February 2022

 Eagle Heights Community Gardens

February 9, 2022  7 PM

Remote Meeting

7:00 Present: Lily, Barb A, Ann, Barb L, Jolene, Jessica, Ric and Karen.

Jessica started the meeting.

Minutes  Motion by Ann and seconded by Ric to approve the January 2022 minutes. The minutes were approved. 

Registrar Update

Lily said she is busy processing applications.  There are 350 renewals and 49 new applicants.  Ten of the renewals are requesting a different plot.  The deadline for renewal is February 15th.  Lily has sent an email reminding gardeners of the deadline.  

Gardens to Be is available to have the plant sales this year.  The proposed dates are April 23rd or 24th for the cool weather plants and May 21st or 22nd for the warm weather plants.  Two volunteers will be needed to help with each sale.

The seed sorting is done and the plan is to distribute seeds in packets outside the Community Center.  There appear to be fewer seeds than previous years, so gardeners will probably get 12 packets per plot.  The plan is to have a basic packet of seed and allow some choice of some of the seeds.  The planned Seed Fair date was April 9th.

Lots of corn seed was donated and will be given to the Rooted garden group.  Other seeds that won’t be used by the gardens will be donated to Lisa Johnson at UW Extension.  

The 550 row at Eagle Heights has very confusing markings.  Depending on renewals, Lily proposes to simplify some of the boundaries if the plots in question are vacant.  

One of our gardeners would like us to send  a message to our gardeners about the UW Arboretum Plant Sale.  The committee thought it was a good idea, along with a note that the trees and shrubs would not be suitable for Eagle Heights or University Houses gardens.

Opening Day 

Lily proposes March 26th for opening day, but will check with Megan before proceeding.  

Garden Worker Report

There will be no report because Megan is on leave of absence.  

Jessica reports that there is a potential garden worker candidate that the co-chairs are in contact with and will be speaking to next week.  She will send the resume to the discussion list.

Other Items

Barb A asked about the priorities for the upcoming year.  Discussion ensued.  The new waterline was mentioned.  Lily will ask Rhonda about the progress of the Long Range Plan.  Jessica said the priorities could be an agenda item for the next meeting if the plan draft is ready.  

Barb A is in the Master Gardener Program, which asks its participants to volunteer their gardening expertise in the community.  She is the gardener for the Arbor Garden at Eagle Heights, which fulfills the volunteer requirement.  If the Master Gardener works with children, then a background check is necessary. The rules have changed in the Master Gardener Program making the garden where the Master Gardener volunteers responsible for determining if a background check is necessary.  The committee states that Barb Anderegg does not work with children when gardening in the Arbor Garden at Eagle Heights and does not need a background check.

Motion by Barb L and seconded by Barb A

Adjourned at 7:27 by Jessica

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee   

January 2022

 Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

January 12, 2022  7 PM

Remote Meeting

7:00 Present: Lily, Ninja, Ann, Niels, Jolene, Jessica, Ric and Karen.

Jessica started the meeting.

Minutes  Motion by Ric and seconded by Ann to approve the December 2021 minutes. The minutes were approved. 

Registrar Update

Lily said she is busy processing applications.  There are a couple of dozen new gardener applications along with renewing gardeners.

The University Houses F row is less hospitable and the plot turnover seems to be high.  Lily is starting a plot history for both gardens.  A high plot turnover can mean that something is wrong with the plot.  Maybe some of the more problematic F row will not be assigned until later and only after the new gardener accepts a difficult plot.

Garden Worker Report

Jolene reports that Megan is taking a short leave of absence and will be back to work at the end of March.  The tool order will be delayed.  The UW Housing HR department has 88 vacancies now, including 2 from HR.  Jolene reports that a Temporary Employee can be a direct hire and she recommends the direct hire method of hiring a garden worker this year.  

Seed Fair

The donated seeds are being sorted and repackaged .  The Community Center is reserved for April 9th for the Seed Fair, but we will know later if it will be held inside.  Plans are being made to distribute seeds to gardeners inside or outside.

Other Items

It was suggested that seasoned gardeners be able to lead work days. Discussion ensued.  This has already been happening and is a good idea.

There is some wild parsnip or poison hemlock someplace at University Houses that was discovered when doing plot remarking.  It will need to be removed this spring with appropriate protection.  A few of these plants have been removed from Eagle Heights.  It causes a nasty rash that lasts several months.  

