Come Get Your Plot!

We will be meeting Tuesday May 5 at the garden site, 4902 Underwood, at 5:30-8 or so, to lay out the plots. Whether or not you want your own plot this summer, you are invited to help us Tuesday!

Plots will be 4 ft. x 10 ft., and will cost $15 for the growing season. If you want your own plot, please let Mary Green know. We have a list started and need to know how many of you want plots, so we know how many are available for others in the neighborhood. If you want two plots, let Mary know that also.

After we've publicized the garden more, and more neighbors have signed up, we may be able to let people have a second plot for an additional $15.
The applications for the plots will be available via the website soon as well as at the garden on Tuesday. Treasurer Deb Hickman has started taking checks.

We also appreciate all those of you who want to help on the communal beds, but don't want your own plot.

We can use everyone's help!

As soon as we sign the lease (hopefully this weekend) we will also start distributing fliers in the neighborhood and recruiting more members of the community garden.

Below is an outline of available plots!

[DCG] Meeting Notes 2009-04-13

Dundee Community Garden
Meeting 090413
Dundee Pres. Church, 6:00pm

Attendees: Mary Green, Sharon Conlon, Rebecca Reagan, Deb Hickman, Aaron Elliott
Eric Williams, others… see hand written sign in sheet
Grading – Eric will look at his office to find out about what we could do
Alex suggested his uncle has a bobcat we might be able to use
We will need to get a hold of him

4902 Underwood
Owner has a contract drawn up by a lawyer for another property
Sharon has contacted him twice, including today, and is waiting to
hear back from him
Sarah Newman suggested around a dozen (12) plots would fit, but no
layout has been shown yet

We need to establish a board to vote on
Plot size, cost, management
Rebecca does a 1/4acre garden at 165th & Center, they grow 1,000 lbs
per year for the Food Bank
They watered by hand, but that took too long, from a church up a hill
Now they have an underground system funded by a grant
People volunteer to help for maintenance through the Douglas County
Extension agency

Aaron suggests that there are some "stranger people" and crime in the air
We'll need to come up with some way to separate it from the surrounding area
A community area for anyone to harvest from would help limit the crime

Alex will talk to his step father about getting grading equipment

We'll want to do soil testing
Tancy has volunteered to collect soil and take it to Midwest Labs
$10 for lead, $20 for "fancy pants testing"
basic testing is for pH and basic nutrients
they need 1lb of soil from a few locations, taken either 6-8in, or 12inches deep
it takes 5-10 working days, lead takes longer than the basic tests

Financing
Tancy will pay for the soil testing, but she'll save the receipt
We'll want to set up an official organization, possibly a bank account
For a bank account we'll need a Federal Tax ID
Eventually look at 501(c)3, but not immediately
We should talk to Dundee Bank here in the area for our bank account

Do we want to talk with the Dundee/Memorial Association this evening?
What would we want from them? Do we want to be a subsidiary organization?
It may be an additional level of bureaucracy, but they probably won't
want any more responsibility

Aaron was planning on talking to them this evening, Eric and Sharon
will stay around as well

Organizational structure
See Gifford Park list of members
Board Members, a number of standing committee members

Expectation for Board Members
attendance at monthly meetings
availability for On-Demand meetings

Do we want to have advisors on the board?
Sarah Newman, Scott (from Indian Creek Nursery)
We should meet with the owner at 4902 and have board members sign the agreement

Will we need an official lease from the owner? This is listed in the
Gifford Park paperwork

We will have a different board for different garden locations

Insurance
We need coverage, b/c the "hold harmless" clause probably won't be enough
Gifford park pays $1 to Chris for the year, will that allow us to use
renter's insurance?
It seems they have an official lease, making them renter/rentee

Sub-Committee Established
Deb Hickman, Monica
Tool injuries, bad food, etc…

Harrison
April 2nd Mary, Sarah Newman, Jo, Deb met with the principal
Filled out paperwork for use
Jerry Bartee came to Harrison School, left the message that this
request was not going to go thru
Because we had said "$15 for a plot", you can't pay for land
Principal would like to see the PTA more involved, new President will
be coming in June 2009
He wants to see how 4902 works
Conclusion: It looks like this site will not be workable this year
We will try to talk to the PTA in the fall when they actually attend
the meetings
We will establish a Harrison Committee

Grants
Monica has learned through Farmer Training about "Free and Reduced
Lunch" program grants
Deb saw a number of grants for gardens, none required 501(c)3, but all
were due March 1st
Tancy has a meeting tomorrow for Douglas County Board of Health,
Rebecca will also attend
Rebecca will be happy to help with the kid's-health-related work at Harrison

Board Members
Is everyone here interested in serving on the board? Yes from all
regular attending members
We will cap it at 12 board members, leaving room for other interested
people who aren't here tonight

Official name – Dundee Community Garden
First official vote – do we like that name? All in favor…. Yeh's have it

