Southwark Queen Village Community Garden Minutes
April 7, 2014
At Weccacoe Recreation Center
1. Meeting Introduction (John )
2. Approval of Minutes (John )
3. Treasurer’s Report (Suzanne )
4. President’s Report
$10 a bale for salt hay. Goes toward city harvest.
5. Water Report
March 31 water was turned on.
If you have a barrel that is old and fragile, talk to Tom or John.
On the sidewalk, one tree protector is broken off and the other is badly bent.
Repairman can fix it on site, but not as good a job. Or he can take to the shop for better job.
On site, $250… $450 off site.
6. City Harvest (Ed)
Season started… 80 gardens in the city have been active with City Harvest.
Salt Hay goes to city harvest.
Green thumb is tending to the courtyard area with city view apts.
7. Bees (Carolyn )
4 new hives…. Each box has 15,000 bees and a queen from Georgia.
Got them in boxes, Queen had her own box so others could get used to her smell.
Queen comes out of box tomorrow. Hopefully go right to her hive to start making babies.
6 hives total….. 2 hives have lots of babies.
We lost 2 hives during the winter. Bees get in cluster to keep warm during winter… when hives was opened, the cluster was on 1 side, not in middle where honey is. Bees tried to protect queen and didn’t get to honey. So they died…. Hopefully we’re off to a good start with new hives. Can’t open hives unless it’s 60 degrees…. If you’d like to learn bee keeping, let Carolyn know…..
8. Special Topics: The Waiting List
There are names that go back to 2009 on the list….There are 10 to 20 names still in the area and interested in a plot. Reengineering the list? First in, first out process now… looking for possible changes to wait list…. Give us general ideas about changing the list process. Comment: anyone want to lead the charge? Lottery? No open plot in 2 years. Most want to keep the list and go down the list when there is a plot available.
Comment: lack of turnover is a good thing. Why fix it if it’s working?
Vote taken to keep current system in place was unanimous.
9. Gardener’s Using Patio for Gatherings
Recently the topic has been raised of gardener’s use of the garden, particularly the patio area, for personal gatherings. There has been interest for use this summer.
Request from Pam to have gathering of friends in late May… fish boil for her friends.
Pam: Will leave it as good as we found it. Will take garbage out on Thursday. Will ask for donations to garden as a fundraiser…… will be 50 to 75 people max.
Comment: Will there be a porto john? Compost toilet can’t hold that many people in short period. Liability? Event insurance? Does our parent organization cover this? No insurance ever during our own events…..
Question is much bigger that just this 1 event. How many events a year should we hold?
There is too much controversy…. May 25 is Pam’s event….. Jared’s event was successful and raised us money…
No political event in garden…. Not a fundraiser, says Pam.
Mario Lanza Park is another alternate solution with a permit.
We need to set up procedures if we have personal events in garden.
Comment: Garden is about gardening….. not a recreational place, but a garden to enjoy.
Comment: We all respect the space, why can’t we do a case by case event?
Pam: Up to garden members to decide.
Vote: executive committee should figure out the insurance issue.
Party needs to have a potty and a donation to the garden…..
Resolution: Majority voted YES to party. 4 voted NO.
10. Community Gardens Day (Proposal letter below)
“The Neighborhood Gardens Trust (NGT) whose mission is to acquire and preserve community gardens and shared open space in order to enhance the quality of life in Philadelphia neighborhoods, would like to invite you and your garden to participate in celebrating COMMUNITY GARDENS DAY on June 21,2014.
Gardens bring a multitude of benefits to a community including: nutritious food, healthier lifestyles, exercise and connections to your fellow neighbors. We want to rejoice and celebrate that community gardens and neighborhood pocket parks are essential to the fabric of any city and especially OUR city, Philadelphia.
Please join us on June 21st as we welcome residents of the City to explore and appreciate all your efforts, ideas and hard work by sharing your garden with others that day.
The plans for the event are that participating gardens would be open to the public from 10AM to 3PM with at least one gardener present. Much like POST (Philadelphia Open Studio Tours) where artists welcome the public into their studios throughout the day, we will be reaching out to city residents and offering them the opportunity to visit their local garden, where a range of activities could be happening. These activities could include:
- Something you already do, such as weeding or a garden work day
- Tours through the garden
- A special activity you could use extra hands with (such as grouting a mural/mosaic)
- Working a City Harvest plot with volunteers
- A Demonstration/workshop (such as planting, passive composting, or pruning)
- Host a Make Music Philly Day artist (http://www.makemusicphilly.org/participate/venues/)
- An arts & crafts activity for kids
- Have resident “experts” be available for Q&A
- Host a BBQ or just a hang-out for neighbors
If you are interested in participating on June 21st 10am to 3pm and will be hosting an activity, please register your garden at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JSDMHXR. Registration is open until FRIDAY, May 2nd, so register soon. We are excited to celebrate the importance of your garden to your city, your neighborhood, and you! Invite your friends, neighbors, and the public to learn more about gardening or your community garden,
Thank you for your participation and we will be in touch.
Best,
Eileen Gallagher
Neighborhood Gardens Trust
http://phsonline.org/greening/neighborhood-gardens-association”
11. Event Proposal from Queen Village Clean and Green Committee on Thurs. June 12, 7-10pm
Proposal: The Queen Village Clean and Green (C&G) committee would like to host its annual community event at the Queen Village Community Garden. In the past, the committee has hosted an informational fair at the Weccacoe Park each June during the day. This year, the committee has decided that an event at the community garden hosted in the evening would best serve the mission of the committee to bring sustainability to all neighbors in Queen Village through creating an inviting, social evening in a beautiful space that represents an element of sustainability in the neighborhood. We hope neighbors will enjoy the evening, become familiar with the committee and want to join or help the committee in the future.
Guests:
We would like to invite individuals who might be able to help complete sustainability-related projects in the neighborhood in the future, i.e:
- Councilman Squilla
- Water Commissioner Howard Neukrug
- Mayor’s Office of Sustainability Director Katherine Gajewski
- PHS Director of Sustainable Communities Glen Abrams
We would also like to invite neighbors to mingle and discuss topics related to sustainability and the neighborhood. We propose charging a ticket fee for the event to manage the quantity of people and to give the event credibility. The guest limit would be 100 people, but we can negotiate that with the garden. We propose limiting access to garden plot areas if there are concerns among gardeners. Food and drink would be from local purveyors, e.g. Yards Brewery, Kennett Restaurant, etc.
75 tickets will be sold, with 15 to 20 invited guests.
12. Rev. Trimble moved to 15th street and gave up his plot….
Adjourned at 8:01pm. Next Meeting Monday May 12 at 7pm in the garden.