November 2023

 Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

November 8, 2023  7 PM

Remote Meeting

Ann, Ian, Lily, Alex, Jolene, Barb L, Ron, Jessica, 

Barb A and Karen.

Minutes  With a motion by Barb A and seconded byBarb L, the October 2023 minutes were approved. 

Registrar Update

Lily reports there are now1 full plot and 2 half plots empty at Eagle Heights. University Houses has one empty half plot

Alex agreed to proofread the Chinese application and Barb L will ask her husband to check the Turkish application.  Jolene said that there are Spanish speaking teachers at Eagle Wing that could maybe help with the Spanish application.

The Seed Fair will be April 6th and the seed repackaging and sorting is on January 15th. 

Lily has sent out some of the seed donation request letters and the rest will be sent soon.  Lily called Ktizawa Seeds to try to get a donation of some of their Asian specialty vegetables.  She was told to contact True Leaf Market and they might donate in exchange for us promoting them on social media.

The flooring in the Community Center will be replaced in late December.  Jolene is helping organize a new drop box location so Lily can receive the application.  She will be able to work from home.

So far there have been 150 responses to the survey and the due date is in the middle of November.

Lily requests we require no workday for plots given out after August 1st.  The committee agreed. Weedy plots are free after August 1st.

97 plots have had no one do a workday.

A gardener has requested that we install the sink at University House or get rid of it.  Discussion ensued.  We agreed to make sure the sinks were installed and worked properly next year. The green chain link fence should be offered to SWAP and if they won’t take it Ron offered to take it to Habitat.  There is an old abandoned shelf behind the shed.  Lily will check to make sure it does not belong to anyone else before we get rid of it. 

One of the share shelves at Eagle Heights is falling down and needs repair.  There was a suggestion to orient the shelf so it was in the shade in the morning so the vegetables people leave for others last longer.

Garden Worker Report

Ian has been shutting down the garden and fixing some carts.  He will buy more fruit tree wrap to protect the trees this winter. 

He has been making marker posts for both corners and number posts.  The only marker missing in Eagle Heights is 1308.  Lily and Ian will do a walk through for University Houses where there are many posts missing.

The other big task is removing trees in plots.  Barb A asked Ian to remove some trees in the Arbor Garden and she will show him where they are.  Ron said there was a hand tool called a sapling puller.  Discussion ensued.  The Committee thought we should get one.  Ian said we might have one in the shed.

There was also a discussion about the large amount of buckthorn growing on the borders of the garden in the Preserve areas.  Lily will check with the Preserve about the buckthorn.

Garden Worker Hiring

A person was recommended for the empty Garden Worker position.  Since she is an international student , she cannot be hired as a temporary employee.  Jolene is working on the problem.

Jolene said Ian has been working lots of hours and wonders if there is work for him in winter.  The next task is repacking and sorting seeds in January.

After discussion it was agreed there will be no December meeting.

Motion by Barb L and seconded by Ann to adjourn.

Adjourned 7:36

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee   

October 2023

 Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

October 11, 2023  7 PM

Remote Meeting

Ann, Ian, Lily, Alex, Jolene, Barb L, Jessica, 

Barb A and Karen.

Minutes  With a motion by Ann and seconded by Lily, the September 2023 minutes were approved. 

Registrar Update

Lily reports there are now 4 empty plots and the water will be turned off sometime next week.

E and R Seeds has already donated a box of seeds for the Seed Fair. We also received a box of seeds from a local garden center.

The Seed Fair will be April 6th and the seed repackaging and sorting is on January 15th. 

The committee agreed to spend up to $100 on Seed Fair supplies.

Andy, a former garden worker, asks if he could have the old metal pieces of the removed Arbor.  Discussion ensued.  Jolene said that we are not allowed to give away state property.  Some people suggested replacing the arbor with a good concrete foundation and the committee agreed to discuss it this winter.

The weed piles need to be removed.  Lily asked for a cost estimate from UW Physical Plant to remove both weed piles.  Lily will ask if any of the other gardening groups have been using the pile also and can contribute to the removal costs. When the weed pile is removed, UW Pest Management will be there to check if there are rats living in the pile.

