Flowering!

Our first strawberries of the season are flowering! This will be our first year for strawberries since we just planted the plants last year.

Also flowering: the always happy, Johnny-Jump-Ups! These are great little edible flowers that dress up any salad!

Great first session!

We had a great sign up and first garden session! The garden has been nicely tilled (a special thanks goes out to Curtis!) and we spent the evening mainly cleaning weeds out from along the edges. We pulled more weeds than maybe ever before! The best way to stay on top of weeds is to start early in the season with a blank slate. We also staked the rows that will be built this week. Stay tuned for more info on next week's session!

Sign-up for 2013 is this Tuesday from 5:00-7:00PM at the garden.

Hello Main Street Community Gardeners!

Sign-up for 2013 is this Tuesday from 5:00-7:00PM at the garden.We will also be having a work session (weather permitting) to till up the rows, remove rocks and weeds, and install the irrigation. Should be a super productive evening! We'll also have lemonade and a snack at the sign-up table. =)

Each member must complete a garden registration form and pay the $35 per household membership fee (checks made out to Cameron Place CSA). We will once again be limiting membership to 40.

Due to feedback from last year we will be sending out fewer emails and relying more on this website to relay detailed info on plants, to do lists, and other fun tidbits. We will not be sending out weekly reminders for Tuesday work sessions. Please assume that the weekly work sessions will be held every Tuesday from 5-7pm (weather permitting). Throughout the season, members will be required to participate in a beginning of the year event and an end of season event (planting and cleanup) as well as 10 hours throughout the season, which can be completed at any time. In order to allow everyone to keep better track of their participation, there will be a sign up sheet located on the side of the tool-shed. Every week there will be a garden leader who will be responsible for helping direct the activities, weeding, planting and harvesting for the evening. For more information about garden expectations, see below. =)

Keep in mind our garden is all natural and herbicide and pesticide free! (This means more manual weeding and sometimes creative ways to address bugs!) For those of you that are new, we plant the garden together, meet on Tuesdays to care for the garden and harvest once a week. Everyone present on Tuesdays is encouraged to take home a share of veggies. For people that can't make Tuesday evening work sessions you should plan on working and harvesting at a time that works for you.

Please let us know if you want to be a garden leader or waterer this summer, these are critical to keeping the garden going! Additionally, please let us know if you have any new ideas for the garden or would like to take on a specific role. We always welcome new ideas and more involvement in the garden!

We're all looking forward to a great season, and we hope to see you at the garden this evening!

____

GJ Main Street Community Garden Membership Expectations 2013

• Each gardener is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the common garden. Watering, weeding, harvesting and any other garden related maintenance are responsibilities which are shared among the community but expected of each gardener according to the schedule and commitment made at the beginning of the season.
• A limited number of tools and watering equipment (watering cans, shovels, etc.) will be available in the community garden storage shed for use during the regularly scheduled work time each week.
• Regularly scheduled work sessions will be every Tuesday evening from 5:00-7:00pm throughout the season. We will not send out an email every week as we have in the past. Instead, we will post changes and updates on the website.
• There will be a garden work session leader for each Tuesday work session. The leader will list weekly tasks for the session on a white board.
• If you cannot attend a Tuesday work session, you may work at another time that is convenient for you. We ask that each member put in at least 10 hours of work throughout the season and attend the planting day and fall cleanup at the end of the season. There will be a sign-in sheet posted on the side of the garden shed. Please sign in each time you work at the garden.
• Children are welcome in the garden! Please ensure our young gardeners are accompanied by an adult for their safety.
• Each gardener must complete a registration form.
• Garden times are from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. All gardeners are asked to enjoy and work in the garden during these times.
• The application of herbicides (weed killers) and pesticides to the garden plots is strictly prohibited.
• Membership fees ($35 per household) are due in full by May 22, 2012.
• We will have a group harvest during Tuesday work sessions. Each gardener may take home a portion of the harvest and the surplus produce will be donated to the Grow Another Row charitable outlet which distributes the produce to area food banks and emergency food programs in Mesa County.
• The common garden is an intentional attempt at providing organic food, grown locally for the neighborhood. In this vein, any gardener who harvests and sells produce from the Main Street Community Garden for personal financial gain will have their membership revoked without refund.
• Dogs are not allowed within the garden fence at any time. Dogs may accompany their owners to the garden property but should be restrained outside of the planting area in order to maintain the cleanliness of the produce being grown.

Vote for your faves!

Hello Garden Peeps!  Please vote for your favorite veggies etc on the poll to the right of this post before March 22nd.  You may choose as many favorites as you want.  If you have other comments or suggestions (or strong dislikes...anyone else hate picking okra as much as i do?!), please feel free to post them below. We will try to make the garden as tailored to everyone's input as seeds/transplants/availability allows. ~ilana

Seed Swap

There is an organic gardening group in Grand Junction that is holding a seed swap at the Botanical Garden

When: Sunday, February 10 at 2:00pm

What: Bring seeds to swap, envelopes for seeds, sense of humor. Seeds can be store bought, saved seeds, or plant cuttings. Please mark donations with the species, variety, date of harvest or any other pertinent information. (Please take only a portion, and do save seed from what you take, so you can bring it to the next seed swap!)

This is a great opportunity to pick up some new seed varieties (either for your personal garden or the community garden) and to meet other gardeners!

Recap: Our (Almost) Fall Harvest Potluck

We had a great potluck last night at the garden! Delicious food and great company!

Thanks to all who attended! We're hoping to hold one more before the end of the season.

Tomato pie!

Eggplant rolls! 

So many delicious salads!

Fall Harvest Potluck DATE CHANGE

We changed the date of the Fall Harvest Potluck to Tuesday, September 18 immediately following the work session (instead of Tuesday, September 25). Feel free to join us even if you cannot make the work session.

Bring your friends and families, a dish to share, a chair and your own plate/bowl/utensils.

Please join us, even if you aren't currently a garden member but would like to learn more about the garden and how it works.

Part of last night's harvest

A big THANK YOU to all the members who showed up last night and helped weed the garden.