait till they actually sprout), and whoever is interested in participating is welcome to join us in doing some fun sowing projects, probably including liquid drilling, a really simple but helpful technique to learn, and more pedestrian sowing involving furrowing but with an eye to optimizing capillary flow (fancy terms for very straightforward things).

With this final push, we'll be off to a really fantastic start! We got our organic fertilizer yesterday (soft rock phosphate, ag lime, alfalfa seed meal, kelp, and greensand), specifically tailored to meet the requirements of our soil. Steve's bringing more compost, which I'll be rounding out with a trailerload or two of my own. We're probably getting soil tomorrow, and soil analysis shows it to be good quality. So, our crops will be off to a great start.

By the way, Tom and I looked at some ag irrigation parts yesterday, and a novice micro irrigation system for the home gardener. That one is at least a little off the ground, so is not so vulnerable to cutting by hoes and from clogging. I'm most interested in the Naan products. And I've come to agree that sprinklers are NOT worth the easy shrugging-off just to not have to spend the time designing lay-out.

Final news: we got a rain barrel! Looking forward to getting, or making, more. Anyone want to learn how to make rain barrels? I hereby volunteer Tom to make one and show you how :) We can pick up stainless steel drums from a jelly making company up north. Cover the cost of your drum ($8 apiece, I think), parts, and gas, and a little extra for the effort (altogether $15-18 per person for everything), and you get a rain barrel for your home. If there's enough interest, we'll schedule a time for this after the spring crops are established.
I'm excited about working with everyone who can make it Saturday and I love what a great garden we'll have in a very short time!

Liev

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-----Original Message-----
From: austin <able...@gmail.com>
Sender: yr...@googlegroups.com
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2011 23:03:22
To: Year-round Riverwood Comminuty Garden<yr...@googlegroups.com>
Reply-To: yr...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Rain date - RSVP

[liev....@gmail.com]

That's right, Austin. We might still use them in some areas, but likelier we'll use our garden flame thrower for any remaining clumps at this point. We have plenty of newspapers for what ever need arises.

Thanks for checking!

Liev
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-----Original Message-----
From: austin <able...@gmail.com>
Sender: yr...@googlegroups.com
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2011 23:08:47
To: Year-round Riverwood Comminuty Garden<yr...@googlegroups.com>

Reply-To: yr...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Rain date - RSVP

[Danna Fields]

Probably about four times what I took last time.  I think I had 5 or 6 rolls?   Don't remember exactly.

 

Looks like it will be beautiful weather on Saturday for the work day!  I'm excited about my trip this weekend, but sure wishing I  could be in two places at once.  Would love to be in the garden Saturday. 

[Liev Aleo Black]

Sure thing, Danna.  Enjoy your trip!  Where are you going?

I'm planning a work party this coming week, too, so don't worry ;)

Liev

[danna...@gmail.com]

Going to Branson for a girls weekend with my daughter. I sell Premier jewelry and my cousin in Branson is hosting a show Saturday afternoon. I'm taking Brenlee with me. We are going up tomorrow and staying in a hotel. We are going to a show, going shopping, and just hanging out. Really looking forward to some one on one time with her. Hard to do with three kids!!

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