2018 Meeting Minutes

February 18, 2018

Holmes Run Community Garden Advisory Board Meeting
February 18, 2018
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AttendeesSuzanne Bouchard, City of Alexandria Horticulturist
Jennifer Holland, Chairperson
Barb Goodman
Jennifer Lee
Neil Snyder
Notes

Spring 2018 Meet & Greet - Save the Date - March 3, 2018 2pm-4pm - Beatley Library Small Conference Room Gardeners Meet & Greet
Garden Clean Up - February 24-25 returning gardeners and TC Williams Leadership Committee helping to clean out plots that were turned over for the 2018 gardening season. We know that gardeners rent plots “as is” but we are trying to give new gardeners a fresh start in hopes to help start the season off on the “right foot.” All are welcome, however this will not count towards volunteer hours since it is individual plot maintenance.
Plot Rental Status - All plots except Plot 19 are rented for the 2018 gardening season. There are also still a few spaces left at Chinquapin. Suzanne asked everyone to get the word out that there is no longer a waiting list at either garden and that there are some spaces that can be filled immediately. Gardening season officially starts March 1.
Volunteer Hours - Hours need to be submitted monthly to the city. Group activities, such as the board meeting, will be submitted by the organizer (for the February meeting it’s Jennifer Holland). Individual activities need to be submitted via the web form on a monthly basis and they will be compiled into a single monthly report for the city (this is an open volunteer opportunity). Link to the form on the garden website.
Kiosk - The city put up a message board kiosk. Post meeting Suzanne informed us that the kiosk is for the garden (and not the park) and that she now has a key so we can use the message board to post information related to the garden.
Shared Tools - We briefly discussed the possibility of a bin of some sort for common tools. Several gardeners who are not returning left tools, including a wheelbarrow. We will discuss a location for common tools until we make a decision about a common area bin.
Fencing - A question was asked about fencing. There is a height requirement in the city that nothing be over 72” high (6 feet). This means you can have fencing and supports in your garden under 6 feet tall.
What grows well in the garden? - We discussed briefly some of the things we have successfully grown and not grown recently in the garden. What grows well depends not only on your soil (testing the soil is recommended), but where you are in the garden. Most plots get significant sun, but we have different weeds and bugs in different areas. For some, summer squash and cucumbers don’t grow well due to bugs, but if you are in an area with bugs and are diligent in removing them the vegetables grow well. Many gardeners have success with tomatoes, beans, peppers, eggplant, herbs, peas, onions, garlic, and many varieties of flowers. Just a reminder that all structures and support need to be under 6 feet tall. Come to the gardener meet & greet, join us on Facebook, or visit us in the garden once the season starts to ask more specific questions.

Action Items

Jennifer Holland to send out note about garden clean up and gardener meet & greet (done)
Jennifer Holland to set up future board meeting room reservations (done - meeting room reserved through August meeting)
Suzanne Bouchard to find out more about kiosk in park by garden (done)

Next Meeting Agenda ItemsSend any agenda items to Jennifer Holland (jenlholland@gmail.com)
March 3, 2018 - 2-4pm - Gardener Meet & Greet Beatley Library Small Conference Room
March 17, 2018 - 10am - Advisory Board Meeting, Burke Branch, Alexandria Library conference room - Seminary Road
April 21, 2018 - 10am - Advisory Board Meeting, Beatley Branch, Alexandria Library small conference room - Duke Street
May 19, 2018 - 10am - Advisory Board Meeting, Beatley Branch, Alexandria Library small conference room - Duke Street
June 23, 2018 - 10am - Advisory Board Meeting, Beatley Branch, Alexandria Library small conference room - Duke Street
July 21, 2018 - 10am - Advisory Board Meeting, Beatley Branch, Alexandria Library small conference room - Duke Street
August 18, 2018 - 10am - Advisory Board Meeting, Beatley Branch, Alexandria Library small conference room - Duke Street

March 17th, 2018

AttendeesSuzanne Bouchard, City Horticulturist
Jennifer Holland, Chairperson
Tara Houlden, Vice Chairperson
Coss Loic
Jennifer Lee
Elly Brinkerhoff
Paul Rothman
Romain Warnault
Notes

Monitoring begins in April. Look for a message from Joan Branch regarding date and time.
City will mark the borders. (After meeting note - the perimeter has been marked with blue irrigation flags. We are responsible for the area within these blue flags)
Let Suzanne at the city know if we see rodent activity and want bait stations out and serviced. The stations are out in the garden but haven’t been serviced since the fall.
The city arborist is working with Care of Trees to get more wood chips.
Water will be turned on in early-mid April.

