Call for Artists for a Garden Mural!

Fom the NoCo blog today! http://nocostl.com/2010/04/sunday-news-clips-411/  (Thanks Shannon!!!):

• If you’re a talented local artist, why not consider submitting a design in the Old Ferguson West Community Garden’s “Growing Together” mural contest! Both groups and individuals are invited to enter the competition, which will yield two 4×8-foot painted MDF panels that will serve as a backdrop to the garden. Judging will be based on which design best represents what a community garden means in a diverse neighborhood, and you should be prepared to explain your concept in those terms. The application deadline is April 23.

Please contact me for the application or the rules! (hlrobinett@yahoo.com)

Volunteers Tackle Ambitious Agenda

As kids we learned, "March comes in like a lion, and out like a lamb." Today's cold March wind proved otherwise. However, in a battle between the spirit of our volunteers and the weather, we'll call it a tie. :-)

Our first official workday was beyond successful. Aside from the physical progress we made in the garden, several new friendships were cultivated. Who could ask for anything more?
 
Agenda items completed:

* Ed, Linda, Cortez, Freddie, Peggy and John carried wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of mulch between the beds where Bev, Sue, Sharon, and Gail raked it all out evenly
* Brian, Larry, Martin and Keith dug holes for the posts for entryway posts and blackberry posts
* Dwayne and Larry constructed the 4x4 herb communal herb bed and the last raised bed
* Martin and John finished the last 2 pieces of screen in the compost bin
* Sue and Bev helped plant lettuce and onions in the sponsors' plots
* Bev helped neighbor kids plant onions in one of the children's plot.
* The crew replanted 4 hedges and mulched that entire line.

* Several gardeners were impressed by Julia's square foot gardening guides in her plot, and were inspired to do try their own this spring. (If anyone is interested in more details of square foot gardening please email me for more information.)

* Special thanks to Bev for feeding our hungry volunteers. Everyone raved about her taco salad, orange slices, and brownies. Word has it Ed had 4 helpings of salad, and the brownies disappeared quickly.

It's hard to believe that a year ago this "little garden that could" was an overgrown and abandoned lot. We should *ALL* be proud of what we have accomplished, and excited about the potential in the years ahead!





Picture of the lot from mid-April 2009:

First Official Workday for 2010

Fellow Gardeners,

The last Saturday of March is upon us, which means our first formal group garden workday! Mother Nature has tried to dampen our spirits today by reminding us how fickle spring weather can be, but the weather man
says Saturday will be cloudy and a high of 62 with little to no chance of rain!

What will be doing?

- We have a fresh pile of nice hardwood chips (thank you Sanders Tree Service!) to spread in the orchard and in between the raised beds, we need 3" of depth.

- The City delivered a load of mulch that we can put down around the hedges.

- We will construct the herb bed and one last raised garden bed to square things off.

- Finish 2 pieces of screen in the last compost bin.

- We plan to finish the garden posting sign so we can post all our flyers and important data.

- The water line to the strawberries needs to be installed.

- We will be digging the holes and setting the posts for the gates and the tool shed.

- And you can plant in your beds!! We have some free plants left (onion sets, broccoli, lettuce, and a few cabbage plants.) If you can find brussels sprouts, herbs, or other sets they can go in now also.

It is a good time to plant the following seeds: leaf lettuce, spinach, radish, carrots, peas, beets, scallions, and turnips.
What to bring: Shovels, rakes, & hand tools for your bed work and a friend!!

Bev Walker will providing lunch (yeah Bev!) and we would like to hear from the rest of you which date you would be interested in providing lunch. You can pick from any of the open dates below. We have a grill if you need it, and bottled water is always supplied by the garden.

March 27 - Bev Walker
April 24 - Peggy Carson
May 29 - Sue Odell
June 26 - Available
July 31 - Available
August 28 - Available
September 25 - Larry Robinett
October 30 - Available

Your Garden Coordinators,
Larry & Heather

Boy Scout Troop 686 Deserves Two Green Thumbs Up!

