Mid Summer Garden Party

Saturday July 23, 2011 Mid summer garden party

2pm – 6pm

BBQ Dinner at 5:30 with live music

Kids activities and a sprinkler (bring bathing suits) all afternoon.

Work to be done for the day:

• Weedathon: help weedy plot owners get plots weeded
• move rocks out of gardens and to the base of water taps in central isle (this helps our grass trimmers a lot)
• Repair our broken composter and learn how it works
• Help mulch and dig over a few unused beds
• help weed the permanent crops
• install new rain barrels if they are delivered

Meeting Minutes September 25, 2010

Oak Street Garden Meeting Minutes September 25, 2010,

Item 1 Stealing at the garden
Some people have been coming at night and harvesting items from the garden. Some have claimed that they thought it was all tasting garden others have been more rude and confrontational. We opened up the discussion for some possible solutions
Discussed ideas:
- Put a box of free food near sign
- Find out who the people are and pursue further action
- Encourage these people to get on the waiting list and get their own plot
- Have a tasting garden at both ends of the garden
- Install a motion activated spotlight on the shed
- Improve the signs at the garden so that tasting gardens are more clear

It was agreed that we would work on the signage, extra tasting garden, and spotlight.
Action Item: Lowell to look into spotlight
Action Item: Communication team to make more signs and improve current signs
Action item: Nick to make sure space is left for a new tasting garden at the other end of the garden.

Item 2 grass trimming at the garden
This summer we had some trouble keeping the smaller pathway well trimmed at the garden. We have identified a few problems. The weed whacker is large and not easy to use for smaller people we also need to have a better scheduling system for next season.
Discussed solutions:
- make sure all grass trimming volunteers are strong
- put wheels or a strap on the trimmer (wheels were thought to be cumbersome)
- get more mulch so people can block out grass
- set up a trimming schedule next year so that each trimmer only trims 2-3 times in the season and each person has assigned weeks.
Action item: Mike to get more hay at the garden before the October 23 cleanup. Mike also to get roughly 6 bales of hay each season delivered to the garden. Mike to also get topsoil delivered at the garden next year.
Action Item: Pierre to look into getting a shoulder strap for the trimmer

Item 3 Rain Barrel
The new rain barrel has low flow so we discussed two options.
1. Create a platform to raise the barrel on in order to get better pressure from the tap at the bottom.
2. Install a hand pump at the top of the barrel.

Action Item: Pierre to price the two options with a budget of $100 dollars. He will decide which option works best and carry forward with the project.

Item 4 Tiller
In the past we have had trouble getting all plots tilled in the spring in a timely fashion. This is usually a timing of the tiller training or a broken tiller. It was decided that we would try to have a tilling event on the weekend in the spring called the “Oak Street Plouging Match”. This may be an event where we encourage more than one tiller to be present at the garden.
Action Item: Nick to make sure the ploughing match is on the calendar of events.

Item 5 Next garden event,
We decided to have a garden cleanup event this year in order to encourage people to prevent the grass from growing in their plots. The idea is to have some time to clean your own plot and time to clean the communal plots. The date was set for Saturday, October 23, 2010,

Item 6 Roles
Maryse is going to take on the role of treasurer from Beth
Michelle is going to take the role of secretary from Nick

Registration deadline October 23, 2010

This year the Registration deadline is October 23, 2010. This is the deadline to have your paper work handed in if you are planning to keep your plot for next year.

If you currently do not have a plot please don’t fill out these forums. Send an e-mail to oakstreetgarden@riseup.net and you will be added to the waiting list. When a space is available you will be contacted.

Site Coordinator Meeting June 21, 2010



Oak Street Garden Site Coordiator Meeting

June 21^st at Oak Street Garden

People attending meeting:

Mike, Susan, Dawn, Maryse, Nick, Lowell

Item 1: Pile of stuff by the shed and composters:

It was agreed that we want to clean this area us for ascetics and safety. The poles by the shed are to either be used or stored in the rafters of the shed. The old composters are to be dismantled and replaced by simply a large compost pile where large objects such as corn and sunflowers can be left to decompose. The plan is to remove any garbage from the area by truck during the last week of July.

Action: Tim to clean up poles and composter team to clean up compost

Action: Nick and Mike to arrange a truck to remove items which have no place at the garden.

