Brooklyn Community Gardeners

American Community Gardening Association post

They have some excellent suggestions in their current digest

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Today's Topics:

1. Re: 2007 teleconference workshops-seeking suggestions
(Sharon Gordon)
2. Related Programing ideas for Community Gardens (Sharon Gordon)
3. Garden Contests for Community Gardens (Sharon Gordon)
4. Sample Garden Plot Plans for Community Garden Plots
(Sharon Gordon)
5. Stone Soup--explanation (Sharon Gordon)
6. Why not have teleconferences when non-professional, working
people community gardeners can participate? (adam36055@aol.com)


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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 13:14:14 -0400
From: "Sharon Gordon"
Subject: Re: [Community_garden] 2007 teleconference workshops-seeking
suggestions
To: "Betsy Johnson" , "Community
GardenNational"
Message-ID: <004d01c6f46b$2b7e18c0$6401a8c0@hsd1.md.comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Additional ideas:

1) Developing sample beginner garden plans for the most common community
garden plot sizes
-Tailoring the plan to the local growing season and soil conditions

2) Advanced garden plans for years 2-5 that build on the beginner plan

3) Developing ethnically focused sample garden plans for the area's main
ethnic groups

4) Designing Complete Diet gardens in the style of Jeavons (7th ed), Duhon,
and the relevant Ecology Action booklets

5) Gardening as a PE alternative at colleges and universities
-Food for personal use
-Food for cafeteria use

6) Generating interest in Plant a Row for the Hungry type programs
-Increasing production among participants

7) Identifying additional potential community garden sites
-getting landowners interested

8) Local Food Security Analysis

9) Related programing ideas for community gardens such as
Tomato Tastings
Local Food/Garden Potlucks
Seasonal Stone Soup
Hand pollinating for Seed Purity and Seed Saving

10) Garden contests as incentive for increased garden care and/or
diversifying garden knowledge

Sharon
gordonse@one.net




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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 13:20:25 -0400
From: "Sharon Gordon"
Subject: [Community_garden] Related Programing ideas for Community
Gardens
To: "Community GardenNational"

Message-ID: <005601c6f46c$089a19c0$6401a8c0@hsd1.md.comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

In an effort to expand the knowledge and social diversity of our community
garden activities, we are looking for related programing ideas for community
gardens such as:
Tomato Tastings
Local Food/Garden Potlucks
Seasonal Stone Soup
Hand pollinating for Heirloom Seed Purity and Seed Saving

What other programs has your group enjoyed?

Sharon
gordonse@one.net




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

Message: 3
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 13:32:16 -0400
From: "Sharon Gordon"
Subject: [Community_garden] Garden Contests for Community Gardens
To: "Community GardenNational"

Message-ID: <005c01c6f46d$b000e8a0$6401a8c0@hsd1.md.comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Some community gardens have one or more garden contests during the season.
If you have them or have been considering having them, we'd be interested in
any of the following:

1) What do you focus on for the contest? (most diversity, most attractive,
best tasting tomato, largest pumpkin?)

2) What is your timing for the contest? Here not only a specific date, but
the significance of the date would be useful such as "ripe tomatoes usually
will have been available for two weeks" in the case of a tomato contest.

3) How do you market the contest and generate enthusiasm for the it?

4) What do you give for awards? Who provides the awards?

5) What other activities do you have as part of your contest day?

6) Do you have any sort of precontest activities to help people be more
successful with the contest?

Sharon
gordonse@one.net




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

Message: 4
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 13:47:36 -0400
From: "Sharon Gordon"
Subject: [Community_garden] Sample Garden Plot Plans for Community
Garden Plots
To: "Community GardenNational"

Message-ID: <007c01c6f46f$d466ec60$6401a8c0@hsd1.md.comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Does your garden have some sample garden plans for your standard sized
plot(s)? If you have created some we'd be interested in

*Sample beginner garden plans for the most common community
garden plot sizes
*How you tailored the plan to the local growing season and soil conditions

*Advanced garden plans for years 2-5 that build on the beginner plan

*Ethnically themed sample garden plans for the area's main
ethnic groups

*Complete Diet gardens in the style of Jeavons (7th ed), Duhon,
and the relevant Ecology Action booklets
*And what percent of a complete diet for one person can be grown on your
usual size plots

*Any other themed or special purpose garden plans

If you have a website where we can look at them, I'd be happy to go and
print them off. If you have some that would need to be emailed and take up
a bit of bandwidth, please let me know so I can coordinate downloads as my
email account capacity is not all that large and I'd need to do one set at a
time.

Thank you.

Sharon
gordonse@one.net




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

Message: 5
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 14:20:12 -0400
From: "Sharon Gordon"
Subject: [Community_garden] Stone Soup--explanation
To: "Community GardenNational"

Message-ID: <008f01c6f474$629121a0$6401a8c0@hsd1.md.comcast.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

I've just received several questions asking:
What is seasonal stone soup?