On behalf of the OFW Community Garden, I would like to extend a heartfelt "thank you" to the wonderful volunteers of Boy Scout Troop 686, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. They joined several of our garden members and lined the pathways between the plots with garden fabric and then covered it all with mulch.

UMSL's Neighborhood Leadership Academy class toured the garden early this afternoon and the Boy Scouts had already finished. It looked fantastic. We will be happy to "hire" them again!!

I would also like to thank each and every one of you that were able to make it to our initial garden meeting. The turn-out was excellent and the energy was a lot of fun. People are excited to get digging.

See you at the garden!

Opening Gardening Meeting

CALLING ALL GARDENERS!!!!

We will have our opening gardening meeting at 6pm at The Corner Coffee House in Ferguson, Thursday March 18th. Hope to see everyone interested there!

Some people pay for mud baths, right?

Wheelbarrows and several inches of mud made for a serious workout. The group of troopers yesterday was able to mound dirt in each of the raised beds and finish and fill the strawberry beds. A couple of boys in the neighborhood even came by to help.

Many thanks to the volunteers on a chilly Saturday morning: Ed and Linda, Gail, Cortez, Dwayne, Ben, Chase and the friends shown in one of the pictures above. A good portion of the mud in the garden made it home with each of us. (shoes, boots, gloves, socks, pants, hair... you name it!)

Next Saturday a group of Boy Scouts is going to meet us at the garden at 9:00am to assist in moving mulch between the beds. That will help in controlling the slip-n-slide Mother Nature has so graciously provided.

Don't forget about the garden meeting at the Corner Coffee House this Thursday evening (March 18th). Larry will be sending a reminder to everyone. Don't miss the kick-off to this fun-filled planting season!

Raised Beds!!!

The weather was a little cool and damp, but was no match for our volunteers today! Led by Mara and Amber from Gateway Greening, 17 of us built 20 raised bed in under five hours. The "before" picture is just above this paragraph, and the "after" is the first picture posted. What a difference! We also moved the three strawberry pyramids in place (each has a built-in sprinkler.)

Thirty-nine yards of dirt is a lot. The sore shoulders and backs around the neighborhood are proof. Shortly after a chili lunch in the rain, we breathed a collective sigh when someone suggested calling it a day. I believe it was Shannon who so eloquently put it, "I'm not moving ANY MORE DIRT." We'll finish topping off the beds and filling the strawberry beds tomorrow.

A very special thank you to the big crowd that was able to make it on a Friday morning: Bev and Emily, Keith and Shannon, Martin, Julia, Dwayne, Sue, Angelique, Peggy, Joe, Molly, and Ben the garden gnome. Thank you all for the hard work, the laughs and the reminder of how great this neighborhood truly is.

Gateway Greening Grant! Please help March 12th and/or 13th!

Here are some tomato seedlings we planted just waiting for warmer weather to enjoy some fresh air, sunshine and great soil. The good news is after next weekend the garden will be one step closer to accommodate them!

The following is a letter that Larry sent out last week. We are very excited to be building raised beds next weekend but we'll need help! We are also going to construct the strawberry beds this weekend to have in place for the soil that's being delivered. We are so close to planting and digging in the dirt!!!!!!

-----------------------------------------

Garden supporters,

I am very pleased to share the news that we attended the Gateway
Greening (GGI) awards ceremony and were presented with a grant to
cover all the lumber soil to cover construction of 5 of the raised
beds!! We also will be using Gateway Greening's resources to to get
the best possible price on the rest of the materials that we need to
construct the remaining beds not covered by the grant.

Equally or even more important than the financial support is the fact
that we are a part of the Gateway Greening community circle now.
Attending the Growing Gardener training classes I have found that the
Gateway Greening community is an awesome support mechanism for any
project or issue that you need help with in your garden. They have a
staff horticulturist who is willing to share her in-depth plant and
gardening knowledge, they have wonderful advice on anything we may
find that we need help on in the future. The have master gardeners
that are members of the the gardens they already support and they are
willing to come when needed. The also give grants for garden
expansions so we may be able to get additional financial assistance in
future years for an irrigation system.