Officers
Nominations will be taken, but it must also be voluntary
Co-directors? Mary Green and Sharon Conlon
All in favor? Yeh's have it

Stewart from Creighton Law jumps in… "How about an Interim Board?"
Possibly for 2-3 months until things are up and running

Deb will be interim Treasurer
Eric will be interim Secretary/Rain Barrel Expert

EcoStore in Lincoln
Suggested that we talk to them about rain barrels, they have
food-grade suppliers

NOTE: Sharon drove here in a pick-up truck this evening
Eric will talk to her about collecting barrels from Jones Barrel this week

Tancy wants to make sure that it is OK to collect dirt from the 4902 site

What will we provide?
Land space, water… that's it
Bring you own tools, potential that Aaron will allow us to

Action Items
Establish a board – Interim Board has been established
Vote on by-laws – most likely after the permanent Board is established
Federal tax ID – Eric will take care of this
Dundee bank for the bank account, Bill Brush is a director and is very
community oriented
Rain barrel design/placement for 4902 Underwood – Eric will have
Sharon pick up and deliver barrels
Aaron will talk to his landlord about the rain barrel locations
Meet with property owner of 4902 – he's back in town 090414, Sharon
will contact him tomorrow Tancy will get lead/soil testing
Find out about insurance, sub-committee will look into this
Grading, hopefully by Alex's uncle, Alex will ask when he is available
Tancy knows someone who will deliver a truck load of Oma-Grow for $60 on request
Monica knows someone who might be able to deliver top soil

Short term BONUS meeting
April 27th, 6pm Dundee Pres. Basement

Agenda
We want plans from Sarah Newman by April 24th, emailed to the board members
Talk to neighbors, let them know what's going on and offer them plots
Workshop, education program for neighbors
Start a library, Alex and Monica are working on a worm garden
Eric wants a "sauce garden" instruction manual, Tancy may have one available
Find out if Gifford Park operates as a non-profit sub-organization of
the Neighborhood Assoc.
If so, contact Bob w/ Dundee/Memorial and set a meeting time with the Board

Regular monthly meeting
May 11th, 6pm Dundee Pres. basement

Cheaper Dinner Grown in the Backyard

Eric forwarded a story about growing your own vegetables, and it mentions the new garden a the White House.

Cheaper dinner grown in the backyard http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/03/23/am_veggie_gardens/

We'll be seeking people to sign up for plots at both 4902 and Harrison at the next meeting, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Harrison Garden Site

Mary Green spoke with a Harrison neighbor who lives at near at 56th St. (across from the Harrison site.) The neighbor said he could be willing to work with us on supplying water for the garden, if he were reimbursed. But it would take a really long hose and it would have to go uphill from his house, which would take a lot of pressure. As we talked, it seemed like getting water from a neighbor on Charles St., with the water not having to go uphill as much, might be a better option.
Anyone who knows the neighbors on Charles St., or with ideas on how we're going to get water to this site, let us know!

Gardening Classes at the City Sprouts / Orchard Hill Community House

Caring for the Soil

Sponsored by Douglas County Extension

Date: Saturday, April 4, 2009

Time: 11:00 to 12:30

Presenters will discuss types of soil and how to prepare and care for the soil including information on composting. Bob Green will present for adults, and Amy Smith will present for children. Both are Master Gardeners, and Bob has a background in agriculture.

Children will plant an edible onion to take home and care for.

SAVE THESE EDUCATION DATES

Title: Flowers or Vegetables?

Date: Saturday, April 18th

Time: 11:00 to 12:30

Presenter: Scott Farrington of Indian Creek Nursery

Should you plant flowers or vegetables? What plants are best for your area? Scott will also cover the best methods for transplanting nursery plants, soil preparation, and spacing and depths of planting.

Title: Latino Gardening Traditions & Cooking

Date: Saturday, May 16th

Time: 11:00 to 12:30

Spanish specialist Sue Hamilton will demonstrate how to make salsa and other traditional New World foods.

Title: African-American Agriculture

Date: Saturday, June 6th

Time: 11:00 to 12:30

Edgar Hicks will share information about African-American Agriculture past and present.

Title: Cooking from the Garden

Date: Saturday, July 18th

Time: 11:00 to 12:30

Nancy Williams will show participants of all ages how to cook and prepare the garden harvest. Participants will sample the foods prepared. If you have a favorite garden recipe, bring about 20 copies for a recipe exchange at the end of the presentation.

Additional Classes will be added.

Unless otherwise noted, all sessions are at:

City Sprouts / Orchard Hill Community House

4002 Seward St.

(northwest corner of 40th & Seward Sts., two blocks north of Hamilton – the pink house)

All sessions are free and open to the public of any age. Most classes have materials and activities designed especially for adults and especially for children.

Questions? Please contact: Nicole at ngiron@unmc.edu or 402-559-3018

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