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Below is a message sent recently to our Friends on our email list. If you would like to be on our list, please message your email address to info@rvacg.org Greetings Friends of River Valley Area Community Gardens ,
As I write this snow is falling with 2 to 5 inches forecast BUT Spring is coming. Activity surrounding the Gardens is picking up. Plot Rental: Applications for garden plots have started. We have a number of plots open for this coming season. If you or someone you know is interested in gardening, we have printed applications in the INFO Mailbox on Westmor St at the Gardens. Applications may also be downloaded from our website at rvacg.org or requested via email at info@rvacg.org or by phone at 608-588-6040. WRCO Radio interview: Gardeners Doug, Marlon and Rose Ellen will be visiting with Phil Nee on WRCO's Morning Show on Tuesday March 14 at 9:05. WRCO is located at 100.9 FM Garden Planning Workshop: The RVACG and the Spring Green Community Library are sponsoring a free Garden Planning Workshop on Saturday March 18 from 1 to 3 pm. There will be lots of time to ask questions and plan your garden for the coming season. This workshop is appropriate for new and experienced gardeners. More garden related workshops are being planned for spring and summer. Shed Plans Approved: At the March 8 meeting the Village Board approved the plans for our new equipment shed. We had raised close to $12,000 last year but the estimate for the building has come in higher than expected. We will be discussing possibilities at our upcoming Board meeting including designating all or part of our fundraising profits from this coming year for the shed. Fundraising Dates: We have set several fundraising events for the coming year. Mark your calendar for the following dates: June 24 and 25 - Ice cream stand at the Spring Green Art Fair approximately 10 to 4 July 15, August 19, and September 9 - Brat Frys at Prems Meats on Hwy 14 from 10 to 2 October 5 - Caramel Apple Sale, Local Night at the Post House Garden, 5 to 7 pm October 6 - Caramel Apple Sale, RV School Fair at the RV Middle School, 8:30 - Noon Youth Gardening: We believe in starting our youth in the garden as soon as they are interested. Junior Gardeners: Our Junior Gardener program is for students in the River Valley School District in grades 5 through 12. They will receive a free 10 x 10 plot and a mentor to help them succeed with their plot for the summer. Applications are available on the Gardens website or may be requested at info@rvacg.org Busy Bees Garden Club: Our Busy Bees Garden Club is a curriculum and activity based program for children ages 3 through grade 4. Each child receives a 2 x 4 ft raised bed to grow veggies or flowers as they choose. Numbers are limited due to the amount of space and volunteer time. We are currently waiting to hear how many Busy Bees will be returning this summer before announcing how many raised beds we have available for the program. Children who apply after the raised beds are filled will be put on a waiting list for the next year and will be the first ones notified as beds become available. The program starts with a Meet and Greet on May 22 with the program starting with Planting Day on June 6 and running on Tuesday mornings from 915 to 1015 through Aug 1. This year we are planning a family picnic on Sunday Aug. 6. Volunteers Needed: We are always looking for volunteers. Tasks are available for all skill levels from baking cookies or working our fundraisers, to helping plant, care for and harvest food pantry plots, to weeding our flower beds or helping with the youth gardening programs. If you are interested, let me know. I'll add you to our volunteer list. More information about RVACG activities will be available later in the year. Follow us on Facebook or check our website rvacg.org. There is a calendar of events on the website. See you soon. Rose Ellen Schneider RVACG is a 501c4 nonprofit and as such may accept donations but they may not be deductible from an individual's taxes.
