May General Garden Meeting 5.14.22

 May Garden Meeting

Present: Steve, Ryan, Lindsey, Luke, @, Emrys, Sarah

9:00am

1. Welcome and grounding

2. Go around: share skills

3. Reminder: 

1. Garden plot fees were due March 31st. Garden plot fees are $30 and garden keys are $5 each. If we did not get your plot fee by the deadline your plot may be reassigned. You can drop off garden plot fees at the EPIC office (2433 Bloomington Ave) - just drop them in the slot to the right of the door.

1. Make checks payable to “EPIC Garden”. They may be mailed to the EPIC Office at 2433 Bloomington Ave., Mpls., MN 55404. If you pay with cash, put it in a sealed envelope with EPIC Garden in the address line and your Name, Plot Number, and the amount you are paying under it.  Then put the envelope in the mail slot on the Right Side (South Side) of the EPIC Office door at 2433 Bloomington Ave. S. 

2. Please sign waiver/contract as soon as possible. You can find them in the garden shed on the chairs to the right as you enter the shed or at the EPIC office. Email sarah@eastphillips if you would prefer to sign digitally via Adobe Sign and she can send it over to you.

4. Announcements

1. Lindsey plans on being in the garden Tuesday mornings once it gets warmer out- 830-930ish?

1. Gardeners are welcome to join her weekly to tend to general garden tasks

2. Water update: We have had some issues with the pipes in the shed this spring - first a burst pipe and now a cracked valve, we are hoping to have the valve fixed by the end of this week and the city back out to turn the water on early next week - sorry for the inconvenience!

3. Starting to record precipitation, can check here for rainfall in the garden:  https://maps.cocorahs.org/ and search by zip code 55404.  Station number is  MN-HN-418 but it's the only station in Phillips. I report daily at around 7am for the previous 24-hour period.

4. Lindsey can pick up seeds for folks from the Hosmer Seed library. We have a pretty good selection, but can't promise exact varieties. Email at lindseyafenner@gmail.com

5. Looking for help to maintain the herb and perennial flower gardens, including DIY ideas for better plant signage. Also looking for feedback on what folks would like to see planted in the empty spaces or have extras to donate. Here's a list of what's already there or planned for this spring: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yiXEnIVf0XatnFJWs6Q3vwaPNoxn6PdvmSnPUFF-xe8/edit?usp=sharing   lindseyafenner@gmail.com

6. Looking for donations for the Little Free Pantry in front of the garden. The things that tend to go the fastest are: Plastic bottled beverages (water, gatorade), single serving snacks/ready-to-eat meals, personal care items (most helpful). You can drop donations off on Lindsey's porch (the little white house to the north/right of the garden) for storage. Because the doors on the little free library are broken, things that are in plastic packaging are better than cardboard packaging to keep out moisture/squirrels...

Vote on a time for General Garden Meetings going forward: 

• 1st Thursday in the evening - 6pm - try for a few months, if decreased participation then back to Saturdays

• What we heard from phone calls about this proposed time:

• Brandt family: anytime after 5pm

• Alvaro after 4pm. 5pm is best

• Arden - 5 or 6

• Sheila - 5pm or 6pm after school is out; 6:30 for June meeting

**Note that Garden Organizing Workgroup/Steering Committee meets 3rd Thurs at 5pm

9:15am Review and vote 

1. Discuss whether to hire a garden coordinator - 

1. Notes from today’s meeting:

1. Emrys shared she wants to make changes to the job description

2. Luke question

3. Concerns about vaccine requirement 

2. Outreach notes:

1. One gardener shared via email that they think hiring someone will be crucial in the new structure

2. One gardener shared they approve of hiring a garden coordinator, said it makes sense especially since the garden requires is so much coordinating

3. Two gardeners shared it sounds like a great idea

^^Two gardeners approve of hiring a garden coordinator

^^A gardener shared: As far as the proposed changes I like the changes to the garden flow chart, charter, policies, budget and the creation of a garden coordinator. I think they are necessary updates to the garden organization language and the garden coordinator should hopefully help with better maintenance and more engagement to foster a stronger community garden group.

2. Events outreach and collaborations

1. Time sensitive

1. do we want to offer meeting space to plant grow share for irl people's land network meeting/s - approved

1. Peoples Land Network : Garden Gathering Save the Dates

1. Tuesday May 17th 5:30-7:30pm

2. Tuesday July 19th 5:30-7:30pm

3. Tuesday September 20th 5:30-7:30pm

1. Angie - approves via email

2. Brandt family approves

3. Alvaro approves

4. Arden approves

5. Sheila approves

3. Larger community level garden stuff

1. NACDI, LERA

2. Roundabout

4. Garden maintenance updates

1. Fence redesign idea

2. Tree work

3. Compost