Item 2: Garden Contract reviewrom spreading further, crews

The group went over the current garden contract which is to be updated by Nick and posted for feedback.

Action: Nick to update the contract as discussed during the meeting and get feedback from the rest of the garden.

Item 3: Discussion of future spending

We listed as a group some things we would like to spend money on in the future when funds are available.

Items:

long picnic table for group gatherings

straw for use as mulch

gravel path from street to allow accessible access to garden.

Lawn mower

trowels and hoes

Item 4: Volunteer jobs

It was noted that we should probably add more people to the grass trimming team and that we should assign one person to small engine maintenance and repair.

Item 5: City Grand and Picnic Table

Mike is going to apply to the city for the garden grant. The plan is to buy a large picnic table to add to the group gathering area at the garden.

Meeting Minutes May 29, 2010

Minutes from the meeting at the Spring Garden Party, May 29, 2010.
1:00-1:15
Present: Eartha, Edward, Nick, Tim, Beth, Mike, Murray, Melanie, Bill V, Tara, Lowell, Michelle, Maryse (plus a bunch of other adults and children).
Budget Items:
Mike outlined the rough budget. We have $2133 in the accounts, and the following planned expenditures:
Compost team $50
Grass Trimming team: $50
Communication team: $350
Tasting Garden team: $200
Event Planning Team: $300
Odd Jobs $300
Permanent Crop Team: $200
Machine Maintenance: $300
Total Budgeted: $1750
Flex space: $383
$383 is not a lot of flex space if there is any vandalism or machine entropy. But it will all work out. We discussed putting leftover funds into some fruit trees in the fall.
Mike also brought up another picnic table. We were given $100 from the Kingston Horticultural Society for a table. They cost a bit more than this ($150). If anyone knows where we can get a good one for this price or less, or even free, that would be great. Let Mike know by the end of June.
Communications Items:
Nick updated the progress of the Communications group, explaining that the summer will probably be spent working out a way to revamp the website and facilitate communication within the volunteer groups.
We discussed the plan for the bulletin board behind the sign. We decided to remove the existing framed cork board and move it over to above the sink against the shed. This area will soon be sheltered. We will use this board for communications within the garden group (ie: plot map with people’s first names on it, notices, event calendars, a sheet that can let people know that you are away and anyone interested can pick your produce in exchange for watering…)
The plan for the signboard is to then cork the entire (or most of) the backside of it. This space will be primarily for `community communication `. This will be visually neat and appealing. It will include text and a map that explains the gardens’ purposes and basic functions, and future plans. It will invite feedback, participation, and inform of the year’s main events. We will put the paper in plastic sleeves, or will laminate it. We’ll see how this goes in terms of wear/tear, vandalism, and aesthetics, and revisit the issue in the fall or spring.
Garden Party Dates:
We set dates for the next two garden events: July 18  and September 25th,  Mel and Murray will lead the organization of the September Harvest Party. WE STILL NEED A VOLUNTEER TO LEAD THE JULY PARTY.
Gopher:
There is a gopher living under the shed and pulling onions and making enemies. The plan is to dig a trench around the shed, staple and bury a rabbit-wire barrier.

Meeting minutes March 30th, 2010

Oak Street Community Garden General Membership meeting
March 30, 2010
7:00 – 8:15 p.m.
Present: Megan, Nicholas, Mike, Tara, Susan, Rudy, Debbie, Asia, Sarah, Edward, Eartha, Ian, Barry, Dorene, Maryse, Tim, Lowell, Dennis, Sue

1. Porch Renovation Update (Lowell and Mike)
QECVI is building the porch for the shed with a roof and a 4 foot wide wheelchair accessible ramp for the shed. Plans for a gravel path to go to the shed in the future.

2. Brief overview of all the educational programs happening at the garden this summer (Mike)
Two educational programs developed over the winter in conjunction with two community groups. The first program with OEYC (Ontario Early Years Centre) at Bagot street is three-fold. It will include providing gardening as part of their Bouncing Babies group time with children 0-5 years. They want to have fresh local food in their potlucks and run a canning workshop for baby food. The second group that comes from the OEYC at Bagot Street will be the Teens Loving Children group. There will also be a dad and children group that Tim will be doing workshops for on some Saturday mornings. Other gardeners will be welcome to join in Tim’s Saturday morning workshop.
The second education program is with the LCVI chefs internship program. The students in the program enter Chillifest every year and want to grow all their food for the chilli this year. They will not be able to use this year’s harvest but will pass the produce on to next year’s class.
These activities are meant to help raise awareness about and increase interest in community gardens and encourage groups to become autonomous in their gardening.
The Katarokwi Native Friendship Centre will also have a plot but will run self-sufficiently. They will be having a number of events at the garden over the summer and other gardeners will be welcome to attend.
ACTION: Nicholas and the communication team to make a master list of these groups on the website and for the sign.

