2017 Minutes

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

February 8, 2017, 6:30 PM

Eagle Heights Community Center

6:30 – Delicious food and great conversation by Adam, Jolene, Barb L, Will, Barbara, Barbara, Ann, Angus, Karen, Ulrike, Kathryn and Ric.

7:00 Adam welcomed everyone.

Minutes December minutes were approved.

Registrar Update

Kathryn said that about 300 gardeners have renewed their plots and about 100 new gardeners have applied. It is one week before the deadline and many people have not yet renewed.

Kathryn emailed to request volunteers for the Seed Fair (April 1) and has taken the first 34 volunteers, which should be good. Many of the volunteers are bilingual. There will be a smaller amount of row cover for sale that is from last year. Orientations for new gardeners will be held at noon on Saturday and Sunday of the Seed Fair weekend. The seed sort will take place when the building is closed so it can be done right outside the storage room door.

Seed donations seem to be down from last year even though we have not done anything differently. It was decided that we would not give away seed for full size cantaloupe and melon at the seed fair because they are not usually successful in Wisconsin. Minnesota Midget cantaloupe seed will be given away because there is a chance of success for average gardeners.

Garden Worker Position

Jolene said she was still waiting for Human Resources to decide how they would deal with the position under their new system. The two choices are seasonal or permanent-part time. Adam said he could be part of the hiring committee and said he would ask for 3 more volunteers by the email list when HR sends some applicants. Jolene said there is a ten day waiting period between when an applicant accepts and when they can start work.

Goals for 2017

Adam said the gardens needs a new chair, as he could be leaving town. The goals discussion at the December meeting was summarized as follows:

Improve the meeting- Have the agenda a week in advance with the discussion time allotted to the item. Someone needs to keep the discussion to the topic and the time allotted. Have sub-committees do some of the work and bring a proposal to the committee meeting for approval. Transparency is a good idea, we need to make sure all people are informed. After an online discussion, we need to decide if there is consensus on a topic at the next meeting. Maintain a positive tone.

More events- Increase social events like the plant exchange.

Recognize good garden examples- Juries can also find good gardens.

Put a berm above the Eagle Heights weedpile to solve water problems.

Unfinished Business- improve path maintenance.

Online application- for a later year.

Recruiting- new co-chairs and treasurer


There was discussion of the importance of strategic planning. What is the most important? Some said the biggest project is the berm around the weed pile. Materials are available to shore up the University Houses main path. Could there be community projects? Some said workdays could be thought of as a community event. Jolene asked if a gardener could do a presentation in lieu of a workday? The discussion came back to the importance of setting priorities. Some of the tasks need to be done every year, like mowing, and they have a priority. Community building is important. The plant exchange was a good thing and should be repeated, but not on the same day as the plant sale! Workshops are also good. There are people with expertise in the gardens.


The discussion turned to Mexican Bean Beetles and the parasitic wasp that eats the larvae. The WI DATCP website will tell when there have been enough Heat degree days in Dane County to help predict when the Mexican bean beetles might appear. If gardeners plant early beans in the gardens and the beetles larvae are seen, then there will be a place to release the wasps. Several gardeners agreed to plant beans early. Ulrike will take responsibility for the Wasps.

Motion by Ann and seconded by Barb L to buy the beetles when the time is right. Passed unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report

Barb L. has agreed to be our new treasurer. She and Angus will do the job together for a while. Angus said Housing has agreed to send the reports to Barb L.

Garden Worker Report

Will said the plan to fix the weedpile includes a berm to direct the water around the weedpile and a concrete pad for the collection site. Discussion flowed back into the topic of strategic planning. Not all of the labor hours are being used that are budgeted for each year. Recurring expenses should be in the regular budget. A strategic planning meeting should be one of our biggest meeting with many people in attendance. Perhaps we could have a facilitator.

Seed Fair- April 1

Plant Sales- Kathryn, Melita and Ulrike

New Gardener Orientation- Ric volunteered to help.

