March 27th Gardener Meeting

Did you miss our meeting last Sunday? Don't worry; we'll fill you in on what we decided. Here's a recap of the meeting ...and some pics of the delicious potluck afterward. 

What are we doing here?
First we discussed the "vision" for this community garden: Why are we here?  What are our ideals for the garden? What are our goals? What do we want to accomplish?
Here's what we came up with: 

·         To grow food and to save money

·         To work together with the community, bring communities together

·         To develop lifelong skills

·         To meet people and help each other

·         To teach children about healthy food

·         To teach each other

·         To improve our health

·         To see how God manifests himself in creation/to learn more about his creation

·         To have food, fun and fellowship

Decisions, decisions...

By unanimous vote, it was decided that the garden would be set up with community plots, with each plot containing one type of produce for all to share and care for. Gardeners felt they need to learn the gardening process first, before taking on individual plots to manage. The community plots will help the gardeners to work and learn together.

Individual plots may be developed for education and experimentation (e.g. using different types of compost in different plots). This will not be an immediate project, however.

And...

We also developed and voted on our initial garden rules, which are listed below. (A “gardener” is defined as someone who has signed the garden rules. No one may participate in the garden project and receive produce without signing their agreement.) 

 Approved List of Rules:

1. Gardeners will attempt to make meetings; if they are unable to attend, they will let coordinators know so that important information can be provided to them. 
2.  Gardeners may bring others to work in the garden with them; however, those interested in working in the garden on a continuous basis and who wish receive produce, must sign up.
3.  As a gardener, you/your family should commitment a minimum amount of time to complete designated tasks, or a maximum of 2 hours a week. If you are out of town or unable to fulfill your commitment for that week, it is your responsibility to find someone to do your duties
4. Gardeners must agree to help with garden clean up celebration at the end of the season after plants have finished producing.
5. Gardeners may bring children to the garden, and are encouraged to. However, gardeners are expected to supervise children to ensure that there is no damage to produce and that children abide by garden rules as well.
6. No pets in the garden; leave all pets outside fenced area.
7. Types of fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, etc. used in the garden are determined by group approval. 
8. When working in the garden, gloves are necessary due to glass and debris in soil. Gloves will be provided for gardeners to use.
9. To promote safety, gardeners should only be in garden during determined hours ( sunrise to sunset), unless there is a group activity at the garden.
10. Rules pertaining to Jardin Maravilloso must be passed by gardeners as a majority (with 2/3 of gardeners included in vote).
11. ANY time a gardener works in the garden, he or she must record time spent there and provide it to a garden coordinator.
12. As a gardener, I understand that neither the garden nor owners of the land are responsible for my actions. Therefore I agree to hold harmless the garden group and owners of the land for any liability, damage, loss or claim that occurs in connection with use of the garden by me or any of my guests.

 What's Next? Some of our future goals include:  

·         establishing garden work schedule

·         building more raised beds

·         getting our water source established

·         building fencing

·         selecting a leadership council

·         planning fundraising activities

·         providing educational “classes” or workshop

·         recruiting more gardeners 

Don't forget about our next meeting and work day! See the announcement below!