DCG Saturday Workshop/ Spring Groundbreaking

Hello Dundee Community Gardeners and Friends,

Our official gardening season starts this Saturday!  Please plan to join us if you can!

SATURDAY MARCH 31

9:30 a.m. NEW MEMBER REGISTRATION AND ORIENTATION at A.V. Sorenson Center, 48th & Cass.  All new members, please plan on attending!  

10 a.m. INTRODUCTION TO GARDENING WORKSHOP  at A.V. Sorenson:  How to Grow Your Soil; and What to Grow and When.  Garden members Lori Huebert and Tancy Ellis will give an overview for new and experienced gardeners.  This one-hour workshop is FREE and open to the public.  Special bonus: our sponsors The Bread Oven and Blue Line Coffee are providing treats and coffee for our workshops!  Thank you to our sponsors!  Please bring your own re-usable mug!

11 a.m.  Spring Clean-Up and Groundbreaking:  bring work gloves and tools such as shovels.  We'll have a big load of Oma-grow at the garden, ready for you to dig into your plots.  It's time to plant cool-season greens, so bring seeds if you have them-- and there will probably be some seeds available for sharing.  Also, we want to dig out our "food pantry" plots and get them ready for planting, and we'll be planting spring greens in some of those plots. 

BONUS:  We've been receiving gift cards from neighborhood businesses to use as incentives for our members, so make sure to enter your name in the drawings-- we'll have one at our workshop and another one at our Spring Clean-Up!   This is a great way to support our neighborhood businesses!

(NOTE:  We could use more shovels at the garden, if anyone has extras they could donate!)

NEXT BOARD MEETING (Open to all Members):  Thurs. April 5, 7 p.m. at Dundee Presbyterian Church.

 

A BIG THANK YOU to the UNO STUDENTS who helped out for UNO's Day of Service last Saturday March 24.  The students sanded and stained the picnic tables, stained the bulletin board, weeded out the east-side flower beds, and built raised beds for our food pantry plots!  Thanks for all their hard work.  (Note:  the students ran out of time before they had a chance to drop off OmaGrow to those plots who had made requests-- sorry about that!)

 

WORKSHOP SUGGESTIONS:  If you have ideas/suggestions for future workshops, please send them via e-mail  to info@dundeegarden.org 

Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DundeeGarden

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COMMUNITY EVENT:

Food Safety Begins in the Garden:  Free Training for Community Gardeners from UNL Douglas/Sarpy Extension.  Mon. April 2, 6-7:30 p.m.  Registration closes March 30.  Call to register at 402-444-7804.   

This is a program designed to provide education to individuals involved in community gardening projects to reduce the risks of bacterial contamination of their produce.  This means keeping bacteria, viruses and parasites that cause human illness off  of produce.  Produce is grown in soil, and exposed to a variety of organisms, including animals, insects, microbes, and people.  Any of these can introduce contamination.  Controlling every source of contamination is impossible, but there are many things that can be done to reduce them to safe levels.  Food safety can also help with the nutrient content of produce.  No registrations will be taken at the door.

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DCG: Intro to Gardening Workshop /Spring Groundbrea​king / Oma-Grow Dates/ Food Safety Workshop

Hello Dundee Community Garden Members and Friends,


The daffodils are already opening up and it's time to start planning your garden! We'd like to welcome the nine new garden members who will be joining us this summer.

Our Spring Groundbreaking is just around the corner! We'll be kicking off the season with a New Member Orientation, followed by an Introductory Gardening Workshop that is free and open to the community-- you don't have to be a member to attend. Please put this date on your calendar:

Sat. March 31 Spring New Member Orientation, Introduction to Gardening Workshop, (both at AV Sorenson Center, 48th and Cass) and Spring Groundbreaking at the Dundee Community Garden

9:30 a.m. New Member Orientation We'll be going over some basics about the garden, and members will be able to sign up for a plot in the order of their spot on the waitlist. At AV Sorenson.

10 a.m. Introduction to Gardening Workshop: "How to Grow Your Soil; and What to Grow and When Free and open to the public. At AV Sorenson.

11 a.m. Spring Groundbreaking (weather permitting). At the Dundee Community Garden

Note: We'll be serving complimentary Blue Line Coffee and Bread Oven Pastries at our New Member Orientation and our Gardening Workshop. Thanks to these neighborhood sponsors!


NEW THIS YEAR: We have been collecting gift certificates from our local Dundee merchants to distribute at our events. Everyone who helps out on the workdays will be eligible for the drawings! First drawing will be held at our Spring Groundbreaking.