Parasitic wasps

Adjourned by 8:00pm by Adam

Submitted by Karen
Subject to correction by the Garden Committee

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

March 8, 2017, 6:30 PM

Eagle Heights Community Center

6:30 – Delicious food and great conversation by Adam, Barb L, Rosemary, Rollie, Tianxing, Ann, Karen, Ulrike, Kathryn and Ric.

7:00 Adam welcomed everyone.

Minutes Motion by Barb L., seconded by Ann to approve the February minutes. Unanimously approved.


Registrar Update
Kathryn said that the plot assignments are done. There are 407 renewals and 133 new gardeners. There are 24 plots open at Eagle Heights and 12 at University Houses. A notice has been placed in the residents newsletter advertising the gardens. Both porta potties have been delivered by March 10th. We received a seed donation box from E & R Seeds of 56 pounds. The seed sort for the Seed Fair will be March 12th, from 9-noon. The Seed Fair is April 1st from 9 to 11 am.

Scott Williams will be our Plant Sale vendor. The cool weather plant sale is April 23 and the warm weather sale is May 14th, both from 11am to 1pm.

Treasurer’s Report

Barb L. said so far she has just been learning the Treasurer’s job from Angus and we are on budget. They are working on a few discrepancies.

Garden Juries

Adam suggested we have some people form a sub-committee for directing the garden juries. Teams of 2 or 3 people would be good with written guidelines for the structure of jury operation. The volunteers for the Garden Jury Sub-committee are Rosemary, Ann, Adam and Bob. The juries should start by May 15th. The sub-committee will report back at the April meeting.

Co-Chair report

Adam said the ground is now thawed. Discussion ensued about predatory wasps that feed on the Mexican Bean Beetles. Ulrike reported that she talked to P.J. Liesch, the campus entomologist. He suggests planting early or late varieties of beans, using exclusions (row cover), hand picking to destroy the bean beetles and parasitic wasp larvae to control the bean beetles. We have released parasitic wasps in the past and they have been successful in controlling the bean beetles. We need to plant beans early, because we need to have the bean beetle larvae present in the garden before we release the parasitic wasp mummies in the garden. We need to order 7 days in advance. In a typical year, Mexican Bean Beetles emerge in mid to late May. Ulrike agreed to coordinate the parasitic wasp release and volunteers will help. They will communicate by email with a separate list.

Adam said that Rhonda does not yet have cost estimates for the weed pile construction project. Adam says that Jolene reports that the Garden Worker position will be a seasonal position from March 15 to November 15.

Ulrike would like to do another straw bale workshop. We would need to get a supply of straw bales.

Goals for 2017 (from previous minutes)
Adam said the gardens needs a new chair, as he could be leaving town. The goals discussion at the December meeting was summarized as follows:

Improve the meeting- Have the agenda a week in advance with the discussion time allotted to the item. Someone needs to keep the discussion to the topic and the time allotted. Have sub-committees do some of the work and bring a proposal to the committee meeting for approval. Transparency is a good idea, we need to make sure all people are informed. After an online discussion, we need to decide if there is consensus on a topic at the next meeting. Maintain a positive tone.

More events- Increase social events like the plant exchange.

Recognize good garden examples- Juries can also find good gardens.

Put a berm above the Eagle Heights weedpile to solve water problems.

Unfinished Business- improve path maintenance.

Online application- for a later year.

Recruiting- new co-chairs and treasurer

There was discussion of the importance of strategic planning. What is the most important?

Adjourned by 7:55pm by Adam
Submitted by Karen
Subject to correction by the Garden Committee

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

April 12, 2017, 6:30 PM

Eagle Heights Community Center

6:30 – Delicious food and great conversation by Adam, Jolene, Fola, Rosemary, Rollie, Will, Barb A, Niels, Melita, Pat, Tianxing, Ann, Karen, Ulrike, Barb L, Kathryn and a few others.

7:00 Adam welcomed everyone.

