Goings on the Week of 3/17/13

Happy Spring Everyone! Spring Officially starts at 5:02 am on Wednesday Morning.  We all know that we have been busy as little bees already so it already feels like spring! Well the starts are going like gang busters so we need a place to put them.  We will be working on the hoop house Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week to get this accomplished!  We will be in the garden from 5-7 on these days. We will also be in the garden on Saturday from 11-1.  We have some more prep work to do in order to get ready for the season.  So come on out any or all of these days.  Remember many hands make light work. Seeds are in the ground A big thank you to everyone who came out last Saturday!  We had a nice group of folks preparing beds, turning compost, planting greens and working on the hoop house.  It was nice to see everyone! And yes, I did say planting greens.  We actually have seeds in beds!    I always look forward to the 1st green harvest of the season. The Blog Reminder Check out the new blog at www.MulberryCG.blogspot.com This is the place to keep up with all of the activities going on in the garden.  Make sure to check out the calendar page to see time and dates for events in the garden. If you are interested in contributing to this resource, please contact Chuck@MulberryCommunityGardens.org  If you don't know how, don't worry I will personally teach you this simple form of communication.  It only takes a few minutes to learn. Garden Sale and Party! We have set a date for our Garden Sale.  The garden sale will be a combination of plant sale and yard sale and garden party.  You know how we like those!  We will have the Garden sale on Saturday May 18th from 8-1 then we will have a Spring Get Together from 5-?. So, save the date and if you have any yard sale items, please bring them to the garden anytime.  We can store them in the garage. Garden Quote

Spring Time in Colorado

Spring Time in Colorado!

Don't you just love this time of year? Weather forecast for a foot of snow get next to nothing, weather forecast for nothing get 4 inches of snow then it will be close to 70!

With the latter part, the weather is suppose to be nice for the rest of the week and Saturday.  So we will be in the garden this Saturday from 11-1.  We have a bunch of things to do to get ready for the season.  So come on out and enjoy the sunshine on Saturday!  Bonus with this offer, you will get a healthy dose of vitamin D absolutely free!

With Daylight Savings in effect you are well aware that there is still plenty of daylight after 5.  Brian and Nate are trying to put together a weekday evening to meet at the garden to do some small task.  If you are interested, please contact Chuck@MulberryCommunityGardens.org with what day is good for you and I will forward it on to Brian.

Board Meeting this Evening

The Board of Directors are meeting this evening, 7 o'clock, in the office at the garden.  You are welcome and encouraged to attend.  This is a formal meeting where we decide on matters concerning the garden.  We really appreciate any input that you have on your garden!

BASEcamp visits

Four BASEcamp visits have been scheduled so far for this summer.  The dates are as follows:

June 20 1:30-3:30  2nd Grade
July 22 1:30-3:30 3rd Grade
August 5 1:30-3:30 4th Grade
August 8 1:30-3:30 2nd Grade

These are always fun times in the garden.  It's great to see those little hands so excited to get dirty!  I'll share one of Lorraine's favorite antidotes.  Lorraine was showing the kids the worms in the refrigerator, when it was here, and there was a little girl wearing t tutu bottom asking her questions about the worms.  The next thing she saw was the girl head deep into the worms and nothing but a tutu sticking out of the opening.

We can really use your help during these times.  If you can help in anyway, please contact Becca@MulburryCommunityGardens.org

For those of you who are not familiar with BASEcamp and our connection with this group here is some info.  BASE stands for Before and After School Enrichment.  This program is a nonprofit organization that works with school kids from the 1st - 8th grades year around before and after school through the Poudre School District.  During the summer they have an all day program at one of the schools here in Ft Collins.  During the summer MCG installs 8 portable garden beds at the school and we visit them 2 times a week from May to August.  We work with the kids teaching them about gardening, environment, and nutrition.  Also the kids come to our garden to see how we grow on a little larger scale and with a bit more variety.  Typically their favorite part is the goats and chickens!

Again, if you can help in ANYWAY it would be greatly appreciated.


Installing beds at Kruse Elementary


The kids making soil blocks

MCG Blog

If you haven't heard we have a new blog.  www.MulberryCG.blogspot.com   This is a much easier way to keep you updated with what is going on in the garden.  You should check it out!  We feel the best part right now is the calendar of events so you can see what is going on quickly!

In order to make this a great resource for you, we are looking for folks who would like to contribute.  This could be simply by adding your photos from the garden,  adding your favorite recipe for veggies that are in season, it may be to share a story, or a how to.

Don't know how to blog?  That is the easy part.  I will personally teach you how to post to the blog. Once I get a couple "students" I will set up a teaching session at the garden.  So if you are interested in contributing to this resource, please contact me Chuck@MulberryCommunityGardens.org

Garden Quote

The Seeds are Started!

Plant Starting

Thanks to everyone who helped get the seeds in the soil last Saturday.  We got 19 trays of starts going and they are going!  

 

We started: Bee weed, 5 types of basil, cilantro, echinacea, lavender, oregano, parsley, rosemary, zenia, nasturtium, marigold, 2 types of broccoli, cabbage, cucumber, 8 types of peppers, okra, 6 types of squashes, and 11 types of tomatoes.

We also want to thank The Growing Project for their donation of seeds to our project!

The pictures below are within 5 days of planting seeds!  I swear it is the starter mix Lorraine mixes!

Hoop House

So now that the seeds are going, we got to get the hoop house completed.  We are probably 1 good day away from getting the cover on.  Ideally we would get this done on Saturday, but you can't fool Mother Nature.  The weather forecast is saying up to a foot of snow Friday into Saturday.  So let's be thankful for the moisture as we wait for another day to get this done.

We will not be meeting Saturday!

We Got Money!

We just received notification that a grant from the Larimer County Open Lands was approved!  We received money to get another water pump and raise about 1/3 of the beds to 16".  Can't wait to get the check and get started raising those beds.  We will need some help on this so watch your email for the date!

Blog

Just a reminder to visit our blog.  There is not much in content there yet but we expect it to be full of good information, recipes, pictures and garden ideas when we get really going in the season.  Check it our here  www.MulberryCG.blogspot.com  Remember, we feel the best part of the blog so far is the calendar of events.

If you are interested in contributing, please email Chuck@MulberryCommunityGardens.org  It would be great to get some different perspectives on and about the garden.

On a sad note

Today we had to say good by to Don our earless lamancha goat (the white one).  Don had been diagnosed with a fatal condition and we agreed that it was best that we humanely euthanize him.

Garden Quote

Who loves a garden loves a greenhouse too.
-William Cowper