Perfect weather for concrete and grapes

Taking advantage of the unusually warm weather in November a great group of volunteers gathered early, ready for the tasks of the day. As a group we were able to pour the concrete into the mold for the path approach and sidewalk, pour the concrete for the water splash pad, and plant the six grape vines. Three of the grape vines are Chardonel grapes for community garden wine-making. :-) The other three are seedless eating varieties: Interlaken, Canadice, and Reliance. We may get a small crop next year, but the year after should be very nice!

A special thanks to all of the hard workers today: Ed, Linda, Dwayne, Brian, Cliff, Julia, Randy, and last but not least Ben for cleaning out the wheelbarrows. Also thanks to Larry for making two kinds of chili for lunch: regular and vegetarian.

It was a perfect day to gather with friends and neighbors in OFW's community garden. We're really looking forward to next spring when full-scale planting will take place!

Fall Projects

The forms have been built for the concrete approach and the splash pad. We are hoping that the weather stays dry enough to pour concrete next Saturday morning. We will also be planting the grape vines and the remaining shrubs to meet the neighbor's fence. We'll be sending out an email for volunteers for next Saturday once we get all the details lined up.

September Workday Progress

The cool weather was wonderful on Saturday morning as we embarked on our overall mission of weeding, mulching and mowing. The clouds rolled in - the combination of the grill failing and rain pouring down put an early end to our workday.

That said, we got more done by lunchtime than we had hoped. With the help of Sue, Dwayne, Ed, Ben (our garden gnome!), and Larry, we were able to complete the following:

* Weeding around all the shrubs and the orchard.
* Mulching the shrubs, and replacing one of the dying shrubs with a replacement on hand.
* Mowing most of the garden (thanks to Ed!)

We may have another garden workday next month. Stay tuned!

Last Scheduled Work Day

Join us this Saturday (September 26th) anytime between 9am and 3 or 4pm for our last scheduled Volunteer work day! We will provide lunch and bottled water.

Tasks Include:

• Weeding
• Adding mulch around the shrubs for fall
• Adding mulch in the orchard for fall
• Sorting and moving remaining mulch pile
• Framing the approach for the driveway

Tools to bring if you have them: Weeding tools, shovels, wheelbarrow, rake

You are welcome to join us anytime throughout the day. We look forward to seeing you!

CORK Wine Bar Fundraiser for the Ferguson Gardens

We still have a few tickets available for this event. Hurry to get yours!

Robert-Superior Water Tank Progress

We were sorry to have to cancel our volunteer day yesterday due to few "non-big-machine-or-construction" projects lined up. However, that gave us the great opportunity to both watch and assist our neighbors at Robert-Superior for the burying of the water cistern.

While OFW Gardens had a water line put in, (donated by Dan Flynn Plumbing,) R-S wanted to catch running water flowing down the street, and keep it in a tank whereby kids and adults could hand-pump water for their garden.

This was a big deal. Permits, Inspectors, big equipment to move the dirt... you get it.

To Craig and Angelique Kidd: CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!

Work Day Update

We were blessed with beautiful weather and we almost finished our ambitious list of things to do!

Gail and Chase planted flowers around the sign. Larry and Cortez put up the grape trellises then moved on to finish the pergola on the compost bin. All of us worked on getting the garden paper down in the orchard and re-mulching - some of us ALL DAY! That was an important lesson learned: Garden paper is your friend. Use it early and often. We won't make that mistake again! (The layer of mulch we had in the orchard already did not prevent grass and weeds from growing through it, so it was starting to look bad.)

Thanks to all the volunteers who showed up and those that volunteered to babysit: Gail, Sue, Cortez, Denise, Chase, Brian and Trudy. We definitely have a lot to show for this workday!

Volunteer Work Day Saturday July 25, 2009

Come join us at the corner of Mueller and Suburban Saturday morning at 9:00 (or anytime throughout the day!) for another volunteer workday in the garden!

There will be plenty of work for all ages and skill levels:

• Beautify the area around the sign with annuals
• Put landscape paper down in the orchard and re-mulch
• Replace bricks damaged by heavy equipment
• Clear more brush back by the creek
• Put wire up for the grape trellises
• Finish the pergola for the compost bins

We'll provide plenty of cold bottled water and lunch for volunteers.

See you on Saturday!

Fundraiser and other updates

Major success for both community gardens at last night's fundraiser. Good music, good weather and good friends helped us raise $480! Each of our gardens will put $240 to good use as we continue working on garden infrastructure.