Minutes The March minutes were unanimously approved.


Registrar Update

Kathryn said the Seed Fair went well and gardeners from 268 separate plots attended. We still have a lot of radish seed left. Kathryn thanked Karen for organizing and running the Seed Fair.

Kathryn said that there are 5 Eagle Heights and 10 University Houses plots still to be filled with gardeners. There was discussion about using a cover crop on plots not yet assigned to control the weeds.

Sub- committee reports

Weed Jury

The Weed Jury sub-committee reported they think we should advertise the weed jury to the garden list. They propose one team for University Houses for the season. A weed jury team would have at least 2 people but would be better with three. Since Eagle Heights is larger, there would be 4 teams for the season, with a jury happening every two weeks. Each team would work for one month at Eagle Heights for workday credit.

There was much discussion about what happens when a plot is cited as being too weedy. Adam said that historically ¾’s of the plots are cleaned up by the gardeners after a weedy plot notice. One quarter require clean up by a work crew and typically 1-2 plots can be rehabilitated on a weekend. The goal is for the gardeners to clean up their own plots.

More discussion ensued about what the juries should focus on and it was decided that the most important problems were noxious weeds and abandoned plots. The discussion then turned to a two tiered system: plots that are noticed as being weedy and are given a public sign on the plot. If the plot was cleaned up after this notice, then that would be good. If not, then plots would be condemned as too weedy which would trigger a workday clean up.

The juries would start in the second week of May. Kathryn will ask for volunteers in May. Eagle Heights will have May-June, July August and August September juries for workday credit. University Houses will have 4-6 juries for the season for workday credit.

Bean Beetle Brigade

Ulrike reported that we need to plant beans as soon as we can, well dispersed around the garden so we will have places to release the mummies with predator wasp eggs (Pediobius faveolatus) which we’ll order once the Mexican Bean Beetle larvae have been observed. The wasps need to have bean beetle larvae to eat.

We need to mark on a map where beans are planted so we know where to release the wasp mummies. The larvae must be dispersed within 18 to 20 hours after receiving.

Gardeners interested in helping with bean planting should contact Kathryn, who will handle the communications. Kathryn will also talk to F H King to see if they want to participate.

Website

A sub-committee is needed for the website. Some of the information on the old website is out of date and the new website is incomplete. The minutes are in a different format. Natasha has volunteered to be the webmaster. The following people volunteered to serve on the website sub-committee: Barb A, Barb L, Fola and Niels.

Co-chair Report

Adam said we have 5 applicants for the Garden Worker position and the closing of the application is tonight.

Rhonda will present the plans and costs for the Eagle Heights Weed area at the next meeting.

A search for a new co-chair is necessary because Adam maybe moving. The co-chair needs to be a gardener and the opening should be advertised to the list.

Goals for 2017 (from previous minutes)

Adam said the gardens needs a new chair, as he could be leaving town. The goals discussion at the December meeting was summarized as follows:

Improve the meeting- Have the agenda a week in advance with the discussion time allotted to the item. Someone needs to keep the discussion to the topic and the time allotted. Have sub-committees do some of the work and bring a proposal to the committee meeting for approval. Transparency is a good idea, we need to make sure all people are informed. After an online discussion, we need to decide if there is consensus on a topic at the next meeting. Maintain a positive tone.

More events- Increase social events like the plant exchange.

Recognize good garden examples- Juries can also find good gardens.

Put a berm above the Eagle Heights weed pile to solve water problems.

Unfinished Business- improve path maintenance.

Online application- for a later year.

Recruiting- new co-chairs and treasurer

There was discussion of the importance of strategic planning. What is the most important?

Adjourned around 8pm by Adam

Submitted by Karen
Subject to correction by the Garden Committee

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

May 10, 2017, 6:30 PM

Eagle Heights Community Center

6:30 – Delicious food and great conversation by Adam, Rhonda, Louisa, Will, Rosemary, Ric, Niels, Melita, Karen, Ulrike, Barb L and Kathryn.

