Garden Steering Committee Meeting 11.1.21

 

Garden Steering Committee Meeting

November 1, 2021

 

Events - what events to bring to EPIC Board Meeting

●       Garden events

○       Spring (May) work day; Fall (October) work day

○       Harvest party

○       Cherry picking festival

■       Swap recipes, cherry recipes

●       Workshops, trainings etc.

○       Soil building workshop, tool sharpening, Narcan training, fruit tree care (pruning workshop)

 

-Wood chip delivery

            -November 5th drop off

-any more end of season garden tasks

            -mulch fruit trees

            -use to maintain paths, along fence line

            -along neighbors new fence line

            -send fall report

                        -garden party update

                        -list of things we’d like to get done

                        -second fall work day - Sunday, November 14 1-3pm

                        -use woodchips on plots

                        --back up list of people who are willing to help with snow removal

                        -who would like a plot next year?

-plan for snow removal

            -in past Brad has done

            -Sarah will shovel, use back up list when out of town

-first ask- asking gardeners if they think they'll be returning in 2022

 

finances

-enough to cover compost delivery from city in spring?

            -delivery fee?

            https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/programs-initiatives/clean-city/community-garden-compost/

 

-anything we need to do for EPIC for 2022 budget-making

-property taxes- tax exempt status

 

Bylaws- city okay with putting this off?

 

Sharps box status

 

Structure

●       currently general members elect steering committee

○       what gives power to the gardeners?

●       what are the channels of participation for the general gardeners

●       how do policies get made?

○       can be done by gardeners

●       put together an easily understandable explanation about how the garden fits into EPIC, how the charter fits in etc. to give it context and make it approachable

 

Finance

●       Policies and procedures

○       need to go by EPIC Operating Policies and Procedures for a lot

○       make more detailed budget for garden, don’t need further approval for those items

○       process for spending garden plot fee money

○       process for spending money allocated by EPIC to garden

○       Process for spending Seward grant money

 

Outreach and Community

●       Intake process

○       questions to ask at intake

■       preferred way of communication

■       preferred way to be involved

■       what kind of decisions they want to give input about

○       centering BIPOC neighbors, tenants and neighbors who historically have less access to land

●       Create an outreach plan

●       Discuss what type of events/meetings can take place at the garden

○       What’s the scope of events at the garden

 

Green Infrastructure

●       How to cover Gardening tasks

○       Mowing, weed whipping, taking care of materials dumped in garden

●       Vision

○       Finalize a proposal for fence and tree removal

■       Bring to gardeners in spring

○       Keep in mind - Seward grant

 

Nitty gritty

●       revamp garden agreement

○       what to expect/ask of gardeners i.e. participate in garden meetings, number of hours volunteer with general upkeep of garden

●       Communication list - clean up

 

Notes on people’s skills:

Lauren: Teamwork, spirituality, network building, facilitating, event planning, permaculture, mycology, and visioning, working with children and adults with special needs

Lindsey: keeping notes, research, keeping track of information, making an agenda so it gets done, ethnobotany, growing things that are drought and climate resilient, things that will support non-human ecosystem

Flo: meeting logistics, helping to set agendas, helping to facilitate, seed to table, educational, especially with young people, weeding, lens based work - photography or videography, PR type stuff

            =Flo would like to be a part of big picture convos

-Flo likes idea of less meetings, and having work groups

Gabe: carpentry, grant writing

 

 

 

Garden Tasks:                                                                        Lead:

Determine who is on the Garden Steering Committee
Call everyone who gardened last year to see if they want a plot ● Follow script, tell them how to return garden use agreement and plot fees
Plot distribution
Put out rain barrels late March/early April
Turn on water once the risk of freezing has passed – usually takes a week for it to turn on. Turn water off	Sarah/EPIC
Go over garden use agreement, garden tour, give keys
Prioritize tasks that must be done i.e. fencing
Coordinate work days - ongoing and one time
Decide if compost order is needed
After first Saturday of June - go through garden and mark plots that haven’t been planted. Reach out to those gardeners and check in. If no longer want plot, move to wait list, prorate plot fee ($15)
Maintain Plot map	Sarah/EPIC
Maintain Contact List including wait list	Sarah/EPIC
Receive, log and deposit plot fees	Sarah/EPIC
Taxes - if applicable	Sarah/EPIC
Recommend budget and plot fee amount
Buying stuff	Sarah/EPIC
Making keys	Sarah/EPIC
Distributing keys
Give orientation tours
Meeting agendas
Meeting notes
Meeting reminders
Meeting outreach
New Gardener outreach
Meeting facilitation
Organizing work groups/work days
Fall Harvest party - planning and outreach
Mowing, weeding boulevard, trash, fires