Nicole and Lily met with NRCS representatives last week.  Pollinator gardens were discussed.  We will hear more later.  

The date for putting away the carts and tools is November 5th.

2024 Applications

The 2024 applications are being updated.  Could the student status be based on the number of credits? Are auditors considered students? Jolene suggested we use the UW Housing criteria for verifying student status. Discussion ensued about the rise in price and people's ability to pay.  The lowest is the student price.  For people in the community price range, we could have an appeal process to the committee.  Lily will send any email telling gardeners about the new fees.

Garden Worker Report

The last path mowing will be soon.  Very few people are signing up for workdays lately.  The tasks still to be done are replacing a few faucets, digging trees and generally cleaning up.  Ian said he had a discussion with a Preserve volunteer about the 500’s native shrub border.  There will be a discussion with the GOC about who has responsibility for this area.  Lily will send an email to Laura and Rhonda about the boundaries and connect with Ian. 

Ian will send an email to Ric and Karen about repairing carts.  Ian would also like to clean out the shed.

COLA

Jolene suggests that the Gardens keep pace with the UW cost of living increases so there is not such a jump in wages like we had in the recent past.  The committee agreed we should follow the UW cola in the future.

Adjourned 7:43

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee   

September 2023

 Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

September 13, 2023  7 PM

Remote Meeting

Ann, Ian, Lily, Jolene, Alex, Nichole, Robert, Jessica, 

Hema and Karen.

Minutes  The August 2023 minutes were approved. 

Registrar Update

Lily reports that the only people on the waiting list are people that have requested specific plots near or adjacent to current ones. No new applicants are on the list. 

The tomato tasting was a big success! There were many varieties and a good turnout. We should plan to do it again next year around the same time. 

The weed juries did not go well this year. Some groups did not report, or were quite late. Of the reports, some groups always list many plots in their section, including some that look very nice, and others don’t list plots that are obviously abandoned. Lily did a walkthrough anyway, but the whole system creates extra work and makes it more difficult to hold people accountable for weedy or abandoned plots. It only takes about an hour to walk all of EH and check the plots, so Lily proposes just one group for each site that meets with the registrar once a month and we walk through together. This would be fairer, more consistent and would be much easier too. The committee agreed to the change.

Weed piles are huge and Lily learned that Shorewood is no longer picking them up. There was a meeting that we were not present for a while ago and Shorewood  left with the understanding that our agreement with them is over.  Lily will try to have a meeting with all parties and try to find a solution.

UW Housing Apartment Facilities has been extremely helpful. They helped remove the unwanted chips from EH and they will work with us to deliver leaves and chips as much as they are able. 

Lily has also requested horse manure but has not gotten a reply about that either. 

There was a discussion about when to present new fees and potentially have a town hall meeting. Ann suggests October to inform people, and said an online meeting in addition to in-person would be a good idea. Jolene says the Community Center will be closed Oct 9-16.

A gardener who is an artist asked about painting shed at EH to make it more colorful. If this is of interest, in addition to committee approval we would need Preserve approval. 

There has been a request for tools closer to piles. We talked about this last year also. Something to consider for next season. 

Would it be possible to have some quarter plots in the future?  There are some gardeners that still struggle with maintaining a half plot. Quarter plots would only be possible at the ends of rows but this might make gardening more accessible to them.  

Seed Fair date is April 6th 2024.

Garden Worker Report

Nichole now has a full time job with the USDA- Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS).  The NRCS can provide advice and help and are expanding their mission to help community gardens.  It also may be possible to receive grants.  Discussion ensued including installing pollinator gardens, improving irrigation, fencing, the ever expanding turkey population and having some accessible plots.  The committee thought accessible plots would be more easily done at University Houses because it is closer to the parking.  Lily will check to see if Eagle Heights Garden is eligible.

Ian reported that he and Nicole want to clean out the shed. All are welcome.

There is ongoing confusion about where the University House water shutoff is located. Discussion  ensued.  Jloene will assist in this matter.

Co-Chair Applicants

The three co-chair applicants each spoke to the committee.  After their presentations they were asked to leave the remote meeting.  Discussion ensued.

The Committee unanimously chose Alex as the new co-chair.

Adjourned 7:55

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee