Benton Park Garden Committee
Meeting Agenda and Notes
February 27, 2008

Notes

meeting notes English cave community garden committee meeting
1960 Arsenal storefront Wednesday, February 27, 2008 7:30 pm
Present: Marian Amies; John Doggette; Tamara Gegg LaPlume; Dan Guenther; Bill Kranz; Bob LaRouche; Sandy LaRouche; Chris Rowley; Daven Schanche; Lisa Watson.

English Cave Community Garden Spring Event.
Lisa Watson gave details of her ideas for the spring community garden event on Sunday May 4 from 2 – 5 pm. This will be a festival and will include a maypole and giant pinata. Sandy offered to make fresh asparagus soup. Marian will also contribute home made food. Lisa will give the board details of the event for press releases by the two month lead time requested by the marketing committee when she gives the garden committee’s report at the BPNA meeting on March 4. If possible Lisa will arrange for tent covering for inclement weather.

Garden development 2008 plans.
Lisa will announce when giving the garden report on Tuesday, March 5, that new gardeners interested in having a plot contact either Marian or Bill by telephone to get their name on the garden plot roster for the season. The committee also agreed that plots will be made available to interested gardeners living outside the neighborhood on a case by case basis, provided they are garden volunteers. The garden telephone list will be reactivated by Lisa and Marian.

Lisa and Marian proposed that the Boy Scouts be contacted again to make garden rustic signage to designate the community garden shared plot so that this can be identified for community produce picking. Lisa agreed to contact them.

Marian reported Carol Brayton and Ron Turnborough’s efforts to obtain a shed for free advertised on Craig’s list, Ron visited the advertiser to view the shed and had determined the shed was in poor shape but the lumber might be useful. At the January BPNA meeting, Bob Watson made a motion that the neighborhood association provide funds for a garden shed. Bob provided printouts of the sheds available through Lowes and Home Depot. Daven sketched a proposed shed/compost area/covered area construction in three parts made from rustic wood and palette wood that would be constructed
at the southeast corner of the lot where the original compost area was planned. All designs were predicated on a temporary structure created on a gravel base set into a frame. Bob would also investigate further possibilities for a prebuilt shed to be incorporated into Daven’s design. Daven will create the drawings to submit to LRA to be in compliance with the community garden land lease agreement. Ron Turnborough and Herman Strothmeyer have both offered carpentry skills. At the meeting Marian telephoned the advertiser of the shed on Craig’s list that Carol and Ron had identified earlier, but the shed was no longer available. It was determined that the shed to be constructed would have a rustic appearance and that it be costed for about $500.

Lisa proposed that volunteers be asked to help build the compost area structure first. Daven and Lisa want to build the trellises. To get a good start on the 08 planting season, a workday was proposed for Sunday March 9 starting at 11:30 am with an hour planning session when trails and garden beds would be laid out and the large community area would be plotted out. Bob proposed this area should accommodate the corn and succotash originally proposed. Marian and Sandy said they would provide soup and cornbread for the workday.

Chris Rowley said flowers could be ordered through him as part of the Operation Brightside event on April 12. The committee proposed that for this year a timing device (about $15) be added to the hose system that was used last year so that every evening the garden would be watered automatically on a timed basis. The committee will research suitable plants to be planted on the Illinois berm, Sandy recommended Crown Vetch which has a pink flower since this is used by the highway department for steep slope landscaping.

Gateway Greening.
It was proposed that the Gateway Greening grant would be sought to address the water line project this application will be due at the beginning of November, 2008. Daven also added that it would be advisable for the garden group to volunteer at Gateway Greening’s Great Perennial Divide event on May 3rd including any time they could offer in the week before. He also advised the group that the Great Plant Sale at St. Louis Community College at Meramec on April 25/26 was a great resource for plant purchases.

Community outreach and garden produce.
In response to a proposal by Dan about unused garden produce be used by the pantries, it was decided that the community would be given dates for community picking to serve the food pantries so that garden produce be made available to the community as well as community gardeners.

Next Committee meeting.
Wednesday, March 26, 7:30 pm 1960 Arsenal storefront.
The meeting adjourned at 9 pm.

Follow-Up

Last updated: Friday, November 14, 2008