Gentle Notes

Folks,


Two things to please remember -- oops, a third --


1. Stay in your plot. No walking in your neighbor's plot, even if they haven't planted. I've had several people mention they've seen plot neighbors sitting or standing in their plot while weeding.


2. When you weed, put the pulled up plants in your walkways or in the wire compost bins along the east and west fences. DO NOT throws weeds in the walkways -- I will throw them right back in your plot! Put them in the wire compost bins, please.


And...


3. Please do not put trash in the brown compost bins on the south fence, or piled along any fence. I have boxes from 98 pepper plants at the south gate, because I'm deciding how to use them in my plot, and someone put their recycling on top of them. Even if you see someone else leave the stuff out -- don't do it yourself. Put it in the trash bin in the garden, or in the trash bins by the back door of the Heritage Center.


About the brown bins -- I'm going to be inviting gardeners to use those bins for food scrap composting, so keep your eyes open for a blog post about it.


Thanks!

Friday Night Notes

Gorgeous afternoon in the garden today! Some notes --


*WATERING:  I will be watering Saturday at 3am -- just about 20 minutes, a light watering. Last week, when I watered that amount, the garden looked soaked at 8:30am and dry on the top inch 90 minutes later, so don't be fooled if you arrive in the afternoon and it looks like we didn't water.


* FIELDS: The fields next to the garden have been planted, so please do not walk across them.


* STAFF IN THE GARDEN-- I'm holding a garden interpreter volunteer on Sunday, so soon you should be meeting garden volunteers at the demo plot. They'll be helping us to maintain the demo plot, as well as greeting visitors, answering gardener questions, and reducing pilferage by their presence.


* Speaking of which, I know a lot of you have gotten to meet STEPHANIE-- she's been a terrific addition in her first two weeks. She's mostly scheduled for afternoons on Tue-Thur, also on Saturdys and Sundays. I've gotten a few gardeners asking if I'm no longer around, since they've seen more of Stephanie, but that's not the case -- we try to schedule our hours so we overlap at least once a week, while providing increased coverage in the garden.


* Last note -- PARKING. I hate to mention it again, but we're having a real problem with gardeners parking on the circle drive, coming up onto the grass, and blocking vehicles. One gardener left a car parked squarely in the middle of the circle drive, blocking a visiting school bus of kids. Today I saw 4 cars parked up on the grass -- 2 gardeners, 2 visitors -- and the trash truck was delayed getting through the circle. And I've heard that gardeners are parking on the grass or in the circle drive during times when the Heritage Center isn't open, and have told people it doesn't matter then.


Here's the deal: there's only one place for you all to park, and the staff at Wagner Farm expects you to follow the rule -- across the street. The majority of gardeners are following this rule -- but I hear about every one who doesn't.


See you in the garden!

I saw a lot of this in the garden this weekend.

Plots have been widened, and other notes

Ok, so I said we were only going to widen the east and west plots this morning -- we also did the center plots, since Andres had time.


I'm about to head into the garden to reinsert corner stakes. I apologize if any plants, stakes or supplies were moved or harmed during the tilling. If you're out there before I get back out, please return your stakes to their rightful position or wait for me to do it.


The grass that was tilled up should be brown by tomorrow -- feel free to rake it out of the way and plant in the newly-tilled areas, but put any tilled up grasses, etc. in the compost bins along the fence, not in the walkways.
Some notes:


1. I've seen more than 8 gardeners park in and around the circle drive this weekend already, and not just for drop-off. Folks, you just can't do this. Even if you see another car parked in the drive or on the grass, it's not allowed for you guys. If you're doing a drop-off, stay on the pavement, at least.


2. Please keep all supplies, including straw, in your plots when you're not here. I had to move a lot of straw off the walkways for mowing today -- I apologize if I put it on things you've planted.


3. I'm noticing a lot of tomato plants being planted right at the edge of plots, either next to other plots or right by the walkways. This is going to be a problem. Tomato plants, unless seriously and routinely pruned, will get wide to the tune of 2-3'. Anything overlapping your neighbor's plot lines is technically theirs to harvest, and anything hanging over the walkway may get mowed.


4. Last note about mowing -- please do not enter the garden when it's closed. Even if it's to drop off a few things, even if it's just for a moment.


Thank you.