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As we look forward to the 2023 gardening season, the River Valley Area Community Gardens Board of Directors and Gardeners would like to thank the people of the River Valley area for your support. Whether you visited the Gardens, made a donation, or bought a spaghetti supper at the Shed, an ice cream cone at the Art Fair, a brat meal at one of our brat frys, a caramel apple at the RV School Fair, or a plant or two at our plant sales, we thank you. For help and support in various ways, we want to thank Jim and Caryl Sprecher, Jerome Sprecher, Roger Reynolds, the Spring Green Lions Club for sponsoring the Spaghetti Dinner for the benefit of our future equipment shed, the Spring Green Art Fair Committee, Cardinal IG, Peoples Community Bank, Doerre Hardware, TriCounty Building Supply, the Spring Green Community Church Spring Green Community Center, WRCO radio, The Weekly Home News, Valley Sentenial, Hometown Supermarket, Oakwood Fruit Farm, Thrivent Financial, Prems Meats, Wendy Crary and Vikki Stingley at the Village Office, dam Reno. For support of the Busy Bees Garden Club, we would like to thank the Community Foundation of South Central Wisconsin for a $500 grant for raised beds, West Madison Home Depot for additional financial help with the raised beds and Culvers of Spring Green. In 2022 we had 45 gardening families on 84 plots of various sizes. There were 6 participants in our Junior Gardener program for students in grades 4 through 12. There were 26 students age 3 through grade 4 who participated in our summer Busy Bees Garden Club. We offered 5 gardening workshops open to the public including one on the development of a deep straw demonstration garden by Roger Reynolds. We donated 896 lbs. of produce to the Community Food Pantry of Spring Green with additional produce being donated to the Meadows Assisted Living facility and also placed in the kiosk on Westmor St. at the Gardens. We are looking forward to an exciting 2023 as we build our new equipment shed and open more plots to gardeners. Registration for the 2023 gardening season is now open. Applications are available on our website at rvacg.org, or request them via our Facebook page or via email at info@rvacg.org . Phone requests may be made at 608-588-6040. Print copies are located in the INFO box on N. Westmor St at the Gardens. We are also looking for volunteers to help with the food pantry plots and garden maintenance. If anyone would like to help, please contact us. Please visit us this summer to take a walk through the Gardens or participate in our gardening workshops. Sincerely, The RVACG Board of Directors Rose Ellen Schneider President. Part of the River Valley Area Community Gardens mission / goals is to provide educational opportunities to both our Gardeners and the community at large. Our first opportunity for the 2022 growing season occurred on May 7 as Doug Rouse presented a demonstration of planting a vegetable garden. He shared many tips and gave practical advice as well as answered lots of questions from the gardeners.  Doug talked about both tilling and no-till gardening. He demonstrated some of the techniques that he uses at the RVACG to plant both his plots and the Food Pantry plots that he manages. He demonstrated a "quadruple dibble stick" which he had constructed. The dibble stick, a simple stick slightly larger than a seed, is used to poke holes in the soil to plant seeds. Doug wanted to do it faster so he attached 4 pointed ends to a scrap piece of 2 x 4 board. Doug also talked about watering plants. He shared how he installs a drip irrigation system to get water directly to the roots of the plants rather than watering from the top down which my cause diseases and encourage pests if plants get too wet. It's important to know your soil type because different soils require different watering requirements. Sandy soils in hot weather require more than loam or clay soils. Doug demonstrated hooking drip strips to the irrigation header  One of the big crops grown in the Food Pantry plots is potatoes. Doug demonstrated using a potato planter. He talked about why it is advantagous to plant potatoes in hills to draw the water away from the tubers so they don't rot if the soil retains a lot of water. He talked about the importance of using seed potatoes instead of leftover potatoes from the supermarket as a means of preventing disease in the potato crop.  Most everyone likes carrots but it is hard to control the planting of the tiny seeds. Once the seedlings emerge, they have to be thinned to allow room for the carrots to grow. Doug demonstrated a device that he constructed to make planting tiny carrot seeds easier. He cut a piece of pvc pipe in half lengthwise. He spreads the carrot seeds out along the pipe. When the seeds are where he wants them, he carefully and gently flips the pipe upside down in the row that he has prepared for the carrots. Doug also said the seeds could be spread out over a damp paper towel or strong toilet paper. Paper should be folded over the seeds. Then the paper could be laid in the ground and covered.
Doug also talked about a device he constructed to plant seeds without having to crawl on the ground or bend over. He constructed the device out of a piece of pvc pipe and a common funnel. Prepare your row and drop the seed in the device to plant it. Then cover the seeds with dirt. He said that if the device was just poked into the ground without preparing a row, the pipe would plug up with dirt.  Mulching is important in a garden because it is a weed control and also shades the soil to prevent moisture from evaporating into the atmosphere. Weeds pull moisture and nutrients away from the veggie or flower plants causing them to be less productive. Doug demonstrated laying either multi-layed newspaper or cardboard covered with straw or marsh hay between the rows. It saves a lot of work weeding and the gardens require less water. As the materials decompose, they add nutrients back into the soil.  Doug also demonstrated the proper hoeing technique for weeding if someone wanted to manage weeds manually.  Doug answered some questions about pest and disease control. If you missed the planting tips demonstration this year, Doug will do it again next season.