We have targeted March 12th & 13th to do the raised bed construction.
We have 12 raised beds that have applications on them and we plan to
build 15 this spring in the event some late applications come in. The
plan is that GGI will deliver all the materials on Thursday and we
will begin constructing the beds on Friday morning. GGI also will
bring an array of tools needed for the construction. Saturday will
consist of filling the beds with soil, so we will need all the
wheelbarrows, shovels, and strong backs we can muster for the 2 day
event. I know Friday many of us will be working, but please come
either day, whenever you can and stay as long as you are able. If you
have a wheelbarrow or shovel bring that along as well. Hopefully the
weather will cooperate!

It is almost here!
Your Garden Coordinators

Meeting with Ferguson Police Department about the Garden

Community gardening on what was once an overgrown and forgotten lot has led to some interesting questions from potential gardeners. Two questions seem to come up repeatedly. The first is, "How can we make sure what we plant isn't taken?" The second is, "How safe is the area where the garden is located?"

Several of us met Thursday to discuss these two questions with 3 members of the Ferguson Police Department; Officer Dee Fuller, Officer Steve T, and Lieutenant Ray Nabzdyk. Officer Dee and Officer Steve have been patrolling the Plaza Heights area for a while now along with Officer White. They have gotten to know the kids in the area, and the parents as well. Their candid discussion and suggestions, along with Sue Odell's personal experience gardening along Suburban left us with a much more positive feeling.

Regarding potential food theft, we should all plant more than we need. There will be community crops (apples, grapes, corn, melons, strawberries, etc) that should draw would-be thieves away from individual plots. If critters become an issue we can find funds to put up small wire fences around each plot.

Regarding safety while gardening, we discussed the following "Common Sense" approach to doing anything in an area that doesn't feel like "home" yet:

1. Gardening is prohibited from dusk till dawn, so while you are gardening during the day, if you feel safer with the buddy system, use it. It might be an inconvenience, but your safety is paramount.

2. Keep your cell phone on you while gardening. Program the non-emergency number for the Ferguson Police on your phone (314-522-3100), and call if you see any suspicious activity. You may also call that number and let the dispatcher know you will be at the Old Ferguson West Community Garden, and ask that the on-duty officer patrol the area more frequently. If you feel immediately threatened, call 911.

3. While gardening, please lock your car and keep purses, etc out of sight. Officer Steve said that people are far less likely to mess with the gardeners as they would be to notice a window down and something in plain sight while walking or biking past.

4. Lieutenant Nabzdyk offered to put the garden as a watch point, meaning that officers will drive by it more frequently, and may even pull over near it to do paperwork. The offer of extra police presence was greatly appreciated. The City in general has been a strong supporter of its Community Gardens, and that goes for all departments.

5. Relax. Kids will come by and ask questions. Teach them how to weed. Our hope is that one of the plots will be maintained by a family on Mueller. We will also have 2 children's gardens to keep kids occupied and interested. (Seriously though, make weeding seem like fun, and your plot could be weed-free all summer long!)

6. Have an open mind. We all hope to learn and laugh and enjoy this opportunity we have. If something doesn't work this first year, let's figure out how to make it work next year. If you have questions, please ask. If something bothers you about the garden, please bring it to our attention. We too are learning and appreciate candid thoughts. This is a community endeavor, and we hope that each and every one of you feels comfortable and is successful!

Come learn more details about the OFW Garden!

Please plan on attending the Old Ferguson West Neighborhood Association meeting this evening, Thursday, January 14th from 7:00pm - 9:00pm at the Corner Coffee House.

A presentation will be given outlining how to apply for garden plots, volunteer opportunities for those that don't want to commit to a plot, progress and upcoming plans for this year. We will also be discussing OFWN's new website that will make applications and volunteering much easier! (The website should be available next week.)

This is going to be a great year for both our community and the garden!!!

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!