Brrrr...It's cold out there. Thought we had missed the Polar Vortex for this year, but surprise! I drove by the Gardens today. The perennial flower beds were buried beneath drifts from the recent snows and high winds. It's going to take awhile for those drifts to disappear. As we continue to hibernate in our warm homes this next week, thoughts will undoubted drift toward Spring. Jimmy the Groundhog from Sun Prairie, WI said we would have an early Spring. Only time will prove him right or wrong. So, to get you through until the temps rise, here are a few spring blooms from our the 2020 perennial bed. Sounds like above freezing weather soon!
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Winter. It is too early to start seeds. It is cold here with snow on the ground so garden work is out of the question. So what better time to learn something new about gardening.. a new planting technique, new plants, soil amendments. weeds. pollinators, raised gardens, fertilizers, organic gardening techniques... all sorts of topics covered in all sorts of ways. Following are just a few sources to get new information on gardening. Garden Workshops Covid has put a cabash to the in-person garden workshops. But that doesn't mean they aren't happening. Many organizations are going online. As a Facebook user I have new workshops from all over the Midwest and the nation popping up on my Facebook page all the time . The 2021 Wisconsin Garden & Landscape Expo is scheduled for February 20 and 21 online. The number of workshops has been greatly reduced because of the online format. Interested gardeners may get more information at https://wigardenexpo.com Grant County Master Gardeners is offering a series of speakers on various gardening topics. Interested people may get more information at http://grantcountymastergardeners.weebly.com/speaker-series-for-2021.html The first ever 2021 Virtual Wisconsin Community Garden Conference is scheduled for February 12 and 13. It has two strings...one for gardeners and one for community leaders. There is a small fee for this program. Interested people may get more information at https://danegardens.net/conference Some of these programs are free. Some require a small registration fee. As new workshops come across my Facebook page, I post them to the our Gardens Facebook page. BOOKS There are many books available on all sorts of gardening topics. Of course a great place to look for books is your local library which has a great collection of gardening books on various topics of interest. I use my local library to preview books before purchasing. One of my favorites is the Creative Vegetable Gardener's Smart Start Garden Planner. Not only is it pretty to look at but it is an easy read and full of wonderful charts about veggies and garden planning documents. The author, Megan Cain, lives in Madison so all the information is very accurate for our Midwest growing area. It can be ordered directly on Cain's website and it is available on loan through our local South Central Library System. Below are page shots of Megan's book. Online Resources There are so many resources available online. A Google search for free online gardening resources will provide a list or resources and workshops from nurseries, garden organizations, and YouTube resources. Be sure that the learning opportunity is from a reliable organization or source. Facebook user? Gardening tips, workshops, and information is shared daily on the River Valley Area Community Gardens Facebook page. Like the page and get the latest updates. Melinda Meyer, Megan Cain and P. Allen Smith as well as Jungs Seeds, Burpee Seeds, Botanical Interests, Bruce Company, Proven Winners and many other suppliers and noted gardeners have Facebook pages, web sites and YouTube channels that provide gardening tips. Television Your local PBS station is a great place to check for gardening programs. Here in the Madison area WHADH airs University Place at numerous times during the day. University Place often rebroadcasts Wisconsin Garden & Landscaping Expo workshops and other programs from the University of Wisconsin on gardening topics. The broadcast schedule is listed on the University Place web site where the programs may also be watched directly. HGTV along with other channels may carry other gardening programs. Check your local TV listings. Associations There are a number of organizations focused on gardening that provide resources related to gardening topics. A few of those are listed below The National Gardening Association The American Horticultural Society The American Community Garden Association University of Wisconsin Extension, Department of Horticulture and many others Kids Gardening Resources Our kids are our future gardeners. KidsGardening is a source of activities, lesson plans and resources to help parents, teachers, leaders and others working with students. I hope you take some time to explore one or more of these resources to learn something new about gardening. A new year brings changes.This year we are saying "Good-bye" as President and Superintendent Duane Miller and Board member Becki Miller, long time Gardeners and 5 year Board members, leave the Board due to Duane's work schedule and wanting to spend time with their son Matthew. We hate to see them go but we know they are going to be volunteers and will stop to check the Gardens when they are in town. Duane, and Becki along with their son, Matthew, were instrumental in getting the Gardens up and running in 2016, helping at the brat frys and the caramel apple sales, keeping equipment running and making repairs, and in keeping the grounds mowed and looking great They were also instrumental in laying our first underground irrigation lines. Becki made our current RVACG sign on Westmor St. Becki has volunteered to continue mowing the grounds next summer. Duane has said he would help lay the irrigation lines into the new section on the western half of the property. He has said he would continue to be our mechanic as time allows. Thanks Duane and Becki for all your hard work over the years! We will miss your insights and suggestions at the Board