More information is contained in the following links.  

https://www.hennepin.us/-/media/hennepinus/your-government/get-involved/documents/WHEP-wild-parsnip.pdf

https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/encyclopedia/weed-watch-wild-parsnip-and-poison-hemlock

Motion by Niels and seconded by Ric

Adjourned at 7:13 by Jessica

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee   

December 2021

 Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

December 8, 2021 7 PM

Remote Meeting

7:00 Present: Lily, Ninja, Ann, Niels, Colleen, Megan, Jolene, Jessica, Ric, Barb A and Karen.

Jessica started the meeting.

Minutes  Motion by Lily and seconded by Ric to approve the October 2021 minutes. The minutes were approved. 

Registrar Update

Lily said the English and Spanish applications are ready.  The Mandarin and Turkish applications will be ready soon. More row cover has been purchased for next year.  We have received seed from Agway, E and R, Territorial and Baker Creek.

A suggestion was made about having a tool Maintenance jury to check through the tools and have them repaired.

A new organization has contacted us, the Gardens Network is interested in collaborating on workshops and sharing knowledge.  They were thinking of having a panel in February to talk about growing vegetables.  They are also connected to the Triangle Gardens, who have lost some of their plots due to construction.  Lily told them that the gardeners who have lost plots are welcome to apply to Eagle Heights as Community Members. 

Discussion ensued.  If there is a Seed Fair, they could have a workshop then.  If we can’t have a Seed Fair, we could have a Zoom workshop.  When it is warmer, we could have an outside workshop.  Demonstration is better if there are any language problems.

Hiring a Garden Worker

There was discussion of hiring more Garden Workers due to the problem of there being little work for the Garden Workers in the winter.  Jolene said that at most the Garden Workers are working is 10 hours a week.  Garden Workers are TE and can work 20 hours per week.  There is not much structure for the garden workers.  Discussion ensued about the supervision of garden workers.  Tanya wants to continue mowing, which worked out very well last year.  Andy has resigned so we need to replace him.  

It would be better if the gardeners were more involved in the maintenance of the gardens.  We haven’t had workdays because of Covid.  Workdays do help gardeners feel more invested in the common areas of the garden.

When hiring a new garden worker, Megan stressed how important good communication between garden workers, the registrar and other people involved in the gardens is to doing a good job.  Megan thought it was important to always have a Garden Worker available in the event of a problem at the gardens, like a water leak. Jolene encouraged us to have a better onboarding process for the new garden worker.  The Garden Committee needs to discuss this issue.  

Should there be priority tasks for the Garden Workers?  Megan and Lily will talk about this and bring it back to the committee.

Doodle poll will not be used next year to schedule workdays after the problems this year.

Will still wants to do the new waterline next year.

Long Range Planning

The discussion of ongoing and long range goals lead to a discussion of the long range plan.  Lily will ask Rhonda about the status of the plan.

Jolene suggested that now would be a good time to order tools and supplies.  Megan said she would do it.

Motion by Barb A and seconded by Ann

Adjourned at 8:00 by Jessica

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee   

October 2021

 Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

October 13, 2021 7 PM

Remote Meeting

7:00 Present: Lily, Ninja, Andy, Jolene, Jessica, Ric, Barb A and Karen.

Jessica started the meeting.

Minutes  Motion by Lily and seconded by Ric to approve the September 2021 minutes. The minutes were approved. 

Registrar Update

Lily said after discussion with Giesalla from the Preserve that wren houses will be allowed in the gardens. Wrens uses houses with a much smaller hole than sparrows. The preposed new rule is:

Birdhouses

Birdhouses are not permitted in plots unless they are wren houses. If you would like to have a wren house in your plot please contact the registrar. The Friends of the UW Lakeshore Nature Preserve provide copper plates with the correct entrance hole size for wrens to prevent house sparrows from enlarging the holes and invading the area.  Lily proposes that a gardener interested in birds volunteer to help make sure the wern houses have the copper plates and won’t allow sparrows to nest in the garden.  The committee agreed this was a good solution.

Water is still off at Eagle Heights garden.  The UW Plumbers turned if off and were supposed to turn it on again.  Lily has been contacting them, but does not have an answer yet.

2022 Application

The proposed changes to the 2022 Application were discussed. First the birdhouse rule discussed above. 

Other additions are: 

Plots rented after September 1st will be free.  

Water lines are close to the surface, so never dig outside the plot boundaries. 

The gardeners of each plot (including plots with fences) must maintain a six inch unplanted path or around the edge of the plot so that other gardeners can access water and plantings. The front border of your plot can go up to the path but no further.

The request to transfer may be granted if there is not a waiting list. Plots transferred without consulting the registrar may be confiscated. Subletting plots is not permitted. All rental agreements and fee collections must be with the Gardens by way of the registrar.