3. Market Training Garden status update and presentation of workshop ideas for the year (Tim)
Tim presented information on the Market Training Garden. He read the mission statement that will be posted on the website. It will provides opportunities for people without plot spaces to garden as well as act as a training space for various groups that are involved with Tim’s programs. Tim will again be involved with students through KEYS and has presented to Immigrant Services clients about the garden. He will also engage with the Youth Diversion program this year.
Question was asked about how to work in the market training garden. Tim encouraged people to either speak with him or e-mail him if they are interested in helping. His e-mail will be posted on the website with the description of the Market Training Garden. In order to encourage volunteers that work in the garden to take some produce home for themselves, Tim is setting out some rough guidelines for an exchange of time spent in the garden to produce. These will be meant as loose guidelines, with flexibility.
Another question around how to learn from Tim? Tim has set out a tentative schedule for Tuesday night and some Saturday morning workshops. Tuesday nights will continue to be the regular potluck night for sharing ideas and Tim will spend time on a specific topic. Gardeners can also contact Tim and set up a time to chat. An online poll will be set up to find out what alternate day might be good for some workshops as Tuesday is not good for all gardeners. Tuesday will continue to be the main day with an occasional alternate day.
ACTION: Nicholas and communication group to formulate poll and set some dates.

4. Update on City of Kingston’s community garden plan (Mike and Susan)
Tara and Susan are providing input on the City of Kingston’s garden plan for Oak Street Garden. City has drafted a policy around community gardens. First draft had a lot of barriers to community gardens. The second draft is better but there are still some barriers and confusing language. First barrier was that only volunteers could work in community gardens but that is now gone, we can have paid staff coordinating activities. Another issue was selling produce and we indicated that we should be allowed as long as proper licensing, book-keeping, and permits are in place and as long as the money goes into the garden. City will do soil samples for us, they are trying to figure out water. They are insisting that all organizations carry $2 million liability insurance which is a barrier for some gardens We are covered through our connection to OPIRG by currently paying $350 per year through OPIRG. For other gardens this type of insurance could cost around $700 or more. The City is planning on offering $750 start-up money for new gardens and $500 for existing gardens. Initially they talked about having raised frames around plots but that has been removed and now each garden needs 1 accessible bed and an accessible path to that and shared structures. This could cost $100 000 for Oak Street Garden to meet. Discussion on how to move with this one. There is going to be city staff in charge deal with all community gardens but not a lot of clarity on what the staff persons role will be with gardens – some language says they will provide help directly to gardeners with planting which seems a little extensive. Tara and Susan are meeting tomorrow with the city staff. One thing we need to keep on top of is getting the money this summer that the city is offering if the plan goes through and encouraging all gardens to take advantage of the money so that it does not disappear.
ACTION: Tara and Susan to keep garden members up to date on conversations.

5. Discussion of sharing food for work done in Market Training Garden (Tim)
Tim shared a couple of examples of ideas. Tim to continue to flesh out this idea.

6. Call out to everyone to take on volunteer roles (Nick)
Sign up sheet was provided for gardeners to indicate which tasks they would like to volunteer their time with this summer. The 5 hours of volunteer time required through the contract can be donated through any of the venues offered.
Discussion around whether any volunteer roles were missing. Deb wondered whether someone to maintain communication with the community groups was required and whether there should be people here to greet the groups when they come to work on plots, etc… Discussion that this year Tim is facilitating these groups and providing them with orientation and help. Mike also indicated that the ideal would be to see these groups become independent in using the garden and not require continuous support to work. Discussed that it would be good to know when these groups are coming to the garden and extend the invitation to Oak Street Gardeners to attend activities that they are hosting and participate with groups.
Discussed role of blogger and whether blog needs some sort of theme – discussed submitting recipes on blog to share.
Discussed that we should also communicate more with the neighbourhood, perhaps something in mailboxes would work.

