Danni Lang Social Events, Work Party

Closing Day & Elections

Closing day is scheduled for Saturday, November 7th at 12:00pm. This is a mandatory event for all garden members. Failure to attend will result in bad standing* and removal of all plants in your plot.

The purpose of closing day is getting the garden ready for winter by wrapping up any maintenance projects, cleaning out plots and planting cover crops to protect the soil, holding elections for the garden leadership team next year and celebrating the end of a successful season together with a potluck.

  • You are required to compost your weeds/plant debris within your plot boundaries or remove the material from the property. Diseased plants should be bagged and removed from the property.
  • Between old plant refuse and cover crops, mulch shouldn’t be needed, however if you wish to add something else, it must be approved. Mulch such as leaves and marsh hay are encouraged, but materials such as wood chips etc. may cause damage to the soil or issues in your plot next season.
  • Volunteer hours will be awarded to those that attend.

If you are able, please bring a snack or beverage to share. After our hard work, we will celebrate the season with a potluck.

*Good Standing:

To end the season in good standing, you must have paid all dues and completed 4 volunteer hours per plot. Being in good standing allows you to be refunded your security deposit AND gives you the opportunity to apply for a plot next season.

Elections for 2015 Garden Leadership Team:

We will also hold elections for next year’s garden leadership team during closing day. Descriptions of the positions can be found below or on the CSCG website: https://crowleystationgarden.org/handbook/leadership-organization/

The success of Crowley Station Community Garden relies on dedication and hard work from the leadership team. It is a very important role that isn’t difficult! The leadership team meets once a month at the garden meetings (open to all members) and discusses the status of projects, events and issues within the garden. If there are projects that pertain to their role, leaders put in some time to complete those tasks throughout the month. They are encouraged to enlist the help of other garden members to complete these tasks and keep the garden running smoothly. This is a great way to fulfill volunteer hours and make a difference in the success of the garden.

Please let us know if you have any questions about any of the leadership roles!

Advertisement
crowleystationgarden Work Party

Compost and Happy Hour Planting Party this Friday, May 1st

CSCG Members, loved ones, friends, and neighbors,

This past Saturday we traversed Dane County on a mission for free compost and struck black gold! All beds were given some compost so our plots are now nutrient rich and ready for planting. Stop by the garden sometime this week and see how it’s shaping up already.

Join us this Friday, May 1st, for a Happy Hour Planting Party Work Day at the garden from 6:00–8:00pm. Bring beverages and snacks to share while we sort through weeds, seeds, and compost to wind down the week. It’s the perfect time to start planting some of the early spring vegetables that can withstand coldish weather. See our Education Director Danni Niles’s previous post for more suggestions, or keep reading using the gardening resources section of our website as your guide:

https://crowleystationgarden.org/handbook/gardening-resources/

crowleystationgarden Work Party

Work Party: July 31 5:30-8:30PM

An Example of our "No-Bend" Bed courtesy of Gardeners.com
An Example of our “No-Bend” Bed courtesy of Gardeners.com

Crowley Station Community Garden will be hosting another work party on Thursday, July 31, 2014 from 5:30-8:30PM. For this event we will be building our last raised bed, Doty St. All members and friends of the garden are welcome to attend and help out with this event. We are also asking for use of a cordless drill and more buckets, as we have to fill the bed by hand.

This raised bed is quite special. It is called a “no-bend” bed. It will be sitting on a raised stand that allows the gardener to use the bed without having to bend over and put extra stress on their back.If our garden did not have steps leading up to it, a person who used a wheel chair would be able to easily garden in this “no-bend” bed unlike the other raised beds. It also allows someone to place a stool or chair by the bed while they are weeding or planting thus eliminating the need to put stress on their back, knees, ect. Placing a bed a at different height also brings the garden new depths and elements of design that is critical in making an urban garden inviting and engaging. This bed will serve the garden in a host of splendid ways!

Now, it might seem silly to go to all this effort. However, community gardens are places where the public can explore the many varied issues around food including how accessibility plays a role in the availability of healthy food. Members of our community who live with accessibility issues, like seniors, are at an increased risk of also being food insecure. Having access to a community garden can help those members increase the amount of healthy food that is available to them. Yet, it doesn’t do any good to have the gardening experience be painful or impossible! A “no-bend” bed is just one solution among many that helps a community garden be more welcoming to the many diverse members of its community. Other solutions include: paths that are wheel chair accessible meaning that they are large enough for a wheel chair to go through and smooth enough not to get stuck, hanging containers, extra seating and shading for members to rest during the harsh summer months, easy access to water through light-weight hoses, and more. We hope that our first “no-bend” bed encourages other community gardens to think about accessibility issues and discover new solutions.

Community Gardens are only as strong as the diversity and empowerment of its members. Our neighborhoods are not made up of only one type of person and neither should our gardens!

crowleystationgarden Work Party

2014 Build Weekend

Many members of the community have been working tirelessly to lay the foundation for Madison’s newest community garden, Crowley Station Community Garden. This process has taken months. Meetings filled with design details and policy development went well into the April and May of this year. Some gardeners were beginning to wonder if anything would get planted this year at all!

Finally, on June 25 we got the materials needed to build our community garden. A call went out to registered members of the garden and the community for a Build Day on June 27 from 3-8PM. Twelve people showed up and got busy putting out beds from NaturalYards.com together. That was the easy part! We then started to move 13 tons of organic soil, by hand, up a small hill, up some steps, and into the beds. One day was not going to be enough! Saturday work continued for another five hours ending right before people began to find places for Madison’s Rhythm and Booms. The job was completed on Sunday at 5PM. A one day project turned into a whole weekend.

I think it can be safely said that all those hours of endless work were worth it! The garden looks beautiful. Many neighbors are already commenting on how wonderful the space looks now. Great things are going to grow in this garden. Please follow us to read the stories of our community garden and the gardeners who create it!

CSCG Build Weekend 2014