[Garden] Planting Party - confirmed use of biology greenhouse

Fri Mar 20 11:59:58 EDT 2009

Don't bring in any possibly infected trays and pots - use what they  
provide.  I made a point of contacting   the greenhouse people last  
year and introducing myself and telling them a bit about the garden,  
also asked for a couple of favours - they are very helpful and  
friendly. Glad to see that this is continuing.

I started about 60 tomato plants of 11 varieties, as well as peppers 2  
weeks ago.  I thought the extra time would help.  They are now up and  
thriving.  I wouldn't mind discussing garden layout and a planting  
schedule if anyone is interested. I think things have tended to be  
rather hit and miss and we could probably double or triple  
productivity, as well as stretch out the harvest seasons,  with no  
extra effort. I particularly like spring greens (progression of head  
and leaf lettuce, radishes, spinach, green onions, Chinese greens,  
corn salad, arugula, cress, mustard greens, lambs quarters, good king  
henry and goosefoot...) I have seeds for some of these.

- Greg

Quoting Madeline Rosamond <m.rosamond at gmail.com>:

> Hi, Steph:
> Yay! That is super nice of her - I like your idea of making sure she
> gets some veggies.
> I've attached a list of the seeds that we have now and will be
> planting early. I don't think we've really figured out how much of
> what we'll be planting. Also, I think we have flats left over from
> last year (Candace can confirm this?) so she might not need to provide
> these.
> Cheers,
> Maddy
>
> On Fri, Mar 20, 2009 at 10:20 AM,  <s3lyons at scimail.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
>> Hello fellow gardeners,
>>
>> I have great news!  I just spoke with the manager of the Biology dept
>> greenhouse and she is willing to let us use space FOR FREE!  The news
>> doesn't stop there....she is going to provide us the flats and pots for
>> planting and her staff will look after the watering until we are ready to
>> plant in the garden.  We also can go and use the work bench in the
>> greenhouse for our planting party.  It is important that the compost we
>> plant the seedlings in is bought in the bags and is sterilized...there are
>> labs experiments in the greenhouse and we need to make sure we are not
>> brining in any pathogens.  The bench we are allowed to use holds up to 16
>> flats.  Saying all of this I would really appretiate cooperation with use of
>> this facility...this is on a trial basis and we are really fortunate for
>> this generous support.  Non-researchers and non-biology people have never
>> been allowed to use this space.
>>
>> Can someone please email me and let me know what seed types will be planted.
>>  I need to notify the manager.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Stephanie Lyons
>>
>>
>> Quoting Alicia Mah <alicia.mah at gmail.com>:
>>
>>> Dear Gardeners,
>>>
>>> Here are a list of things that have/should/could get done before our
>>> planting party on April 1 at 6pm, and those tasks which are completed/
>>> have
>>> or have not been assigned. Fill your name in, or correct me if something
>>> has
>>> already been taken care of.
>>>
>>> Things that have already been done:
>>> Making the poster - Alicia (attached to this email)
>>> Ordering seeds - Candace/Maddy
>>>
>>> Things that really should be taken care of:
>>> Making and Distributing posters - Alicia - I will leave some at the office
>>> if others on campus would like to swing by and pick some up to distribute
>>> to
>>> their respective corners of campus.
>>>
>>> Where to put seeds after planting? - Some to Candace, any others? do we
>>> have
>>> enough other people who can take them to their homes? or, Can we put them
>>> on
>>> campus, potentially in WPIRG office, or in greenhouses on campus? anybody
>>> have any leads?
>>>
>>> buying planting soil - who?
>>>
>>> Deciding which seeds to plant - can be done at the planting party, however
>>> just wanted to remind people that this was a concern brought up at the
>>> last
>>> meeting, just randomly planting seeds might not be the best strategy?
>>>
>>> Optional:
>>> Buying party food (we have at least $40 to spend, potentially more with
>>> collaboration from Simplicity Circle) - ?
>>>
>>> Excited to see you all at the party :D
>>>
>>> cheers,
>>> Alicia
>>>
>>> P.S. post-planting party considerations (i.e. for another day) might be:
>>> to finalize the budget (so that we can get approval from WPIRG and start
>>> spending the money!)
>>> fencing?
>>> turning the soil?
>>> weed/pest control?
>>>
>>> On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 4:10 AM, Paul Nijjar <paul_nijjar at yahoo.ca> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --- On Thu, 3/12/09, Alicia Mah <alicia.mah at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > Hello to all gardeners,
>>>> > Please take a look at the poster attached. I've
>>>> > submitted it to Evan for
>>>> > approval, the plan is to put it up around campus. Please
>>>> > respond with a
>>>> > quick "yes the poster looks okay" or "we
>>>> > should change 'this'... "
>>>>
>>>> The bottom half of the poster is rather... left aligned. One way to
>>>> fix it might be to use more centering. Another way might be to stick a
>>>> few more graphics in the poster.
>>>>
>>>> Here's one possible layout:
>>>>
>>>> "Community gardening is the answer for you" --> center this
>>>>
>>>> "Come to our seed planting..." --> right align this paragraph
>>>>
>>>> Then you might stick pictures of cassava or bittermelon or
>>>> other vegetables we might grow in the blank spaces. Even if you don't
>>>> stick in any other graphics I think this balances out the poster a
>>>> bit.
>>>>
>>>> I am also wondering whether the bullet points could be improved. You
>>>> already have "learn about gardening" in the "No experience but want to
>>>> learn?" bit (although maybe it is worth re-iterating -- maybe "learn
>>>> about organic gardening"?). Also, "get free vegetables" may turn off
>>>> the good-hearted souls who tend to be attracted to the garden. Here
>>>> are some other possible bullet points off the top of my head. Probably
>>>> three bullet points are a good number, but if you're looking for ideas
>>>> then you might consider some of the following:
>>>>
>>>> - Grow wholesome organic vegetables!
>>>> - Spend time outside for a change!
>>>> - Dig in the dirt!
>>>> - Get your hands dirty!
>>>> - Support local agriculture!
>>>> - Develop your appreciation for misshapen carrots!
>>>> - Help compost UW's food waste!
>>>> - Take your frustration out on bindweed!
>>>> - Eat the (edible) weeds!
>>>> - Fresh peas! Fresh strawberries! Fresh tomatoes!
>>>> - Party with the earthworms!
>>>>
>>>> etc.
>>>>
>>>> If you're not looking for ideas then that is fine too. I am just
>>>> picking nits on account of I am a lousy nitpicking nitpicker.
>>>>
>>>> > P.S. Paul, could you potentially come later on in the
>>>> > evening (say around 7)
>>>> > for the planting party? Would that be a fair compromise?
>>>>
>>>> There's no need to compromise on my account. If I can drop by I will,
>>>> but unfortunately I can offer no guarantees. You should really be
>>>> cultivating all the lurkers lurking on the list, because they are the
>>>> ones who have easy access to campus, and they represent the vibrant
>>>> young seedlings of the revolution.
>>>>
>>>> - Paul
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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