Doug will do at least one Disease and Pest Garden Walk later in the season to identify problems and give advice on how to prevent or control pests and diseases on plants. The dates have yet to be determined. Watch the local media sources for an announcement. Check our events calendar on our website. Check our Facebook page for event dates. Thank you to Doug for doing the demonstration. Thank you to those who attended and asked such wonderful questions. Excited Gardeners The 2022 Gardening Season is starting. Today was Gardener Orientation Day. New Gardeners met at the Gardens at 1:30. We introduced ourselves, went over the Garden Guidelines, signed Gardening Agreements, and had questions answered. Then we were off to find our plots  and tour the Gardens,  and inspect the Gardeners Shed.  Then we met up with the returning Gardeners, initiating the new shelter built last fall and enjoyed some cookies to warm us up.  Then all went home to warm up and plan our gardens and hope for warmer weather.
Let the Season Begin---Great day on Saturday April 23. Weather was warm. The wind behaved itself. The rain stayed away. And, many RV Area Community Gardeners, returning and new, and friends showed up to get the Gardens ready for the coming season. Several dump runs for garden garbage. Mulching rhubarb. Cleaning up tape, cardboard, and stuff that blew in over the winter. Pruned shrubs, dug shrubs, weeded berries, painted stakes for the plant sale. Mulching and cleaning nursery beds, raking dirt on to the irrigation lines AND, then there was the Busy Bees Garden. What fun these youngsters had getting the new raised beds ready for their season and the parents enjoyed it too. Next time they are all together is the Meet and Greet on May 15 at 3:30. It will be fun to have 28 youngsters ages 3 through Grade 4 in the Busy Bees Garden this summer, planting and learning, and playing, and creating. We will also have at least 5 Junior Gardeners ages Grade 5 through Grade 12. Busy summer ahead. It was so good to see people that we haven't seen since last fall and to meet new friends.  The next big gathering of Gardeners is Orientation on May 1. Looking forward to meeting all the new folks at 1:30 and seeing all the returning Gardeners at 2:15. The street will be even more full that afternoon.  Spaghetti Dinner Thank you to the Spring Green Lions for sponsoring the Spaghetti Dinner on March 1. Thank you to everyone who bought tickets, or made donations. Thank you to Mark and Wynn, Suki and all the other Shed employees who were involved in preparing the spaghetti dinner. It was declicious! The Lions served 444 dinners that night. We received a check for $3546.16. Several direct donations brought the profit up to nearly $3800. The money will be used to build a new equipment shed at the Gardens. Over halfway to our goal! Members of the Gardens Board and Dinner helpers gathered at the Gardens recently to receive the donation from the Lions. Pictured are Wid, Don, SG Lions member Howard, Rose Ellen, Doug, Amy, Melissa and Barb. Spring Green Lions’ Club Spaghetti Dinner Tuesday, March 1, 2022 4:30-7:30 PM Proceeds go to the River Valley Area Community Gardens for building equipment shed Drive-Thru 0nly In Alley behind The Shed Carry outs available / No dine=ins Adults: $7 Advanced --$8 at the door Children (K-8): $5 Advanced--$6 at the door Advanced tickets available at The Office Market, Pamela’s Fine Jewelry, Spring Green Lions’ Club members and River Valley Area Community Garden members. The current equipment shed is small and made of wood pallets. It is not weather or rodent proof. Other equipment is stored under the water tank that was damaged in the August windstorm. Some equipment is stored under the frame of the water tank. There wasn't enough space to store the Busy Bees picnic table and the leopold benches inside for the winter. Come enjoy some spaghetti and help us build the equipment shed. In May the Gardens received a Sauk County Pollinator Grant of native pollinator plants funded by Sauk County and the Ho Chunk Nation. The purpose of the grant is to encourage home gardeners to include native plants in their home gardens. Prairie Nursery in Westfield Wisconsin provided the following native plants: Smooth Penstemon, Ohio Spiderwort, Butterfly Weed for Clay, Wild Senna, Stiff Coreopsis, Purple Prairie Clover, Purple Coneflower, Sweet Joe Pye Weed, Prairie Blazing Star, Bergamont, Ironweed, New England Aster, Ohio Goldenrod and Prairie Dropseed grass. Once planted we needed to keep them watered and also to gradually move more of the non-native plants out of the existing bed. By August they were looking really good, starting to become established and starting to bloom. Below: Row 1: Picture of the site; butterfly weed; stiff coreopsis Row 2: Prairie drop seed grass with a stem of quickgrass; purple coneflower and bergamont; New England astor and a dill weed In September, the New England Aster, Ironweed, and the Stiff Coreopsis were beautiful. I was lucky enough to find three Monarch caterpillars in the gardens and successfully kept them through their metamorphosis. They were released into the Prairie Garden. One was released on the aster, one was released on the ironweed, and one was released on the stiff coreopsis. Hopefully they or their offspring will return to our Native Prairie Pollinator garden in 2022. And then, all too soon it was November and our native plants were sleeping for the winter. In the summer of 2022 we are planning to have a seminar on the native pollinator plants. Please watch either the web site or our Facebook page for the date. Following are some articles on the importance of planting native plants not just for pollinators but also to prevent soil eroison. Native Plant Root Systems https://wisconsinpollinators.com/Articles/PlantRootSystems.aspx  Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District "Native Landscaping" https://www.mmsd.com/what-we-do/green-infrastructure/native-landscaping USDA "Landscaping with native plants" https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/wi/programs/farmbill/?cid=nrcs144p2_015853 Wisconsin Department of Ntural Resource "Plant Native Plants" https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/endangeredresources/nativeplants.html Illinois Native Plant Guide https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/il/plantsanimals/nrcs141p2_030726/  Notice how long the roots are on the native plants in comparison to the roots on lawn grass.