Gardeners who have not done a workday or paid the fee will not be allowed to renew their plot or apply for a different plot the following season until the no workday fee has been paid. 

Perimeter fences must be wire and must not shade neighboring plots. 

If you do not reply within ten days, you fail to remove the weeds within two weeks, or your garden is identified twice during the same year, your plot may be confiscated.

Political and/or unsolicited signs are not permitted in the gardens.

Gardeners who have not done a workday or paid the fee will not be allowed to renew their plot or apply for a different plot the following season until the no workday fee has been paid. 

Lily said last year there was a Mandarin translation of the application.  This year she also proposes adding on in Spanish and maybe Korean.  Discussion ensued.  It was suggested to ask the gardeners in the weekly Wednesday update note sent by the Registrar.  

The Preserve has offered Buckthorn sticks for use in the gardens.  The sticks are tall and straight.  This prompted discussion about the difficulty of tall perimeter fences that shade neighboring plots.  Someone asked if the sticks would sprout.  The committee decided to not accept the sticks.

So far Baker Creek Seeds has responded to our request for seed donations.  The proposed date for the Seed Fair is April 9, 2022.  

Two umbrella were donated to the Eage Heights arbor area and are secure to the pinnic tables.  After discussion the committee agreed that pinnic tables and umbrellas would be a good idea for University Houses too.  The fabric part of the umbrella will have to be stored at the community center for the winter due to mice in both sheds.

Long Range Planning Committee

Lily attended the September 15th meeting and said the draft is not yet ready but contains a proiritized list for both University Houses and Eagle Heights.  It will be finalized when Rhonda is back from vacation.

Garden Worker Report 

Andy said the 700’s wall is close to being done.  There is a workday tomorrow which should allow enough time to complete the last ten feet and clean up the debris.  If there is any time left, the crew will start stacking the broken blocks to be removed.  The committee said the wall looks beautiful.  The other big project has been the thistle patrol, which has also been successful.  

 Other Items

There is a political sign near the Eagle Heights share shelf.  Discussion ensued about the garden policy not allowing political signs.  

Ninja says that Gemma requested for next spring that the University House blackberries be hard pruned and wood chips added by the weed pile.  

Motion made by Karen and seconded by Barb A for the policy to be: The gardens are for community gardening. No posting of political or unsolicited signs.  

Motion passed 6/1

Adjourned at 7:50 by Jessica

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee   

September 2021

 Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

September 8, 2021 7 PM

Remote Meeting

7:00 Present: Lily, Ninja, Niels, Ann, Jolene, Jessica, Rosemary, Coleen, Barb L, Karen and Megan.

Jessica started the meeting.

Minutes  Motion by Ann and seconded by Lily to approve the August 2021 minutes. The minutes were approved. 

Registrar Update

Lily said there are a number of plots open and volunteers have been clearing the plots.  Maps of the gardens have been updated.  The workday thistle patrol has worked out well.

Plot 1301 was eliminated but needs to be reinstated.  The boundaries need to be well marked to protect the nearby waterline.

Some gardeners have emailed concerning the pending no birdhouse policy.  These gardeners have houses with small entrance holes that are used by wrens.  Sparrows cannot fit into wren houses.  We should speak to the Preserve about having wren houses. 

Rhonda has 6 and 8 foot wooden benches to donate to the gardens.  After discussion it was decided that both benches go to University Houses since there's not a need for them in the Arbor Garden.

Jessica says there have been some requests to get a smaller  style of cart along with the larger ones.  The larger carts are too big for some people to handle.  Discussion ensued.  The committee agreed and Rosemary volunteered to check out different cart styles including a muck bucket cart.

There was also discussion about replacing entirely or repairing a waterline.  Discussion ensued.  We have the parts to replace more water lines.  Replacement of the lines is better than repairing an aging system.  

Lily will provide an update of the long range planning group at the next meeting.

Garden Worker Report 

Megan said there has been a northern and eastern border thistle patrol which has been making progress.  Andy will start the 700 retaining wall next week.  Andy and Niels fixed the share shelf at University Houses.  There have been lots of water leaks.

The garden workers are trying to organize as many workdays on the weekends as possible.

Andy will be leaving his job in October.  When should we hire another garden worker?  After discussion, it was decided to post the position in December and interview candidate in Janurary.  We will announce soon that we will be looking for a garden worker. Jolene said this is a second job and not a self-sustaining job.  In the winter there are hardly any hours.

Coleen asked if it was possible to get at recycling bin at the gardens.  Lily will check with UW Physical Plant to see if it is possible.

Motion by Lily and seconded by Niels to adjourn.

Adjourned at 7:45 by Jessica

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee