We Have Land!

Fellow Gardeners,

Good news! We now have one site available for gardening and we're even ahead of the planting season.

The owner at 4902 Underwood, the northwest corner across from the Underwood Towers, won't be using the property for some time and

he thinks having a garden there is a good idea.

Harrison school is still a possibility. The more sites, the more individuals can garden closer to their own homes.

Dundee Community Garden Status Check

With spring and the planting season right around the corner, I wanted to touch base with everybody to see how efforts are going with land acquisition for the garden(s). I also wanted to suggest inviting the land owners to the next meeting (Mon 13 April, correct?) in order to encourage a dialog. Through a dialog and collaboration, the land owners could get a better feel for the project, we would have the opportunity to hear their concerns, and we would have the chance to share our ideas in person instead of on paper. The difficult part will be convincing the land owner to actually come to the meeting.

I also wanted to know if there was a list of action items from the previous meeting that can be addressed before the next meeting.

http://www.dundeegarden.org/ is up and running! On the site you will see the latest information from the previous meetings, an agenda describing when the next meeting is as well as a Google map showing where the potential sites are and photos showing what the sites look like. Take a look and leave a comment!

Alice Waters' Crusade For Better Food

If missed this 60 Minutes report last Sunday, take a look here! This is a story about Alice Waters, the mother of the slow food movement, and her crusade for better food in America. Towards the end of the video there is a great segment about how schools are building gardens where students grow their knowledge about plants and food as the food they plant grows. Very informative and worth a look!

Photos of Potential Sites Up

I went around the Dundee area this weekend and wanted to get an idea of the sides that are available and posted them to google images

What Is The Dundee Community Garden Project..

Who we are: we are neighbors who have met each other because of our interest in developing a community garden. Across the country, community gardening is becoming popular, and there is a groundswell of support for community gardening. Nationwide, there is a movement to restore gardening as a food-producing way of life.

Gardens in Omaha: In Omaha we have City Sprouts garden, the Gifford Park Community Garden, and garden sites at several schools, including the OPS schools of Dundee Elementary, Morton Middle, and Bryan Middle.

Win-Win:We see having a garden at a school site as a win-win for both the neighborhood and the school. We have an incredible opportunity here with great learning potential.

Learning Potential: Community gardens offer a tremendous learning potential. They give us the opportunity to teach about sustainability, self-reliance, science, nutrition, health, etc. The garden site could be used for children’s programming in evenings and weekends during the summer. Teachers could use the garden for classroom lessons if they desired. Families could have their own plots. One plot might be a children’s plot. Some of the produce from the garden could be used in the school for lunches. The list is endless.

Space Issues: We recognize that there is not unlimited space for a garden at Harrison. But there does seem to be room to find a garden space that would meet everyone’s needs.

Water, Geothermal Unit: We have a committee that is actively looking at these issues, and we are confident we can address them.

What we are asking for: We are looking for the support and input of Harrison parents in pursuing this possibility of Harrison as a garden site.

Next meeting: We invite interested parents to come to our next Dundee Community Garden meeting on Mon. April 12, 6-7:30 at Dundee Presbyterian Church. We would welcome your input on our planning committee. Also, if you would like to be part of our larger Dundee Community Garden Committee, please sign up with name, e-mail address, and phone #.

Other examples of Gardens: We encourage you to look at Dundee Elementary School as an example of a school garden. Also at Gifford Park Community Garden. (Notebook with pictures.)

Harrison Elementary PTA Meeting Summary

Mary Green and Eric Williams attended the meeting and presented the basic ideas of the community garden located on the lowest athletic field of the school. The approximately 12 parents, and Principal who were in attendance were all very receptive and even supportive of the project. General consensus was that OPS should be contacted to find out about permission for using public land for the project.

Several members expressed specific interest in the rain barrel aspect of the project. There were several questions regarding educational curriculum that could incorporate the garden. The founding committee should research this topic and be prepared to provide information to the PTA at their next meeting. The school parents' newsletter, Tiger Times, will run an informational blurb about the project to help inform a wider audience. The newsletter is published and distributed at the end of the month, the committee should work quickly to get information collected so it can be published in the March newsletter.

Presidents Jim & Debbie Simpson were supportive of the project, and said they would be able to include our blurb in the Tiger Times. Mary collected contact information for them as well as a few additional PTA members. Mary should remain the point person for the PTA since she has the contact information, and to avoid confusion. If parents had expressed interest in being included on our listserv, please email their contact information to the rest of us so we can update our contact lists.

Eric
att. previous email including talking points discussed at the PTA meeting.

Initial Meeting Summary

Hello Dundee Community Garden Supporters,

We had our second meeting last night and I took some notes which I'm pasting in below, as well as sending as an attachment. I tried to keep the minutes brief-- I didn't write down the details of our discussion, but mainly tried to put in writing all the action items that people are supposed to be following up on. So I didn't include some of the neat things we discussed, like Chelsea getting training this summer in permaculture, Monica's classes in farmer training, etc. etc. We have a diverse group of people with a lot of talents and interests!

But please let me know if I left out an important decision or action item that should be included in the minutes.