Two recent updates to the garden: The compost bin is almost complete. This was an elaborate design, but we chose to make it a focal point rather than the standard "bin." After all, that's where the "black gold" will be stored!

Also, a big thank you to Dan Flynn, our local plumber who just installed our water line/tap for no charge. The garden has water!! He also installed it in such a way that if we decide to put in an irrigation system down the road, no more digging will have to be done. This means no disruption to future beds!

Next volunteer work day is next Saturday. I'll send out a reminder mid-week. Thanks again for everyone who made the fundraiser such a success!!

Another Concert Series Fundraiser this Friday!

We are excited to be invited back to run the food booth at Ferguson's CityWalk Concert Series.

Come support the community gardens and enjoy the amazing talent of Jeanne Trevor, the "First Lady of St. Louis Jazz!"

When: Friday July 17, 2009 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Where: Victorian Plaza (20 S. Florissant Road)

http://fergusoncity.com/DocumentView.aspx?DID=429

Food booth items will include: Brats, Italian Pulled Beef Sandwiches, Veggie Burgers, Roasted Corn, Cookies, Chips, Rice Krispie treats, and Soda/Water - all at reasonable prices.

Bring your family and friends and enjoy this free concert!

PESTO FESTO 2! & The EarthDance Mission Awards

Hello all,

Please mark your calendars for the upcoming PESTO FESTO this summer! Molly Rockamann and EarthDance have booked the 2nd annual Community Celebration of local FARMS - Food, Art, Relationships, Music, & Sustainability at the Savoy on Saturday, November 7th, 2009.
Tickets will sell out quickly. Order yours now!!

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/72363

Thanks to St. Louis Earth Day -- this will be a ZERO WASTE EVENT!
www.stlouisearthday.org

All proceeds benefit EarthDance's Organic Farming Apprenticeship Program & Camp EarthDance!

http://www.earthdancefarms.org

HOT! Volunteer Work Day

It is hard to believe that the Dog Days of Summer now start in June! Thank you to the courageous volunteers who gave 100% despite the 100+ heat index: Sue, Gail, Dwayne, and Joe. Even though we weren't able to work much past 1:00pm, we still managed to get quite a bit accomplished today. The hedges are all mulched on the Mueller side, we set the trellises for the grape vines, we dug the holes for the compost area, and we put up the sign! It's been so much fun seeing the small steps add up and make a BIG difference.

Also, thanks to those that stopped by and offered encouragement. That positive energy is just what our Community Garden needs!

Volunteer Work Day Saturday June 27, 2009

Come join us at the corner of Mueller and Suburban Saturday morning at 9:00 (or anytime throughout the day!) for some good old-fashioned hard work. Some of the tasks (from low to increasing manual labor effort) include spreading mulch around remaining hedges, spreading more woodchips in the orchard, clearing more brush back by the creek, building the trellises and building the compost bins.

We plan on bringing our grill and providing volunteers with brats and hot dogs for lunch and we'll have a couple coolers with bottled water to keep everyone hydrated in the heat.

Items to bring if you have them: wheelbarrow, rake, gallon jugs (empty milk jugs will work!)

We'll see those of you that can make it on Saturday!

Successful Fund Raiser & Garden Signs

This past Friday evening, we hosted a food booth at the Ferguson Concert Series as a joint fundraiser with Robert-Superior's Community Garden. Even though it was H-O-T, the turnout was pretty good and several folks were very generous in supporting our efforts. We managed to clear about $100 per garden and had a good time doing it. We were also invited to do another sometime this summer, so if you couldn't make this past one we'll give plenty of notice for the next.

In other news, we got the garden signs ordered this past week. Our intent is to be able to put them up at the next work day (Saturday June 27th!!) The picture above is of the main sign and then we'll also have a separate Sponsors Sign to be used beginning next year.

Concert Series Fundraiser this Friday Night!

Click to Enlarge

News: The Good, the Bad, and the Good

First the good news: We finished mulching the row of hedges along Suburban Avenue, mulched around the apple trees, and covered up the stump holes.

Now the bad: We lost one of the apple trees and noticed one of the hedges was broken at the base.

Turning the bad news into good news: We found a replacement apple tree on sale (the same type) and replaced the nearly-dead one. Also, we kept 10 spares for the hedges and easily replaced that one. Then the remaining spare hedge plants were potted. We'll keep an eye out on the hedge row for the next couple weeks and replace any that aren't thriving. We also hope to have good news over the next week regarding the signs for the garden.