Meetings but look forward to Spring and seeing you around the Gardens again. At the December meeting of the Board of Directors, new officers were elected as follows: President / Registrar: Rose Ellen Schneider Vice President / Superintendent: Doug Rouse Secretary: Sarah Alt Treasurer: Melissa Hildebrandt (new Board member) Board Members: Thomas Hilston, Don Koller, Amy Thompson, Wid Yarnall Due to meeting via Zoom we are unable to get a picture of the new Board at this time. Below is a drone picture of the Gardens taken in October 2020. Last season we added a total of 27 new plots on the south side (bottom) and the west side (left) of the garden. This year we are opening the complete western area of the Gardens for plots with a possibility of approximately 21 more 20 x 20 plots. This will provide more opportunities for people to garden with us. These 20 x 20 plots may be subdivided into 10 x 20 plots or 10 x 10 plots. Registration is now open and information may be found on our Garden Plots page or via email at info@rvacg.org The Board is also considering adding a shelter for shade, for outdoor meetings, and for public use. Looking at the picture, the tentative location of the shelter is somewhere south (below) of the white fences (lines) of the perennial bed which divides the parkland from the gardens. Currently we are discussing using all of our fund raising profits in 2021 for the shelter. Decisions also need to be made about moving the Gardeners Shed and constructing a new Mower / Storage Shed in the next couple of years. Cost estimates for the storage shed indicate we will need to undertake some major fundraising activities as planning progresses. We are looking forward to all the new opportunities to share gardening with our community in 2021.
Think Spring! To the River Valley Area Community,As our 5th growing season has ended, the River Valley Area Community Gardens Inc. would like to thank you for your support of our community garden. Covid 19 threw a wrench into some of our plans but it didn't stop the community from gardening. In 2020, the gardens nearly doubled as we added 25 plots to accommodate our growth from 14 family units to 26 family units including 3 student gardeners. We thank you for your support of our brat frys this fall as we raised money for our 2021 gardening expenses which include water and irrigation supplies, fertilizer, marsh hay, insurance, tiller, insecticides and other gardening needs. For monetary donations, we thank Peoples Community Bank, Cardinal Glass, and the St. John's Knights of Columbus . For help with our brat frys and garden projects, we thank Prems Meats, Hometown Supermarket, Doerre Hardware, Office Mart, Spring Printing, The Weekly Home News, Tri-County Building Supply, and all the area businesses that allow us to put posters advertising our gardens in their windows. For an indoor meeting space, we thank Spring Green Community Church. We thank the Spring Green Farmer's Market for allowing us to have a booth for distributing registration information. We thank Wendy and Vicky in the Village Office, Greg and the Spring Green public works department, and the Village Board for their help and support. We thank Jim Sprecher for tilling the new plots and the loan of equipment. We thank Jerome Sprecher for the spring and fall tilling of our plots. We thank Miracles on Hoof / CR Therapy Center for compost and Ron Miller for marsh hay. We thank our volunteers, those non community gardeners who have helped us harvest food pantry produce and work on our various projects throughout the gardening season. We thank those of you who have taken time to walk through our Gardens and have expressed your appreciation for all the work our gardeners have done in their plots. This year we donated a total of 740 lbs. of produce to the Spring Green Community Food Pantry which serves families in the River Valley area. We also delivered veggies to shut-ins who could not drive by our donation kiosk at the Gardens to pick up extra produce. Although the Gardens look bleak and lonely as they rest for the next season on this late December day, we are looking forward to spring and seeing you all again at the Gardens located in the 900 block of North Westmor behind Ring Brothers Classic Auto. We are currently making plans for the 2021 season and taking registrations for garden plot rentals. Again this year we are offering a discount to people gardening with us for the first time. Also we have free garden plots available for low income, unemployed or needy families. We have a Student Gardening program that provides free plots for students. Mentors are available for students and new or inexperienced gardeners. We have added more plots to accommodate more Gardeners. We are also working on an Enabling Garden to demonstrate ways people who have limited mobility may participate in gardening. To get more information or registration forms to garden with us, please check our Facebook page or visit our website at rvacg.org or email us at info@rvacg.org . Rose Ellen Schneider, on behalf of the Board of Directors of the River Valley Area Community Gardens (This thank you letter was submitted to The Weekly Home News for publication) New plots for 2021
It is that time of year to be thankful for the harvest. For the 5th year we have donated over 500 lbs of produce from our dedicated food pantry plots to the local food pantries. This year the produce was donated to the Community Food Pantry of Spring Green which serves all the residents of the River Valley School District. Starting in August volunteers harvested tomatoes, cabbage, onions, potatoes, and sweet potatoes as they ripened. All of the veggies were washed, weighed and packed for delivery to the Food Pantry. Deliveries were made in August, September, October and November. Individual gardeners had plentiful harvests. Extra produce was put in the kiosk so that passser-bys could enjoy fresh produce. We had a couple of calls to deliver fresh veggies to the homes of shut-ins . Harvest pictures are from Ann, Amy and Wid, and Laura. On this Thanksgiving Day 2020, the lyrics of an old hymn seem appropriate.
