GJ MAIN STREET COMMUNITY GARDEN EMAIL CLEAN-UP

It is about that time of year where we are looking to clean things up around the garden. That includes this email list. If you are on this list, it is because you are either a member or you have shown some interest in the past. We are hoping to streamline things to be sure that this email communication is being put to good use, primarily as our main line of communication with our members. If you are not a member, but you wish to continue to receive emails from this Main Street Community Garden info. hub, you will need to be sure to reply to this message in order to let us know what your intentions are and that you wish to be on the general community info. list. Members will also need to reply to this message in order to make certain that we are aware of your continued interest and your plans for involvement in 2011 and in order to continue receiving these messages. All parties interested in remaining on this email list should respond by Thurs., Oct. 7th. Those who do not respond will be removed from the list. 

In 2011 we are aiming to continue to grow our membership and fine tune the way that the garden operates. We are principally interested in our members being downtown residents who intend to work together with their fellow community members to maintain and reap the rewards of the garden, as well as harvest our surplus food for local charities. Please spread the word to your neighbors and friends who might be interested in joining us in these goals. 

  

Correction of a task listed in last week's email:
We will be ripping out the row of beans (NOT the chard and arugula) in the middle section of the garden to make room for a whole row of garlic seed. Therefore, please harvest those beans for yourself this week prior to the removal of the plants at Thursday's work session.

We seem to have some non-members from the community who may be helping themselves to our produce. Please do your part to address fellow gardeners when working in the garden and feel free to explain to those who do not appear to be members how the garden works. It is NOT a free for all. It IS members only.

Plan ahead to join in a community potluck at the garden to take place on Thurs., Oct. 7th at 6:30pm. Please invite your neighbors and friends!
  
Thank you and Happy Autumn!  

weekly work session + upcoming Okt. Potluck

MEET US THURS. at 5:30pm for our weekly work session: 
We will be lopping off excess parts of tomato plants tomorrow to help allow for the green tomatoes on the plants to ripen up in the last few weeks before the average first frost date. We need to harvest our full arugula and chard crops in order to prepare that bed for garlic which we will plant this fall in order to harvest it next summer. We will also be doing some work on the compost and tending to the weeds surrounding the garden.

Please send us an email to let us know if you harvested any of the onions, just for us to be able to have a better idea of what goes on at the garden when we are not around. The onions were actually not ready to be harvested yet as they were meant to grow into a slightly larger globe. They needed more time in the ground until they got there. But we would very much appreciate hearing from you to know whether it was a gardener who got to take them home or a passer by who may have thieved them.
  
Save the date for our GJ Main Street Community Garden POTLUCK which we will hold after our work session at 6:30pm on Oct. 7th. Please bring a dish to share and encourage your friends and neighbors to attend w/ dish in hand if they would like to learn more about how the garden works. We would love for all of our members to join in on this fun community event celebrating the bounty after this season's collective hard work.  

THE CHARITABLE HARVEST CONTINUES

THE CHARITABLE HARVEST CONTINUES ---- PLEASE COME OUT AND HELP IF YOU CAN!    
++++++++++++++++ 
Hello GAR volunteers,

The CSU fields are gorgeous and FULL of ripe tomatoes.  It is such easy picking.  Four of us today picked 391 pounds of tomatoes and 44 pounds of peppers in about an hour and a half.  This includes two pregnant women who were also chasing after two 3 year olds at the time.  We plan on really cleaning up tomorrow evening since we will be less distracted.

I will be at the fields at 4:30.  Come whenever you can.  Bring a medium size cloth grocery bag - we found that they are the perfect size to fill up without crushing the tomatoes. We'll transfer to boxes for transportation.  If you have small-medium boxes, they would be great too. 

Many of the CSU staff are gone this week, so I am still working on a Saturday session.  Please pass this along to friends or other groups so we can get this food into the hands of people who need it.

Directions:
Take hwy 50 to Orchard Mesa.  Exit B1/2 Rd - it is an overpass crossing the highway.  Take B 1/2 Rd all the way to 31 3/4 Rd.  Turn left at 31 3/4 Rd and then a very quick left into the driveway.  Make a left and then a right onto the main dirt road.  You will see my green subaru parked along the side or in the fields.  Give me a call if you need directions:  609-610-1425.

Thank you!!

Amanda

Grow Another Row
www.growanotherrow.org 

Grow Another Row HUGE charitable harvest! THIS WEEK!

Dear Gardeners and Community Members:

Grow Another Row has planned a HUGE charitable harvest event at the CSU Extension farm. They will be picking tomatoes and peppers this Tuesday morning. Starting at at 9:30am. Come when you can, bring a friend and bring some boxes! There will most likely be another gathering Wednesday evening OR Saturday morning.  If you are interested in helping on either of these days, please let Amanda know:
Grow Another Row
email: growanotherrow@gmail.com  www.growanotherrow.org
314-7389 

If you don't think you are physically up for picking, but would like to help, they need someone who can sort the tomatoes. You will be set you up in the shade and you can do the very important job of tossing any tomatoes with problems.  This will help the picking go faster too if we don't have to sort in the field.

The research center is located at 3168 B 1/2 Rd.  This is not at the CSU extension office off highway 50.  To get there, take hwy 50 onto orchard mesa.  After 27Rd, there will be a exit to the right that takes you over the overpass.  Cross hwy 50 and at the bottom go straight onto B1/2 Rd.  Take B 1/2Rd until you reach 31 3/4 Rd and turn left.  A quick left into the driveway takes you onto the research center.  Wind your way past the buildings until you can turn left onto a straight road flanking the fields and orchards.
  

With your help, this food will not only not go to waste but will help out those who need it!