7. Acorn garden and loving spoonful update (Susan)
Nothing new at this point. They will be there to work with Acorn Garden! Doing programming again this year including Grow a Row. Option for gardeners to donate food from their own allotment will be a set time and place where you can leave food at the garden. If anyone wants to help out with distribution of the food to various places, talk to Susan. Susan plans to have someone over the summer again coordinating the volunteers for the Acorn Garden. She does need some things seeded for the garden. Discussed what were the best things to grow there. Susan indicated that hearty things were the best that travel well, delicate leafy plants are not as good as they do not keep and travel as well.

8. Plan and set dates for this years garden events.
Discussed activities for the summer including Tim’s workshop plans.
Rototiller training day set. Discussion around whether the date was too late in the Spring for some gardeners but Tim worried about whether the soil will be dry enough any earlier, it tends to be muddy early in the Spring. Tim indicated that date can change if it is dry. Idea is to have it with the opening of the garden event if weather permitting.
Nicholas read list of tentative dates that were planned by the Site Coordinator Committee to ask for feedback. Group agreed that dates seemed reasonable. List to be passed off to the Event Coordinator to discuss with the various event coordinating subgroups.
Discussed Tim’s workshop schedule and Tim asked for feedback on topic areas. Request for more rototiller training days. Tim indicated that it could perhaps be combined with some of the workshops. Other topics discussed and Tim took note.
Discussion around prioritization of waiting list and how long waiting list is. Concern around who has priority on waiting list. Discussion that perhaps if you are more involved in the garden in a voluntary or planning capacity, you could have priority over people who do not get involved with the garden. Discussed ways that that could be kept track of, some discussion around Internet Check in methods and that this would also aid in communicating when tasks have been completed that need to be done. No firm decision made on this, further discussion to happen at the next Site Coordinator meeting and discussion that all are welcome at these meetings as well as the main meetings. The Site Coordinator meetings are intended to help decrease the length of regular meetings and deal with site decision making with those who are most interested. Decisions made at these meetings are shared at the larger group meetings. Discussion also around finding alternate gardens in the City and whether any coordination of this has taken place. There is nothing at this time but would be good to have the City create this sort of resource. The community blooms website does have some information on it. Also question as to whether we will receive compost again this year. Susan to look into this.
ACTION: Barry to look into ways of including some form of Internet Check In on the website.
ACTION: Nicholas to add waiting list discussion to the agenda for the next Site Coordinator meeting.
ACTION: Susan and Tara to discuss the possibility of a website that compiles community garden site information and waiting list information with the City.
ACTION Susan to contact Earthworks about compost.

9. Date and Time of Next Meeting
TBA

Site coordinator meeting minutes March 9, 2010

Oak Street Garden Site Planning Committee Meeting
March 8, 2010
7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Present: Megan, Mike, Nicholas, Susan, Tim
Regrets: Josie, Lowell, Meg Fumerton, Rudy
Important note: the date of the next meeting has been changed to Tuesday, March 30th 6:30-9pm,  First CRC Board Room (to avoid conflict with Prison Farm event at City Hall)

New Business

1.Katarokwi Native Friendship Centre garden plot discussion (Meg Fumerton)
Three plots will be allocated in the group program space for the Katarokwi Native Friendship Centre. Other group plots will include one plot for each of the two OEYC groups and two plots for the LCVI Cooking Internship program. The Native Friendship centre will be asked to contribute some labour and upkeep in the market and acorn gardens in return for use of the space because they are an independent program. Labour and upkeep contribution in exchange for plot space will be worked out on a case-by-case basis for other independent groups.

2.Porch renovations progress discussion (Lowell and Mike)
Mike has e-mailed Josie and is awaiting a reply about the porch; the work has been set up and paid for but we are awaiting more information on dates. The porch work will definitely be completed by the end of June. We have no record of actually following through on a pizza party last year for the students that built the shed but had agreed that this would be a good way to show gratitude for their labour. We will do one this year and have Josie order the pizza and send the receipt to Beth for reimbursement.

Action: Nick to follow up with Josie about ordering pizza. Mike to continue to liaise with Josie around timeline.