Thankful we are!
If you would like to join us for the 2021 gardening season, we are accepting registrations throughout the winter months into the spring. So, we have to move our asparagus bed. So glad it isn't any larger than what it is. On Saturday November 7, Doug used Emily's walk behind tractor to dig the trenches for the asparagus. He got about 15 feet of asparagus transplanted that weekend. On Saturday November 14, a group of people gathered to transplanting the asparagus bed. We had 2 1/2 20 foot rows to transplant. Many hands made the work go faster. Some were digging the plants. Some were carrying them to the new plot. Some were planting. Some were covering Tom and I dismantled the marsh hay bale for mulch. Melissa mulched plants while David kept planting. Nancy found a straggler so Doug helped plant it. After we finished we took some time to visit while social distancing. Community gardening is a great way to meet new friends, learn new skills, grow fresh food for your family, get some exercise, enjoy nature, share recipes. We will be accepting registrations for 2021 through the winter with publicity starting again in mid to late February. We will also be at the Spring Green Farmer's Market with registration forms next spring. If you have questions, contact us info@rvacg.org
On Saturday November 7, Jerome Sprecher tilled the garden plots putting them to bed for the winter He also broke ground and tilled 2 rows of new plots on the west side of the Gardens. The Gardens look so clean and ready for bed. Many of our Gardeners are already thinking about how they are going to plant their gardens next season. Doug and Bazil have garlic planted in their plots. If you are interested in renting a garden plot for the 2021 season, the information is here or contact us. On Saturday morning Oct 24, the River Valley Area Community Gardens entered a new phase of development as a group of Gardeners gathered at the site to add plots on the western half of the Gardens. When these new plots are rented, we will have reached our maximum capacity. The 2021 gardening season will be our 6th year. This view is looking northwest from the gas line in the middle of the property. We were blessed with a great day to be out in the Gardens. It was a bit cool but warmed up. And we stayed warm with all the activity. The heavy rain on Thursday night did not leave the field muddy. We have some planning to do because we have to move our sheds due to the gas line but we are excited for the future. Registration continues throughout the winter into the middle of June or until all plots are rented. Registration forms are available now First time community gardeners will receive a discounted rental fee. We also have a student gardening program where students garden free and may be assigned a mentor, unless they have a gardening parent.. Garden info Registration form Student Garden info Student Registration info Need more info, please contact us. Wow, Mother Nature surprised us on Oct 19. SNOW. It turned the grass white for a few minutes but melted. But, it did give us some pretty pictures from the Gardens. There is still veggies growing, flowers blooming, seeds forming, and leaves on the trees as the snow coated the Gardens in a blanket of white. The pictures: Maple sapling; New England Astors in the Prairie Garden; Frost Astor that looks like it is blooming again with it's coating of snow; Lettuce in a garden plot; Purple coneflower, and River Birch tree with snow caps.
After a couple of cancellations due to Covid 19 concerns, we finally were able to have 2 successful brat frys at Prems Meats in Spring Green. Our master chiefs decided to add chicken breast sandwiches and Italian sausage to our menu of brats and hot dogs. The chicken breast sandwiches were popular. We sold 20 Italian sausages. The decision is out on the Italian sausage for next year but we will definitely bring the chicken breasts back. On both days we were blessed with good weather for the brat frys. It stopped misting / sprinkling by the time we were ready to set up and started misting / sprinkling as we started cleaning up. It was a tiny bit nippy for the October day. We worked really hard but we also had a lot of fun. All proceeds from our brat frys go to operating expenses. We cleared a tad over $600 on each of the frys giving us a good start for the 2021 gardening season. Thanks to Thrivent Financial for seed money for expenses and to Prems Meats and Hometown Supermarket for their support. We are adding plots so we know that we need to get new plot markers, expand the irrigation system, purchase more hoses and another wagon or two, Dates for the 2021 brat fry season will be set in early spring and will be scheduled sometime between mid-July to mid-September. Be sure to stop out and support the Community Gardens. |
AuthorRose Schneider. Archives
January 2024
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