The RV Area Community Gardens undertook a major project of building a shelter for shade at the Gardens. The only shade on site is the maple tree by the street. While the tree provided some shade, it wasn't enough. To raise money, we had a perennial plant sale in the Spring and 4 brat frys throughout the summer and fall to raise money to build the shelter. The shelter was designed by Gardeners Wid and Tom with some help from Chad Kannenberg at TriCounty Building and Supply.  Chad introduced us to a diamond pier to use as a foundation instead of pouring cement. Pretty cool device. Construction began in mid-September. Gardeners Wid, Tom and Doug put the diamond piers in the ground. They had fun and took turns using the jackhammer to drive the posts into the pier to secure it to the ground. The next work day was putting the framing up. Gardeners Tom, Wid, Doug and volunteer Larry had a beautiful day to work. Then the long wait began. We got caught in the supply chain snafu of 2022. Our trusses were being built in Minnesota. They were expected to arrive the first of October BUT.... 2 months later in early December we received word that they were in. Gardeners Wes, Tom, Wid, and volunteer Larry were blessed that December 3 and 4 were fairly mild and it was comfortable to work outdoors. Needless to say, we are looking forward to using the shelter this year not just as gardeners but for the Busy Bees Garden Club and our summer board meetings. We hope to have a shelter party this spring.
In 2021 Gardener Doug built a caterpillar at the Gardens to grow tomatoes for the Food Pantry. Commonly known as a hoop house or high tunnel, researchers and commercial produce farmers use the hoop house to control the growth envirornment. The West Madison Agricultural Research Station on Mineral Point Road on Madison's west side uses hoop houses for their research projects.  The caterpillar was 50 ft. long and made from UV resistant or coated plastic sheeting and 2 inch pvc pipe. Rope was criss-crossed across the plastic to hold it down making it look like a big white caterpillar. Doug planted a total of 48 tomato plants primarily two varieties called Estiva and Firecracker in two alternating rows down the center of the tunnel. He set up a drip irrigation system to water the plants. The tomatoes were trellised to a rope running the length of the tunnel at the top. A disadvantages of the caterpillar was someone had to be watching the weather. If it was too hot the plastic had to be hoisted higher to let the air flow more easily. If a storm was imminent, the plastic had to be dropped so that the wind didn't tear it. On most days the plastic could be rolled up and not touched until the weather forecast indicated that action was needed. The catepillar was quite a point of interest. Gardeners had questions about it's use. Doug explained the purpose and construction of the caterpillar to the RVHS Conservation Science classes when they visited the Gardens in June. The Busy Bees Garden Club found the "big white plastic thing" interesting and had fun picking tomatoes to take home for lunch. Following are Doug's comments on his experiment: "I thought for the first time, it worked quite well. I think we officially weighed around 150 pounds of tomatoes for the food pantry and the Meadows Assisted Living Center. I am sure we took more than that out unofficially because between food pantry deliveries Gardeners were able to help themselves and those harvests were never weighed. Also some of the tomatoes were placed in the Free Veggies Kiosk on Westmor Str.
The Firecracker variety had a lot of growth cracking on the stem end which might be due in part to uneven watering. On the other hand, the Estiva variety did quite well. Naturally, I think we can do much better next year. More regularity with water and fertilizer along with fabric mulch will, I hope, make a difference" Stop by during the 2022 gardening season and check out the Caterpillar. Doug will be putting it back up as soon as the weather permits this spring. |
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March 2023
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