Weekend Update

Friday evening we finished planting the remaining hedge plants. A group of cousins stopped for a while and learned the differences between night crawlers, grubs and good ol' earthworms. They helped throw the leftover clods of dirt into a pile and enjoyed throwing several of them into a puddle. We told them they could stop by anytime we were working and help. That suited them just fine.

Today is Mueller's block party and Larry went down there to hand out movie night flyers and chat up the garden with the residents there. We were told that the garden was where people had parked for the party in previous years. We had a moment of horror about someone driving over our newly planted "little guys". No plant was harmed and here's why: When Larry actually pulled into the garden (where the road/pathway will go), Cortez across the street came over yelling "you can't park there!" When he realized it was Larry, he told him that he was keeping all of our (and Cortez's) hard work safe!

That's exactly what we had hoped for: A vested interest in the immediate area!

We'll probably finish mulching the hedges Sunday evening. Volunteers are appreciated! (5:30pm)

Hedge Update

The stumps were removed and we were able to move about 20 wheelbarrows-full of the ground-out remains. One stump in particular happened to be in the way of the hedge line, so the timing was perfect on getting it taken care of. Due to rain earlier in the week and a recalculation in placement, there was more digging to be done than we hoped. Craig handled the lion's share of that effort while several of us handled the planting. There were a total of 50 hedges planted, with maybe 20 more left still to do. Not too shabby for an evening's work!

Thanks to all the volunteers, especially on such short notice!! Craig, Sue, Carole, Randy, and Freddie

Stump Removal Today

Mr. Baker is planning on taking out the 6 stumps today for pennies on the dollar of what he normally charges. (He's so fun to talk to too!) This means we'll have more wood chips to move to the back of the lot. If anyone planning to show up tonight has a wheelbarrow we'll be happy to put it to good use!

Volunteer Opportunity Thursday June 4th

The hedges were delivered today from Miller Nurseries. These 2 year plants don't look big, but they are fast growing (up to a foot per year). We decided to go with these "tallhedges" because the description said that it grows green, thick, and heavy foliage all the way to the ground to keep unwanted "guests" out. That's exactly what we're trying to accomplish with these!

Most of the prep work has been done to get these planted. Larry staked out and spray-painted the lines for planting, and our friend and fellow Ferguson resident, Joe Reyna, dug most of the holes yesterday. We are asking for volunteers to help us plant the 70 or so hedges. We'll start on Thursday evening around 5:30. Hope to see you there!

Our first work day was a success!

We woke up this morning to thunderstorms but were undeterred. So were several others that joined us at the garden this morning for some good hard work. It is truly amazing how a collective effort can make short order out of a LOT of work that needs to be done. The clouds blew over after a couple of hours and we were left with a beautiful morning to enjoy the different tasks, working in mud, and laughing with neighbors and new friends.

Together we got the following accomplished today:
* Cleared out a large portion of the brush along the MSD creek to make room for the fence
* Got the rest of the trees cut up, and hauled the logs to the edge of the property
* Lined the orchard perimeter and area around each apple tree with bricks
* Moved the pile of clipping chips to the orchard and spread them there
* Polished off 3 pizzas and lots of water
* Participated in a couple impromptu wheelbarrow races
* Agreed that the little snake in the brush was most decidedly NOT a copperhead

Special thanks to Sue, Craig and Angelique, Cortez, Dwayne, Bev and John, Randy, Linda, and Carole. Also, thanks to Officer Dee and Officer Ray for each stopping by and offering words of encouragement. We all had a great time and will undoubtedly sleep well tonight!

Volunteers Needed This Saturday!

Gearing up for our first Volunteer day!

This was most definitely a "get the gardens" moving weekend. Saturday Larry helped our friends Craig and Angelique from Robert-Superior's community garden take down 2 trees on that lot. (It looks so much better!) Today Larry and Dwayne James are building a backstop for the mulch pile next to the orchard. We still have two trees on the OFW lot that need to come down very soon.

Next Saturday (May 30) is the first volunteer work day. We picked up 350 bricks that will outline the orchard and could use a few folks for that. The city will be chipping the branches Larry took down and our intent is to build a path with the chips back to where the storage shed will soon be. We will also need folks to help clean out the back of the lot by the MSD sewer. This will help get the lot ready for the fence at the back. The 2nd Volunteer day will be June 27th. We hope to be planting the hedge border along Suburban and Mueller during that day.