Additional tilling on Sunday

During mowing on Sunday, we're going to extend the west and east plots by tilling the area between the irrigation posts along the length of the plots. Stephanie, our intern, removed the corner stakes along the east side of the west plots, and the west side of the east plots, to make this easier tomorrow. I'll replace the stakes tomorrow around 11am.

Community Garden Intern

Hello Community Gardeners!

My name is Stephanie Stiglmeier, and I will be the Community Garden intern for 2014. After taking a tour with Jen yesterday and meeting all of the staff, I cannot be more excited to work with ya'll.

A little bit about myself: I come from a German family, and my father's family owns a German sausage factory in Wheeling. I graduated from Glenbrook South in 2012, and I currently attend Mississippi State University as a Horticulture major. I am also a hobbyist beekeeper and an avid outdoors-woman. Some of my areas of interest relating to horticulture are: fruit, nut, and vegetable production; organics & homeopathic medicines; landscape design; land/habitat conservation; sustainability; and plant breeding. Some of my other hobbies and interests include hiking, camping, and spending time with my large family.  

I am very outgoing, personable, and polite; so please feel free to ask any questions! I am here to help ya'll, and I'm also here to learn whatever ya'll can teach me. I have a lot of resources available to me through my university, so if I don't know the answer to one of your questions I can get you the information through those resources.

Looking forward to a productive summer and meeting all of ya'll!


Stephanie Stiglmeier
Community Garden Intern 2014

A few reminders

As more people get into the garden, please keep the following in mind:

1. No walking on someone else's plot or putting your tools or supplies on someone else's plot.
2. Please remind your guests that there is no parking in the circle drive.
3. All trash goes in a trash bin -- not the compost bins, either the wire ones along the side fences or the thick plastic one on the south fence.
4. No string allowed along the walkways. String between plots is fine.
5. Keep your supplies in your plot, not on the walkway.

String along the walkway will get caught by the weed wacker

All things MOWING

With all the rain we've been getting, it's no surprise the grass is growing by leaps and bounds. At this point in the season, we're usually still mowing just once a week in the garden, but with the schedule of rain, and the amount of it, we're already at our twice per week schedule.

So here's what you need to know:

1. The garden is closed on Wednesdays (10-11:30am) and Sundays (9:30-11am) to everyone -- visitors and community gardeners -- for mowing. The garden is closed during those times whether or not you see someone in the garden mowing. If the garden will be open at that time, I'll post it on the blog the night before. Otherwise, no one is allowed in the garden during those times.
2. The garden walkways are mowed and weed-whipped twice a week. Andres, our assistant farmer, is usually the staff handling this chore.
3. To keep things running smoothly, please keep your supplies out of the walkways. Be extra careful with hand tools -- they're easy to lose in the grass. 

We have to be this strict because of our experience in our first year. At that time, we just put out the rule that if mowing was happening, no one could be in the garden. Unfortunately, gardeners habitually ignored that rule, creating safety issues and slowing down the chore. So now we close the garden completely during mowing times.

So why Wednesdays and Sundays? We looked for a schedule that will be even across the week, and one that fit with staffing schedules, day-wise.

So why at those times in the morning? Staff officially begin chores at 9am. The chores include milking and feeding the animals. Once those chores are accomplished, mowing can be started. 

Actually, to get the time on Sunday morning made a little earlier, I've begun doing the milking on Sundays. Come see me handle Lily in the milking parlor!

So why close the garden for 90 minutes when it doesn't take that long to mow/weed whip? Well, we need to keep the schedule with a little wiggle room, in case staff needs to handle an issue or other chores during that time as well.

If you have any questions about mowing and the times the garden is closed, please email or call me.

Mud and puddles and ick, oh my

Yup, you're seeing that right -- we got over 3" of precipitation in the garden this past week. We're going to need some warm, dry weather to get the garden back into planting mode!

If you're interested in seeing how our spring stacks up weather-wise, check out the blog by our state climatologist, Jim Angel. According to Jim, the first half of May was both wetter and warmer on average, with average statewide precipitation 18% above the usual. Check out his blog here. 

During this muddy time, it's probably best to keep off the soil -- your plot and anyone else's plot. 

Let's try this again

Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day today, although it's starting a little chilly. I'm headed out to the garden in an hour to check out the mud -- my guess is it's still pretty wet. (We did, after all, have snow yesterday. It didn't stick, but I watched it come down, mixed with the rain, with awe.)