Stone soup is a soup based on a children's story called Stone Soup where
some travelers started making a soup consisting of stones and water.
Gradually the townspeople contributed a variety of seasonal produce to the
large pot of soup and everyone enjoyed the resulting pot of soup.

In community garden life, we leave out the stones in starting the soup :-)
but the process is much the same. Each person usually contributes a cup or
two of ingredients to the soup with a family usually giving a different item
for each member to increase the vareity in the soup.. The soup maker cuts
up and prepares the offerings and turns them into one or more delicious
soups. Usually if there are multiple pots, at lease one is
vegan/vegetarian. If there is only one pot, making it vegan allows all to
eat. Often a number of people will bring homemade bread to share to eat
with the soup.

The soup maker will usually need to bring something to create broth, as well
as salt, pepper, and any other needed spices and herbs that are not
available in the garden. The soup maker may need to bring a grain to
balance out the nutrition in the soup if those are not grown by local
gardeners. It's safer to proved hot peppers as an optional add in.

To make it a zero waste event, particpants are asked to bring their own
reuable bowls, spoons, beverage containers, and cloth napkins.

A great way to do this is to start the soup on a weekend morning. The
participants can work in their gardens while the soup cooks, and then eat
the soup for lunch.

What makes it seasonal is the availability of garden produce:
*A Spring Stone Soup might have new potatoes, carrots, onions, peas,
slivered spinach, mescun mix, bok choy, and barley in an onion broth. Herb
bread could be served with the soup. Fresh strawberries might be available
for dessert.
*A Summer Stone Soup might have green beans, yukon gold potatoes, corn,
tomatoes, sweet peppers of various colors, and black beans in a tomato herb
broth. Sundried tomato-herb bread and jalapeno cornbread may be served
along side. Dessert might be mixed bowls of blackberries, raspberries, and
blueberries or slices of cold watermelon.
*An Autumn Stone Soup might be a Peanut-Squash soup or a Potato based root
vegetable soup or a Borchst. Pumpkin Bread or Garlic bread might be the
bread of choice. Bunches of fresh grapes or fresh apples might serve as
dessert. Warmed spiced apple juice might be one of the beverages.

Sharon
gordonse@one.net






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

Message: 6
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 22:29:49 -0400
From: adam36055@aol.com
Subject: [Community_garden] Why not have teleconferences when
non-professional, working people community gardeners can participate?
To: betsyjohnson@speakeasy.net,
community_garden@list.communitygarden.org
Message-ID: <8C8C2CFEAA8C8F8-8D0-6508@FWM-M29.sysops.aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Logistics and these very valuable teleconferences...

The ACGA has an interesting, but bifurcated membership.
One group are the nice folks with foundation or publicly funded jobs, many are paid community garden coordinators who do great work and can get the time off during the working day to participate in these very interesting discussions, and....

Then there are the rank and file volunteer gardeners who have jobs in the private sector do not have time during their working day to participate in these discussions, which are never scheduled for weekends, or evenings, when they might be able to participate.

Now I realize that the nice folks with foundation, or publicly funded jobs certainly have a right to personal time and private lives and an excuse to use a teleconference as paid time -

However, the nice volunteer gardeners who pay dues, and work nine-to-fives, ( more like 7 am - 7pms for alot of us) should be thought of when scheduling these valuable tele-conferences.

The sweat equity types who don't have their dues paid by their jobs, but fork the dough for memberships and conferences out of their pockets should have a voice too....

Best wishes,
Adam Honigman
Volunteer Community Gardener


-----Original Message-----
From: betsyjohnson@speakeasy.net
To: community_garden@list.communitygarden.org
Sent: Fri, 20 Oct 2006 9:08 AM
Subject: [Community_garden] 2007 teleconference workshops-seeking suggestions


I am currently developing the 2007 schedule of ACGA Teleconference
Workshops. Some of the topics suggested to date are:



Rehabilitation gardens (prison, work programs, etc.)

Homeless and gardens

Community gardens & farmers' markets (an 06 topic)

School gardens

Gardening with children (an 06 topic)

Maloney & Farm bills

Youth entrepreneurial program

Community Food Program grant projects (in January before the Pre-proposal is
due)

ACGA Regional Groups

Local Food Policy Networks



What else?



Should we try scheduling some of the workshops at 8 eastern? On a Saturday?





Betsy Johnson

Executive Director

American Community Gardening Assoc.

877-275-2242 betsyjohnson@communitygarden.org





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_______________________________________________
The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's
services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out
how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org

To post an e-mail to the list: community_garden@list.communitygarden.org

To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
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_______________________________________________
The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org

To post an e-mail to the list: community_garden@list.communitygarden.org
To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org

End of Community_garden Digest, Vol 19, Issue 1
***********************************************

Question!?

Could any of these suggestions be applied in a practical way at OUR garden? It might help boost community spirit and morale, and be an interesting way to also get more community members involved and interested.

E-mail me if anyone would like to work on developing any of these ideas for next year...

Email us
emilyholiday@gmail.com