Note to our Continuing Garden Members who already have plots:

We're getting our first load of Oma-Grow dropped off at the garden TOMORROW, March 16. Yes, it's early to start planting and there's a risk of a freeze-- usually the early cool-season crops can go in around April 1-- but garden member and Master Gardener Rebecca Reagan says:

I think most greens ( lettuce, spinach, collards...) can be started. Peas , onion sets, radish.....would do well now. People should check their seed packets (zone 5) and follow what is recommended. As long as the soil is dry, workable, and warm enough for germination, it should not be a problem. After planting, watering will be the concern--for good germination. These plants will tolerate cold weather once they are up and growing.

Our last frost date is in early/mid May--warm season crops go in after that.

Great publication on what to grow and when from the Iowa State Extension (and their dates apply to us in Omaha): http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM534.pdf

Board Meetings: All DCG Members are invited to attend our monthly board meetings, held the first Thursday of the month at Dundee Presbyterian Church, in the basement dining room. Next Board Meeting: Thurs. April 5.

Community Events:Food Safety Begins in the Garden: Free Training for Community Gardeners from UNL Douglas/Sarpy Extension. Mon. April 2, 6-7:30.

Great Pub by Summer Miller at The Reader

http://www.thereader.com/comments/Growing_a_Community_Garden/

Thank you all who made the Dundee Community Garden a success!

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What a Trowel Can Do

Growing a Community Garden

by Summer Miller

A trowel doesn’t mean much to most people. A rather ordinary garden tool, it’s used to dig a small hole in already tended soil. It’s the final resource needed for growing to begin, with a quick stab of the soil and downward pull of dirt particles from their neighboring companions, in goes the plant – tomato, broccoli, melon. For many a trowel is a tool used for growing food, but for people like Eric Williams and Kurt Goetzinger, it’s for growing communities.

Four years ago Williams stood up in a Green Omaha Coalition meeting and said, “I live in Dundee, is anyone else interested in starting a garden.” At the time he was an apartment dweller in the area and wanted an opportunity to grow his own food. Four years later, he is a homeowner and founding board member of the Dundee Community Garden. He credits the garden with deepening his commitment to the people, places and businesses within Dundee.

“We are planting vegetables, but we are growing a community,” Williams explained.
Community garden bylaws can vary by site, but for many starting one is easier than you might think. Such gardens are about bringing people together, strengthening the network of a neighborhood and providing opportunities for healthy food and family connectivity.

The Dundee garden rents 44 plots to individuals and has four plots solely for the purpose of donating food. Williams said there is a 20-30 person waiting list every year for the Dundee garden and they donated 750 pounds of food last year alone.

The Benson Communty Garden started in 2011 when Kurt Goetzinger purchased the empty lot next to his home. He could’ve simply expanded his backyard, but instead he established a place for people to come together.

“I had thought about a few different things I could do with the property, but then I thought, ‘Why not open it up so more people could enjoy it.’ I had an exploratory meeting about starting a community garden and people just loved it,” Goetzinger said.

Although the Dundee Garden is full, Goetzinger is still accepting applications for plots at the Benson Garden, which will be available for planting in April. It costs $30 or $40 per year depending upon the size of the plot. Starting a garden has great rewards, but it also comes with its share of challenges. Sometimes people rent their plot, plant it then let it turn to weeds and other times people simply don’t understand how a community garden works.

“One thing we realized last year,” explained Goetzinger, “is that some people thought, ‘Oh, community garden, I can just walk in a pick whatever I want.’ Of course, that’s not how it works, so to help with that this year and to make the garden more accessible we are planting tomatoes, zucchini and a few other things on the outside of the fence so those who might need something healthy to eat can feel free to take it. All we ask is that they only take what they need and leave some for the next person.”

Patty Falcone, community health educator for Douglas County, facilitates meetings to help those who have taken up the trowel address gardening conundrums. Meetings are usually held at the Douglas and Sarpy County Extension Office, 8015 West Center Rd., in Omaha, once per month during the offseason.

“We host Community Garden Network meetings to provide an opportunity for community gardeners to connect, share ideas and problem solve,” Falcone said.

Those inspired to start or join a garden can log onto www.douglascounty-ne.gov/gardens/community-garden-info to find a host of information. Search the site to find a garden or farmer’s market in your neighborhood, access toolkits and checklists to start your own garden or search an address to see who owns the land and if it has been tested for lead.
Falcone said interest in gardening, community or otherwise, has grown considerably over the years. She used a recent seed swap as an example where nearly 300 people attended.

“Three years ago, when I first started there were 11 gardens. Now there are around 50 registered on the site and I know there are more out there,” Falcone said.

Most people probably wouldn’t say that picking up a trowel is a political act, but it’s safe to say it is a civil act intended to create, grow and nourish not only a plant but also a community.
To contact this writer, email miller.summer@gmail.com