3.Setting up of a volunteer list where tasks are placed, described and assigned to a volunteer (Nick Tim)
Feedback from last year was that garden members wanted to volunteer but would show up and not know what to do or be unsure about what to do to complete task. Decision was made to create a list of teams that would complete various jobs throughout the year and have garden members/volunteers sign up at the start of the season. Expectation is that each garden member provide 5 hours of volunteer time on one of the teams. Each team would receive a budget as necessary. Teams were discussed as follows:

Compost Team, 4-5 people, no budget
Turn and maintain composters
Grass Trimming Team, 2 people, keep gas filled, submit receipts for reimbursement
trim 6 times per year
Communication Team, 5 people, approx. budget $200
Keep back of sign full of information, create small signs for plots and to give directions to visitors, send thank you cards, fix sign, take photographs and post on website. Note: use appropriate paint for outdoor signs (i.e. while trying to keep costs low by using recycled materials, free paint and so on, careful selection of wood, attention to priming and use of outdoor paint will increase the life of our signs.)

Blogger, 1 person, no budget
Keep online blog up-to-date and interesting

Tasting Garden Team, 5-6 people, Budget to be decided.
Coordinate, plan and organize tasting garden.

Event Planning Team, 1 coordinator and 3 teams of 3 people: budget for each event to be decided in advance in conversation with Treasurer
Each team takes on a separate event to plan and reports back to coordinator (Gardening Opening, Midsummer Event, Harvest Party, Garden Closing), create online document guidelines for planning future events in order to facilitate simple handover to the next team/next year’s teams.

Handyman/Odd jobs, 3 people, budget for each chore to be decided in advance in conversation with Treasurer
Receive e-mails for random odd jobs that need doing – will undergo evaluation at the end of this year to decide whether certain jobs need to become permanent.

Permanent Crop Team/Orchard, 4 people, budget to be decided.
Come up with plan and ideas this year, set timelines. Liase with Lowell and other garden members r.e. vision/site map. Liase with garden members who live nearby, and Market Training Garden gardener (Tim), to develop report on response of neighbours to orchard/other permanent crop future plans.
Garden members to volunteer for a group of interest to them via e-mail to Nicholas prior to March 30, 2010 or at meeting. After meeting, Nicholas will fill gaps via requests to waiting list members or volunteer groups. After meeting, team membership will be added to plot map so that people will be able to connect easily. Leader for each team will also be identified at meeting if possible. This volunteer process will be added to the registration for the next year. Action: Mike to bring flip chart to fill in with volunteers for various jobs at March 30, 2010 meeting. Nicholas to send list of volunteer opportunities and reminder of 5 hours volunteer time requirement to membership prior to meeting.

4.Discussion of current roles in the garden and needed roles. (everyone)
Discussed in item 3.

5.Discussion of dimension of garden and current demand (Nick)
Thirteen people currently on waiting list for a plot – have been encouraged to participate in various activities at the garden, including tasting garden, Acorn Garden, and Market Training Garden.  Will also circulate volunteer list after next meeting. All interested community members are welcome at the Oak Street Garden meetings whether they have a plot or not. If community members are donating time in one of the group gardens, they will be welcome to take food home with them. Amount in exchange for labour to be agreed upon prior to start of volunteer hours. Agreed that creating more plots was not on the schedule for the Spring. Will be focussing more on coordinating and building volunteer base.
Action: Tim to create and submit suggestions for rough labour-crop exchange rates to group for approval.

6.Market garden status and update and discussion (Tim)
Market garden is being renamed the Market Training Garden to better convey the purpose of the garden. This garden will be used to provide learning opportunities for Oak Street gardeners, provide experience for volunteers without plots, train people interested in a career in agriculture, provide immigrants and students with work experience, and give people employable skills.  Some food grown in this garden will be donated to local food providers in cooperation with Loving Spoonful, and some will be sold as a fundraising effort to allow Oak Street Garden to pay for educational initiatives and supervision of trainees. Tim will run events and mini-workshops and provide the training experience for groups listed above. He will distribute the food grown in the garden.
Action: Nick to pass this description in a revisable word document on to Site Coordinator Committee for discussion and then to present at March 30 meeting. Final version will be posted on website.

Action: Tim to make tentative schedule of workshop discussions for Tuesday night potlucks for Oak Street gardeners throughout the summer and present at March 30 meeting.

7.Update on Acorn garden planning (Susan)
Susan and Tim to discuss and report at a later date – looking at City of Kingston policy to help guide their work. Susan has applied for funding for Acorn garden staff.

