Goings on in the garden the week of 4/28/13

Old Man Winter Keeps Coming!

So we are under yet another winter storm warning with forecast up to a foot of snow.  The moisture is more than welcome but this puts a damper on our garden plans.  Because of the snow forecast we are canceling Thursday hours.  It just wouldn't be pleasant with all the mud.  So we will meet again on Saturday from 10-2 so we can get the heat of the day.

The bees are coming!

Chuck is picking up a package of bees on Saturday to place in our hive.  Come on by between 12 and 1 and see Lahoma and Chuck introduce the bees to their new home.  Lahoma is our resident bee expert.  she was a professional bee keeper and is full of knowledge.  Come on out and learn more about the great pollinator!

Here is a video of Lahoma releasing bees in her hive last year.

Home Grown Foods

This Saturday Home Grown Food is holding their annual Starter Barter from 11-2 at Avos.  This is a great event and is a good fundraiser for the garden.

We are going to be a bit shorthanded with some folks out of town and with Chuck going to pick up bees.  Is there anyone out there that would like to sell some of our starts at this event?  We really could use the help!  If interested, please contact Lorraine at Lorraine@MulberryCommunityGardens.org

Garden Sale

On Saturday May 18th we are having our Garden Sale from 8-1.  Think yard sale in the garden plus plant starts.  If you have anything you want to donate to the yard sale portion of this sale, please drop these items by anytime before then.

We will need plenty of help with this event, if available please come on by to assist with what has come to be one of our most important fundraisers of the year.

Then at 5:00 we are having our spring get together!  This is a pot luck dinner so please bring a dish to share and as always please bring your own plates, cups, eating utensils and your favorite beverage.  Rumor has it there will be a bluegrass band playing and a special spring time Heinze home brew.  This should be an incredible event and lots of fun.

Garden Quote

In the Garden on Saturday April 27th

What a beautiful day to be in the garden!  We got all the raised beds constructed.  The bee hive has been polyed and peas, onions and squashes were planted.  Thanks to everyone who came out!

1st bed being installed.  Lorraine forgot the champagne to christen it ;(

In the Garden on Thursday

Thanks to everyone who came out Thursday evening.  We got a lot accomplished.  Raised beds were made, starts were transplanted, bee hive got protected and then we shared a pot luck dinner.  Looking forward to seeing you all again on Saturday!

Mike and Nate moving a completed bed

Jilli, Reanna and Cale transplanting starts

Potluck getting started

Goings on in the garden the week of 4/21/13

Winter keeps coming
So we are getting plenty of moisture!  This snow is a good type of moisture as well.  The slow thaw allows the moisture to go deep into the soil.  This should be good for the greens we have planted already!

We will be in the garden on Thursday (5-7) and Saturday (9-1) this week.  This will be a good time to get the broccoli and cabbages in the ground.  Fingers crossed we don't get any more snow, but rain is always welcome!

We will also be doing some other projects as well so come on out and enjoy the beautiful weather that is forecast!

Anyone for a Potluck?

Since is suppose to be in the 60's on Thursday, we are having a potluck after garden hours on Thursday (7-?). Hopefully this will become a more regular event as the weather gets better.

Please bring a dish to share and you beverage of choice.  As always, please bring your own reusable plates, cups and utensils.

CSUnity event

Thanks to everyone who participated in the CSUnity event this past Saturday.  This was a huge success.  With the help of some CSU students we got the lion's share of the raised beds completed, tomatoes transplanted, compost turned and chicken wire around the goat pen so Don doesn't get his horns stuck anymore.  Then we finished with a cookout for lunch!  Again, thanks to all the members and the students in making this a very productive day!

Blog

Have you seen our blog?  If you haven't check it out at www.MulberryCG.blogspot.com  A lot of the members have commented that the calendar is very useful.

Do you want to contribute to this resource?  It's very easy to do.  If you still don't believe me, I (Chuck) will be holding a how-to Saturday after garden hours.  If you are interested be at the garden around 1 and I will show you how to blog.

We are interested in anyone wanting to share anything with the group, recipes, garden tips and ideas, poetry, stories, whatever.

Weekly Tidbit

Instead of a quote I have a video this week entitled "I'm Farming and I Grow it" a parody on "I'm Sexy and I Know It"



 

Saturday April 20th CSUnity Event

A quick note

This is going to be short.  Tomorrow we will be hosting a CSUnity event at the garden from 10-2.  We will have 10 volunteers from CSU coming to help us out in the garden.  We were holding out on sending this email to see what the weather was going to do.  Rest assured the event is going on as planned so come on out and be an ambassador of the garden.  Our main project is to build some raised beds with the grant from Larimer county.  We will also be doing other projects so make sure to wear your boots, it will be muddy.


Oh did I mention food?  We will be serving lunch to these hungry malnourished students around 12.  Some come on out and enjoy the day with us.

Young Farmer Mixer at the Empire Grange

Hey everyone,
Just wanted to give you a heads up about an event hosted by the National Young Farmer Collation at the Grange tonight. There are more details listed on website. Hope to see you there!

