RVACG 2024 Annual Report

The following was submitted to the River Valley Area Community Gardens Annual Meeting on December 8, 2023​.  
 
The River Valley Area Community Gardens Inc. has successfully completed its 8th growing season.  The RVACG is designated as a 501c4 non-profit organization by the IRS.

2023 Highlights
There were 38 Gardeners in 52 plots compared to 45 gardeners in 84 garden plots in 2022 and 30 gardeners in 44 plots in 2021.  Breaking it down by size, there were 8 gardeners renting10 x 10 plots, 10 gardeners rented 10 x 20 plots, and 18 gardeners rented 34 of the 20 x 20 plots.  There were 2 gardeners renting elevated garden beds.

Two Board members resigned due to moving out of state.  We replaced one board member and had one vacancy.  At the December meeting we filled the vacancy and added two more members to bring the Board total to 11 members.   Officers are President, Rose Ellen Schneider; Vice President, Doug Rouse; Secretary, Kelly Miller, and Treasurer, Melissa Hildebrandt.

Tasks force teams were organized to help distribute the work load of garden tasks including maintenance.

There was a large turnout for our Pre-Season meeting / work day in May.

The veggie kiosk and INFO mail box were painted.

Most of the trellis fencing bordering the perennial flower beds was removed to make weeding and maintenance easier.

A successful fund raising year included 4 brat fries at Prems between June and September; the Ice cream stand at the Spring Green Art Fair; 3 Culvers Share Nights; and a caramel apple sale at the RV School Fair.

As 2023 ends, all permits are in place, with site and construction plans approved for the building of our new equipment shed.  Construction will start in the Spring/Summer of 2024.

For help and support in various ways, we want to thank Jim and Caryl Sprecher, Jerome Sprecher,  the Spring Green Art Fair Committee, Cardinal IG, Peoples Community Bank, Doerre Hardware, TriCounty Building Supply, Red Barn Catering, the Spring Green Community Church, Spring Green Community Library, WRCO radio, the Weekly Home News, Valley Sentinel, Hometown Supermarket, Oakwood Fruit Farm, Prems Meats, Culvers of Spring Green, Wendy Crary, Vikki Stingley, and Adam Reno at the Village Office.  For support of the Busy Bees Garden Club, we would like to thank Emily Whitmore, Culvers of Spring Green and Subway.

Educational Opportunities
Gardener Emily Martonaro presented a Planning Your Garden workshop at the Spring Green Community Library on Saturday, March 18.  Doug Rouse demonstrated gardening basics in the spring.  A follow-up to the Gardening Planning workshop with an Open House was held in August.  All educational opportunities were open to the public

Youth Gardener Programs
Our Junior Gardener program had 9 children in grades 3 through 12 compared to 6 in 2022 and 3 in 2021.  8 Junior Gardeners had 10 x 10 plots and 1 had a 10 x 20 plot.

Our Busy Bees Garden Club had 27 children ages 3 through grade 4 in 14 2 ft x 8 ft raised beds compared to 26 children ages 3 through grade 4 in 12 raised garden beds in 2022 and 16 students in 2021.  The program ran Tuesday mornings from June 7 to Aug 9 from 9:15 to 10:15.  Students were to care for their plots between weekly sessions and then until harvest was complete or frost after the program ended.

Food Pantry
The RVACG is committed to help alleviate food scarcity in the River Valley area.  We donated the following

Spring Green Food Pantry     1621.9 lbs        In 2022, the recorded donation was 896.9 lbs
Meadows Assisted Living       216.5 lbs        No records kept for 2022
Kiosk on site                            265    lbs        No records kept for 2022
Total donation of produce is 2,103.4 lbs. 

In 2023, more of the donations were weighed as they were distributed.

Social Media
The RVACG Facebook page continues to grow.  As of Dec. 31, it had 602 followers.  82 percent are women and 18 percent are men.  190 followers are from Spring Green, 33 followers are from Lone Rock.  33 followers are from Madison.  20 followers are from Arena.  14 followers are from Plain.  The remainder are from all over the US and beyond.
The RVACG website had 1534 page views, 942 unique visits with an average of 1.5 page views per visit between January 1 through Dec. 6, 2023.

Social Activities
In June gardeners painted signs for each of their gardens.  In September, we celebrated a successful season with a potluck with re-registration for 2024 and work day.  The Annual Meeting was held in December with the Board providing snacks. 

Looking forward to 2024
Registration for new gardeners is open.

A new equipment shed will be built and the Gardeners Shed moved.

Plans are being made to become more efficient and intentional in composting garden refuse.

More social and educational events are being discussed for the season.  We are cosponsoring a Journaling in Nature class conducted by Kay Balink with participants using the Gardens as a source.
Plans are to continue getting volunteer task force work teams more organized to help with garden maintenance and other activities.

We are discussing the installation of a new RVACG Garden sign on Westmor St. in the near future.
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Fund raising opportunities include several brat fries at Prems Meats, the ice cream stand at the Spring Green Art Fair, the caramel apple sale at the RV School Fair, and other opportunities that may arise with a possible activity in February.

Respectfully submitted
Rose Ellen Schneider
Dec. 8, 2023