8.Discuss possible garden events for the year.
-       Seed starting workshop– a Saturday in March or early April .
-       Garden opening – signs, cleanup, food eating, planting, baked goods, music (band). Late May (week after may 24).
-       June rototiller, compost, and potting workshop – June 13th?
-       Midsummer workbee – July
-       Harvest party – end of September (not same day as chilli fest)
-       Garden closing – end of October.

Action: Site Coordinator Committee to bring forward suggested events to Event Planning Team. Tim to set date for Seed starting workshop and Rototiller workshop.

Next meeting date has been changed because of prison farm event at city hall.
New Date: Tuesday, March 30th 6:30 PM

Meeting minutes September 22, 2009

1. Budget udpate (Beth):

We have $3700 left. With other project coming out our reserves are probably down to 3100. We still need to take the porch expense out and have just paid off the shed. The harvest party will also have some expenses.

1. Garden contract (Nick and Lowell)

We reviewed the contract and made a few small changes. The main change to note is the 4 plot limit which everyone at the meeting decided is reasonable for now.

1. plots for next year(Nick):- discuss how to keep and expand plot space for next year

• • Anyone who pays before October 4^th, 1 PM will be able to keep their current plot. ($20 for every 10×10 plot)

  • Anyone who wants more plots can also indicate this.

  • Empty plots will be allocated at the Harvest party October 4^th. If someone who wants to expand is next to an empty plot preference will be given to them. All other plots will be allocated by discussion and coin tosses to settle disputes.

  • If there is not enough empty plots to meet demand creating the necessary space will occur in the fall and spring and the remaining plot allocations will happen in the spring.

  • New members to the garden will receive plots in the spring.

1. project process

Nick and Lowell went over the proposed process for how to build things in the garden:

- Anyone can take on a project but must first post plans at the garden and on the website.

- All plans will be open for approval and comment from garden community members before the project takes place.

Everyone agreed with the proposed project process.

We also discussed the current projects of composter, seed starter, and porch. People agreed on the projects.

Action: Lowell to add the picture of the projects to the back of the sign.

1. expansion for next year- below is a list of projects that went up for approval at the meeting:

• • Janette Haas to have an educational plot that she will use to teach people, for a fee, how to grow food for a family for a whole year. She will need 1200 square feet and will use the space as a demonstration garden to work on with her class. She will be teaching her class at the church in the winter, and the garden in the summer. In exchange, we have asked her for some kind of in-kind contribution, suggesting two workshops for Oak Street Gardeners. OSG would also benefit from being able to watch this expert demonstration of a small-plot intensive gardening evolve through the summer.

Questions brought up about this proposal:

– what will she do with this food?

- Is there a problem with her running a business on public land?

- Can we document this year project as a website associated with the garden?

-Should any workshops be documented as a project? Barry is interested in helping.

-Would the city approve of people making money on public land?

-Will the garden’s insurance cover this type of activity?

At this point everyone wanted more time to think about the proposal and it was agreed that we would look at the topic again later in the meeting.

On a second discussion it seemed that the majority of people were worried about the fact that the educational aspect of this project would mostly occur with a small group of people who had to pay a fee to participate. The proposal was voted down because everyone was worried that the for profit nature of this proposal would get away from the community aspect of the garden.

On a final note everyone agreed that they did enjoy the workshops put on by Janette this year and were interested in having her come back in a similar manner next year.

• • L.C.V.I. Cook’s Internship Focus Program to have a plot for their Chilifest entry. Approved.

  • Immigration Services Kingston and Area to have a small plot for use with one of their participant groups. Immigration services backed out of the plan for next year.

• • Ontario Early Years Centre Teen Mothers program to have a small plot, and to host 3-4 events at OSG next year. Approved.

The next projects will be administered by UAK (which is the same group that got the grant to found OSG), and the grant, if successful, will mean even more of a ‘staff’ presence at the garden through the summer:

• • Q.E.C.V.I. plot for the Nexus program.- behavioural program life skills. Approved.

    Action: Tim to provide more information about this program

  • Keys – provided paid workers at the garden this past year. Approved.

    The only concern with all the approved items above was whether or not insurance is an issue.

    Action: Mike to determine if insurance covers us for these activities.