Post Meeting Items

Record your volunteer hours! Link to the form is on the advisory board page of the website.

April 21st, 2018

Attendees
Suzanne Bouchard, City Horticulturist
Jennifer Holland, Chairperson
Neil Snyder
Notes

Suzanne gave Jennifer the key to the kiosk in the garden. We can now post information for gardeners in the kiosk.
The first monitoring session is Saturday, April 28 at 10am. Suzanne will meet those interested in monitoring in the garden to discuss what to look for as monitors. Joan Branch is leading the monitoring effort for the gardeners. Monitoring occurs several times throughout the season and looks for compliance to the rules and regulations you agreed to when renting the plot. Some of the key issues monitors look for are adherence to the height limit (72 inches), clear paths, and signs of activity in the plot.
Jo Kang (plot 1) pulls together the monthly volunteer report. Please make sure you are recording your volunteer hours through the form on the website.
Water is on. We recommend removing the short hose section and connect your hose directly to the spigot. Many of the short hose sections have been damaged by mowers or by being stepped on the past couple of seasons.
Care of Tree delivered more wood chips.
There is a summer solstice BBQ planned for Friday June 22 at 6pm. Look for additional information from Neil as the date gets closer. It will be an informal social event.

May 19th, 2018

Holmes Run Community Garden Advisory Board
Saturday, May 19, 2108
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Attendees
Suzanne Bouchard, City Horticulturist
Jennifer Holland, Chairperson
Paul Rothman
Romain Warnault

Notes

Rodent traps were baited in early May. They will remain baited throughout the season. The cost is $45/month. There are 8 traps around the perimeter of the garden (they look like fake rocks). Please keep them on the perimeter and do not move them. Let Suzanne know if you see any dead rodents in the garden.
The city agreed to put in 4 new plots in the fall on the east side of the garden (plot 6 and plot 24 side). This will likely result in a renumbering of the plots at the end of the season. We did put some plants in on that side of the common area which we will need to move in the fall. We will have a similar border beyond the new plots (3 feet).
Mary in plot 24 asked the city about the potential of starting a farmer’s market in the area. Suzanne said it would likely need to be at the end of the street in Veteran’s Park. If the majority of the gardeners are interested in learning more about a community garden we can arrange a meeting with the farmer’s market coordinator for the city
- ACTION: Reach out to Jennifer Holland if you are interested in learning more about the possibility of a farmer’s market. If there is enough interest I will work with the city to schedule an information session.
- There would need to be a modification to the agreement we have with the city because the current regulations do not allow for the sale of items grown in the garden.
- There is a West End Farmer’s Market at Ben Brenman park on Sunday mornings (May to October I believe).
- There is a Kingstowne Farmer’s Market at the Giant parking lot near Van Dorn Street and Kingstowne Blvd on Friday evenings (May to October I believe).
- The Old Town Farmer’s Market is Saturday mornings year round.
Moving to self governance. One of the goals of the advisory board is to move the garden to self governance. This means we need to identify an organization will to take over the fiscal management of the garden. The gardeners would be responsible for items such as maintaining waiting lists and coordinating registrations, but the organization would handle the financial transactions and financial reporting requirements. Some examples of organizations are homeowner’s associations or business development agencies.
- Paul Rothman (Plot 2), Barb Goodman (Plot 17), and Jen Lee (Plot 22) have offered to work on researching self governance. The board proposes a new committee be established to work on this task. All are welcome to join or to offer suggestions to the group.
- The new community garden in the city (Dale St) is starting under self governance. Their by-laws should be available later this summer and may be useful as a starting point.
- We are likely better to pursue this on our own instead of joining with Chinquapin. Chinquapin is much larger and will likely take longer to take any action on self governance.
- Under self governance the city leases the lands to the gardens. The city intervenes as needed as the property owners.
Jo Kang (plot 1) pulls together the monthly volunteer report. Please make sure you are recording your volunteer hours through the form on the website.
Requested more wood chips.
When weeding make sure you get as much of the soil off your weeds as possible before putting them in the trash can. One, we don’t want to get rid of good soil and two, if the trash cans get too heavy they won’t be emptied.
The second monitoring session is Sunday, June 17 at 10am. Monitoring occurs several times throughout the season and looks for compliance to the rules and regulations you agreed to when renting the plot. Some of the key issues monitors look for are adherence to the height limit (72 inches), clear paths, and signs of activity in the plot.
There is a summer solstice BBQ planned for Friday June 22 at 6pm. Look for additional information from Neil as the date gets closer. It will be an informal social event.