We still need to find a location!!!! But with 13 people at last night's meeting, and 27 people on our group e-mail list, there is a lot of support for turning this idea into a reality. - - - Mary Green

Dundee Community Garden Group Minutes March 4, 2009

Present: Sharon Conlon, Mary Green, Chelsea Taxman, Monica Meeks, Carolyn Meeks, James Peters, Alex Myers, Monica Erickson, Jo Bartikoski, Eric Williams, Susan Keasling, Tancy Ellis, Phoebe Naughton


Discussed possible sites for a garden:

Sharon has approached the owner of the site at 820 N. 50th Ave., as well as the owner of a site at 402 J.E.George Blvd. (across from playground at St. Margaret Mary’s.) Both owners have requested a written proposal. Sharon, Eric, and Tancy will work on writing up proposals for these sites. Tancy suggested contacting Chris Foster and using the Gifford Park Community Garden proposals as a model.

Sharon has written to the owners of the site at 4902 Underwood, and not heard back from them. She will contact the renters next door and try to get a phone number.

At the last meeting, we had discussed the possibility of using the lower field at Harrison Elementary School, 5304 Hamilton, as a garden site. Alaina Hickman (unable to attend tonight’s meeting) has contacted some parents from Harrison School, to get their support, before presenting the idea of a community garden to the PTA meeting next Monday, March 9. (No Harrison parents present at tonight’s meeting.) Mary, Eric, and Tancy will try to meet this weekend with Alaina and some Harrison parents to plan the presentation for Harrison’s PTA.

Everyone at the meeting will investigate any open properties in the area as potential garden sites. Norita Matt at the Omaha Planning Department will research any potential sites to find out the owner, or you can research that information yourself on the web. You can send Norita a garden site address at nmatt@ci.omaha.ne.us

Mary will write a short article for the Dundee-Memorial Park newsletter telling about our group and asking for suggestions for possible neighborhood garden sites.

Eric is setting up a website for the Dundee Community Garden as part of the Transition Nebraska website, at http://transitionnebraska.ning.com/group/dundeecommunitygarden

Next meeting: Monday April 13, 6-7:30 p.m. at Dundee Presbyterian Church, before the Dundee-Memorial Park Neighborhood Association meeting. Sharon will contact Dundee Presbyterian to reserve the room.

Let's Hear Your Voice!

After establishing locations either public areas of land or private lots, I think the next thing the group should decide on is a purpose and objective that puts everybody on the same page. To me, I think the gardening project should be an opportunity to develop stronger community connections with neighbors through a common activity where contributors reap the fruits of their labor.

The community garden project should follow a few simple rules:

• Pesticide Free – Chemicals cost a lot money ruin tasty veggies
• Locally Supported – Growers and volunteers are expected to seed, weed, and maintain their area regularly.
• Locally Consumed – Residents capable of growing food, but choose not to should read the story of the Little Red Hen
• Sharing is Caring – Growers are encouraged to donate what they deem as appropriate to residents that are incapable of gardening.
• Encourage all Omaha Residents to Contribute – The community garden project should not be exclusive to Dundee. The project will be inclusive to anybody interested in gardening.

Local garden resources need to be considered. After selecting potential garden sites, I recommend utilizing the Douglas County extension office to help test the soil for lead. If the prospective locations have lead contamination, plant flowers or find resources to replace the contaminated soil. If there is enough momentum and interest with this project, I think we should work with a local nursery to be a plant provider. A partnership with a nursery such as Saddle Creek Nursery may provide better pricing for seeds as well as tools. Besides seeds, the gardens need to have tools and materials to work the land. Volunteers will need to consider sharing/contributing the following tools:

• Shovels
• Hoes
• Fencing and Fence Posts
• Rakes
• Hoses
• Tomato and Pepper Cages
• Compost Bins
• Rototiller

A timeline also needs to be established and volunteers need assignments to complete tasks. This can be managed with a shared spreadsheet via Google Docs.

Additional considerations that need to be investigated include:

• Legal
• Liability Concerns. Ensure that volunteers are not punished for wanting to help make the community a better place.
• Lead Testing & Soil Replacement
• Permission
  Asking for permission from the city to potentially plant in public parks
  Asking for permission from homeowners and ensuring their land will be properly taken care of.
• Mischief
  How to decrease risk the gardens are not vandalized and tools are not stolen.
• Locations
  Large lot east of 5018 Cass Street
  Lot on NW corner of 49th and Underwood
• What to Grow
• Beans
  Tomatoes
  Hanging Tomatoes
  Cucumbers
  Squash
  Zucchini
  Peppers
  Onions
  Basil and other herbs
  Asparagus
  Brussels Sprouts
  Potatoes
  Corn
  Flowers
• Timeline
  March – Find locations
  April – Break ground, procure seeds and materials
  May – Begin planting
  June – Maintain garden
  July – Maintain garden
  August – Maintain garden
  September – Take garden gown
  October – Take garden down
  November – Winterize garden

So…now is the time to post your comments and let you voice be heard! Send me a comment and your idea about how to improve this project! Also, let me know if you would like to contribute to the Dundee community project blog. Thanks!

James