It's not good for the soil to work with it when it's wet, sadly. I'm waiting at least a few days -- until a fist-full of soil barely clumps in my hand, rather than staying as a ball -- before I work in the demo plot.

If you'd like straw -- let me know, drop off $9.50 for a full bale, $6 for a half, and I'll drop the straw in your plot the following day.

If you'd like a t-shirt -- email or text me the size (Adult S through Adult XL), and I'll put the shirt(s) at the front desk for you. To pick them up, you'll need to drop off $8 per shirt in an envelope with my name on it.

Garden Map 2014

I got a lot of questions about plot assignments last night, so here's a copy of the garden map again. I'll also post a copy on the bulletin board for tomorrow.

The Community Garden opens officially on Mother's Day!

Notwithstanding the deluge we received last night and this morning, the community garden will be ready for  gardening on Sunday! The official start moment is Sunday, May 11  at  8 am.

Before you riot in the streets, keep the following in mind:

If you have not yet given me a signed copy of the rules, YOU MUST DO THIS BEFORE YOU ENTER THE GARDEN. I have left blank copies of the rules at the front desk of the Heritage Center, which is open 9am-5pm on weekdays & Saturday, and 9am-3pm on Sundays.

1. The circle drive on the north side of the Heritage Center is for drop-off only, even during opening day. Unload any supplies, park in the lot across the street, and then bring your supplies to your plot. Please don’t park along Wagner Road.
2. It may be handy to bring your own wagon. I have one wagon at the farm, and I will offer it up for use, but that’s one wagon v. 106 of you.
    
3. Please do not plan on starting earlier than the time mentioned above. There are still tasks that we need to do before the garden is ready for you guys.
    
4. I plan to be in the community garden on Sunday from 8am-3pm, but you are welcome to come later, of course. And there’s no need to start tomorrow if it’s too wet or you have other plans. Sunday is simply the first day to get digging.

 Other items:

Volunteers: I’m looking for 6 volunteers to pound in corner stakes Saturday at 2pm. It shouldn’t take very long -- maybe an hour or so. Please email me ASAP if you can offer up time.

T-Shirts: The new WFCG t-shirts are in and ready for purchase. I will have them out at the garden on Sunday. They are $8 each, and you can give me cash or a check made out to Wagner Farm. Please try to bring exact change!

Straw: There are bales of straw in the garden right now. They are $9.50 each, sold whole only. If you are interested in a half bale, ask Andres, our assistant farmer – his hours are 9am-6pm Wed-Sun. If you want to purchase one of the 8 bales, either put it in your plot and then leave $9.50 at the front desk in an envelope with your name, or track me down first. If the bales run out, let me know or again track down Andres for a full or half bale. Straw will be available all through the season, but keep in mind, it’s not free this year (as it was last year, due to a shipment that had some bales not suitable for animals but fine for a garden).

Mud: We got a heavy rain last night, and although the day turned warm and windy, it’s still very muddy out there. By Sunday, it should be drier, but it may not be.

If you have any questions, feel free to call me at 847-414-1412 or send me an email. So happy to start our gardening this weekend!

Still waiting on paperwork from some gardeners

Yesterday I sent out an email to those gardeners still needing to return a signed copy of the rules (handed out during the organizational meetings). I received emails with a lot of signed copies today, thank you!


For everyone who got the email yesterday but hasn't responded -- you will not be able to garden until your signed copy of the rules is turned in to me. Please sign the pdf I sent in the email, take a picture with your phone, and email or text it to me -- thank you in advance!


(The soil temp hovered around 55 degrees this morning, which is good! We could be in the garden soon! More info to come tomorrow.)

Hopefully optimistic

So this week isn't looking so bad. Sure, it started off chilly, but 80 degrees tomorrow and Thursday? That starts to sound like planting time -- although the temps aren't supposed to stay in that summertime land.

I will know more tomorrow, and I will send out an email if we're opening the plots this weekend. Crossing my fingers... crossing my fingers...

Plant Sale at The Grove May 17-18

Plant Sale at The Grove. Stock up on springtime greenery from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 17 and 18. Admission is free. Items on sale include flowering pots, baskets, herbs and native plants. All proceeds benefit The Grove. This event is co-sponsored by the Grove Heritage Association and the Glenview Park District.