Painting Party

Excitement for this upcoming gardening season grows as our list of plot renters fills. Seventeen of the twenty-two 10'x10' plots are signed for, and outside sewing time is still two and a half months away. Plots are normally $10 this year, but there is another opportunity available:

Students for Service Learning RSO is conducting a raffle for one of our plots. Tickets are 2 for $1, or 5 for $2. Purchase them Monday, February 20, or Wednesday, February 22 between 11am - 2pm on the lower level of the UC. Tickets may, also, be purchased from any Campus Grow or Students for Service Learning member. The drawing will be March 30.

The Students for Service Learning been doing other lovely things including a video they're putting together which portrays how life in various student organizations, and Campus Grow will be featured. We will, also, have an article in their newsletter that you can find around campus.

Last Thursday's meeting consisted of the above mentioned points of interest, and then we got a bit painty. We'll be selling violas at Earth Day, and again at the Plant Sale (in conjunction with the greenhouse) later this year, and we spent time this week making each clay pot a wonderful piece of art.

 

Next week's meeting will be another hands on one where we will meet in the greenhouse to transplant violas, and start a few vegetable seeds indoors to watch as they grow. An interesting experiment will come of starting plants so early, and making them wait to be transplanted outside. Let's see what happens. Until then, happy planning!

Garden Tour

We could not ask for better weather during our February garden tour. It was cold, but clear. We met in our regular meeting area, Brooks 203, and discussed the Superbowl Fundraiser, and how strange the week had been. Hopefully, this atypical winter will lead into a premium growing season! And, away to the Little Garden we went.

The snowstorm held off until the next day, so the plots were unburied. The cover crop must have been planted just after it would have germinated, and the soil was bare. Very likely, the cover crop will begin growing when the ground warms some, and beat the weeds. If so, we will have a much easier time dealing with the difficult clay.

As of right now, we plan on letting the back half stay covered with an intentional  cover crop (very unlike our awful theory of weeds being better than bare soil), while we work on amending the front half. Clay tends to retain water, but becomes rock hard when dry. This combination is incredibly difficult to work with, and tackling the job over two years will give us time and energy to do a thorough job. The finalized plans are still being worked on.

We arrived at the big garden as the sun was nearing the horizon. Tiny cover crops of crimson clover looked unhappy to be above ground, but were still green with hopes of spring. The stone circle in the middle held sleepy looking lilacs, lavender, and sage. The garlic rows brought fond memories of the man who taught us the proper way to plant garlic (making sure all cloves face the same direction because the plants will have optimum space when they grow up), and the fact that he did not speak english. That, right there, is the beauty of gardening: plants transcend the barriers of spoken language.

We finalized the tour with voting on the e-board. All who applied were granted their positions and a hefty round of applause. Well done, garden crew.

Plans

(From 2 February 2012)

Campus Grow e-board positions were open for nominations. Currently no positions need to be campaigned for because the numbers match up, but voting will happen next meeting at the end of the garden tour. The placements are currently:

Co-coordinators: Jackie and Madelyn
Treasurer: Grant
Advertising Leader: Rachel
Historian: Elena
SGA Rep: Jackie

We discussed logistics of the Superbowl Fundraiser that took place Sunday, February 5. Members were asked to relieve Superbowl party-goers of their surplus empty cans, and exchange them for usable funds at a grocery store. Much appreciation for all who contributed!

One of our future co-coordinators and current SGA rep is working on throwing a community dinner for educational, healthful, and social purposes. Nutritional facts for the well-balanced meals are to be discussed, as well as other healthy habits. If you're interested in volunteering for this event, let us know.

Rachel, also, did some research for us and found out that CMLife has a huge stockpile of newspapers to be recycled, and we are able to use them for compost and mulching purposes. Well done!

Happy growing!