What: Young Farmer Mixer – Potluck – Bluegrass Dance Party – FREE BEER!
When: April 13
Where: Empire Grange – 2306 W. Mulberry, Fort Collins, CO
Who: Any and ALL Young farmers, Young-at-Heart farmers, farm workers, farm interns, and farm apprentices from Colorado Springs to Cheyenne

Schedule of events:
7:00 pm  – 8:30 pm — Potluck
9:00 pm – 11:00 pm — Bluegrass Dance Party featuring Blue Grama

http://www.youngfarmers.org/fort-collins-young-farmer-mixer/

Garden Times The Week of 4/7/13

Springtime in Colorado!

Got to love this time of year.  70 yesterday and snow on the ground today.  But don't fret warmer weather is right around the corner and the garden will be in full swing.  We will be in the garden Saturday from 9-1 doing "garden stuff"  Come on out and enjoy getting your hands dirty.

I know that warmer weather is coming because my sure fire spring alarm went off.  This means the garlic is coming up.  Below is a picture, may not be the best to illustrate this but trust me there is garlic coming up in that bed!

Hoop house is done!

We got the hoop house done on Saturday, just in time to add some of our plants to the nice warm air inside.

Board Meeting on Wednesday

For anyone and everyone who is interested, the garden board meeting is this Wednesday at 7:00 at the home of board member Julie Dunn.  Julie lives at 1707 Homer in Ft Collins.  This is an open meeting to anyone who would like to attend.  This is where decisions about the gardens future are made, all are encouraged to come and be a part of your garden's future.

Directions to Julie's:  East of Shields on Mulberry there is a stop light at the entrance of City Park at the lake.  If you go just to the west of this light Cook Drive comes off of Mulberry to the South.  Go to the end of Cook and Julies Driveway is right in front of you.  Park there on the street and walk up to the house.  The house is not visible from the street.  Here is a map to help you out http://goo.gl/maps/RrBfY

Google Street view of the driveway

Garden Sale

Again, remember that we are having a Garden Sale on May 18th starting at 8.  We will be having a plant sale as well as garden sale (think yard sale).  If you have anything to donate to the sale, please drop these items off at the garden.  All proceeds from the sale will help in future projects in the garden.

After the sale we are having the spring member kickoff party.  This will be a pot luck starting at 5 and going to whenever.  So save the date these parties are always a lot of fun!

CSUnity Day

Also save the date for Saturday April 20th.  We will be hosting a CSUinty project at the garden.  We are expecting about 10 students to come help out in the garden that day from 10-2.  Please make plans to be there that day.  We really need to have some ambassadors of the garden there that day.

Fun Video of the day

This newsletter was a little longer than I expected it to be so instead of a quote I found a video that will hopefully lighten your day.  Hopefully one day soon this little lady will be saying this in our garden!




  

Mulberry Community Gardens - Garden times week of 3/30/13

April Showers!

The old saying goes April showers brings May spinach!  These showers yesterday kept us out of the garden, but Thursday and Saturday look like beautiful garden days!  We will be in the garden on Thursday from 5-7 (see below for more info on this) and Saturday from 9-1.  We have a bunch of planting, prepping and other things to get done for the coming season.  Please come on out, we miss your smiling faces!

Thursday Potluck

Reanna is coordinating a Thursday evening potluck at the garden.  We haven't decided if this is going to be weekly or biweekly, but we do know that we are starting this week after member hours on Thursday.  It is forecast to be a beautiful day.  Please bring something to share and your beverage of choice.  As always please bring your own reusable plates, cups and silverware.

We will be meeting for volunteer hours from 5-7 and the potluck will start immediately after.  We do have access to refrigerators and ovens if you need to keep something warm or cold.

Hoop House Completion

We are a few steps of having the hoop house 100% complete.  Just in time for the starts to make their way to the garden.  I (Chuck) plan on completing these steps on Thursday from 5-7.  Please join me in getting this vital project completed.



Below is a picture from last week when we got the cover on!

CSUnity Event

We have been asked by CSU to hold a CSUnity event in the garden and we have gladly accepted.  On Saturday April 20th from 10-2 we will host some CSU students doing a community service project.  We ask that if you are available to please plan on coming to this event.  We can always use ambassadors to spread the word on our garden.

We have several projects planned and it depends on how many folks show up to help.  We really can use your help this day to get the garden ready for the upcoming growing season.

Blog Plug

If you haven't seen it please check out our new blog, www.MulberryCG.blogspot.com.  This is quickly becoming a major resource for information on the garden.  We especially like the calendar tab.  There you can see everything that is going on in the garden.

If you would like to help contribute to the blog (recipes, garden ideas, your thoughts, photos, whatever you can think of) please contact Chuck@MulberryCommunityGardens.org for information.

Don't be intimidated, if you think you don't have to skills I will teach you.  It is very easy and can even be done from a smart phone!

Garden Quote