1. Tim proposes to be the staff person for next year and to run educational programs at the garden.

   Tim was unable to attend the meeting but had a proposal which was reviewed at the meeting. The following discussion concluded that Tim has been an asset to the garden this summer and the members agreed to have him to be back again next year. It was discussed that running the market garden and coordinating the projects listed in section 5 of these minutes could really be seen as two roles. It was not determined which of these Tim would take. This decision was left for Tim to discuss in more detail. It was also mentioned that the market garden should take on a new person every few years who is considering a career in farming.

Action: Tim to continue discussion with the garden on what his exact role will be for next year.

1. Call for food and tables, and helping with an activity (food table/ for the Harvest Party on October 4th. )

Susan with surprise guest – margrett atwood tomorrow at 11:30.

Things we need:

• food garden tools/wheelbarrows/gloves etc.

• food- send this out to the list. Baking nick and megan, beth as well, barry,

• cups/mugs (not disposable)- maryse has some washable plastic glasses

• Tables. – bill has some

• boxes and buckets for harvest and cleanup- maryse has 6 23 L buckets

• garden tools – forks, gloves, wheelbarrows (mark your tools)

• Tents (already have 3)- bill can bring one,

• If anyone wants to set up a craft or display or… that would be great.

• ask if someone can go get a bunch of produce boxes from a grocery store?

• May Ho from Compost Council says they are still planning to come and do something.

• Flyer distribution (Victoria and oak street plus down town stores)- maryse volunteer, bill will put up some posters,

• love anyone to have a display or kids craft table etc. you have the idea

Meeting Tuesday September 22, 2009

Hey Everyone,

The meeting will be held at the garden 7 PM.  If it is raining it will be at First Christian Reformed Church, 310 Kingscourt Avenue.

Meeting Agenda:

1. Budget udpate (Beth):

2. garden contract (Nick and Lowell) - reviewing the contract and making any necessary changes

3. plots for next year(Nick):- discuss how to keep and expand plot space for next year

• • Anyone who pays before October 4^th, 1 PM will be able to keep their current plot. ($20 for every 10×10 plot)

  • Anyone who wants more plots can also indicate this.

  • Empty plots will be allocated at the Harvest party October 4^th. If someone who wants to expand is next to an empty plot preference will be given to them. All other plots will be allocated by discussion and coin tosses to settle disputes.

  • If there is not enough empty plots to meet demand creating the necessary space will occur in the fall and spring and the remaining plot allocations will happen in the spring.

  • New members to the garden will receive plots in the spring.

1. project process – go over the process for how to build things in the garden.

   Discuss composter, seed starter and porch.

2. expansion for next year – discuss some of the planned ideas

• • Janette Haas to have an educational plot that she will use to teach people how to grow food for a family for a whole year. She will need 1200 square feet and will use the space as a demonstration garden to work on with her class. She will be teaching her class at the church in the winter, and the garden in the summer. In exchange, we have asked her for some kind of in-kind contribution, suggesting two workshops for Oak Street Gardeners. OSG would also benefit from being able to watch this expert demonstration of a small-plot intensive gardening evolve through the summer.

• • L.C.V.I. Cook’s Internship Focus Program to have a plot for their Chilifest entry

  • Immigration Services Kingston and Area to have a small plot for use with one of their participant groups

• • Ontario Early Years Centre Teen Mothers program to have a small plot, and to host 3-4 events at OSG next year

• These ones will be administered by UAK (which is the same group that got the grant to found OSG), and the grant, if successful, will mean even more of a ‘staff’ presence at the garden through the summer

  • Q.E.C.V.I. plot for the Nexus program.

1. Tim proposes to be the staff person for next year and to run educational programs at the garden.

2. Call for food and tables, and helping with an activity (food table/ for the Harvest Party on October 4th.

Things we need:

• food garden tools/wheelbarrows/gloves etc.

• Tables.

• Tents (already have 3)

• If anyone wants to set up a craft or display or… that would be great.

• ask if someone can go get a bunch of produce boxes from a grocery store?

• May Ho from Compost Council says they are still planning to come and do something.

• Flyer distribution (Victoria and oak street plus down town stores)

Garden Building process Sept 2009

Hey Everyone,

Last Tuesday Maryse and Pierre put the shingles on the sign.  We still need to do some finishing work on the roof and install a cork board on the back.

We also planted our first berry bushes behind the shed!  Oak Street Garden now has raspberries .