7:00 Adam welcomed everyone.

Minutes Motion by Kathryn and seconded by Louisa and the April minutes were unanimously approved.


Registrar Update

Kathryn said that our new garden worker Micaiah has accepted the job and will be starting next week. He is interested in our garden community. Eagle Heights is presently full and University Houses has 2 large and one small plot open. Kathryn is bringing older bean seeds to the share shelf to give away.

Sub- committee reports

Weed Jury

The Weed Jury will be starting as soon as possible and will have a set schedule. Ulrike reported that there is no leaf mulch at University Houses, which makes weed control difficult. There are written jury instructions for the weed juries to use.

Bean Beetle Brigade

Ulrike reported that 15 people have volunteered to help. The goal is to have concentrated areas of beans in the gardens. We will order 4 vials of 40 mummies each with one vial for University Houses and 3 for Eagle Heights. The order needs to be placed one week after the observation of bean beetle eggs. The dispersal team is Barb A., Spencer and Adam P. Ulrike needs an assistant for University Houses.

Please report sightings of the Mexican Bean Beetle to Kathryn!

Weed Pile Project

Rhonda James presented her plans for solving the weed pile problem. She also said we are not allowed to have such a large leaf pile for more than 9 months according to Wisconsin DNR regulations. (We are also not allowed to have a large compost pile!)

The problem with the present weed pile is the heavy equipment used to move the pile gets stuck when the pile is wet. The hillside above the pile drains through it , so the pile is often wet. Rhonda proposes a swale system to direct the water around the pile and a culvert to move the water to the south side of the road to the weedpile. Rhonda says only concrete will work under the pile. She says that we have a choice of size of concrete pad, large or small. The larger size pad will allow the gardeners to wheel the carts onto the pad to dump them. Workday crews from the gardens would create the swales and Rhonda is convinced that they can do a good job. Since the University Houses weedpile has been improved, the gardeners are dumping weeds in the proper place more often.

The costs are $4500 for the small pad and 8,000 for the large. Discussion ensued.

Motion by Niels and seconded by Barb to put in the large pad for $8000. Passed unanimously.

The work will probably be done in late summer. Rhonda will talk to the Preserve about the project.

Other Discussion

The road going north from the shed is in poor condition. Since this road also serves other users, it was agreed that this was a topic for the GOC.

Path maintenance was again a topic of discussion. After discussion a motion was made to buy one electric mower and 2 batteries. The shed does not have electricity. It was agreed that our goal would be to get a mower first and discuss photovoltaics later.

Motion by Barb L. and seconded by Adam to buy a mover and 2 batteries for no more than $1500. Motion passed.

Co-chair Report

Adam said that this will be his last meeting because he will be moving to Tuscon. The Garden Committee thanked Adam for his service to the gardens and wished him good luck in the future.

Goals for 2017 (from previous minutes)
Adam said the gardens needs a new chair, as he could be leaving town. The goals discussion at the December meeting was summarized as follows:

Improve the meeting- Have the agenda a week in advance with the discussion time allotted to the item. Someone needs to keep the discussion to the topic and the time allotted. Have sub-committees do some of the work and bring a proposal to the committee meeting for approval. Transparency is a good idea, we need to make sure all people are informed. After an online discussion, we need to decide if there is consensus on a topic at the next meeting. Maintain a positive tone.

More events- Increase social events like the plant exchange.

Recognize good garden examples- Juries can also find good gardens.

Put a berm above the Eagle Heights weed pile to solve water problems.

Unfinished Business- improve path maintenance.

Online application- for a later year.

Recruiting- new co-chairs

There was discussion of the importance of strategic planning. What is the most important?

Adjourned around 8pm by Adam
Submitted by Karen
Subject to correction by the Garden Committee

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

June 14, 2017, 7 PM

Eagle Heights Community Center

7:00 Kathryn welcomed Will, Ilana, Tianxing, Micaiah, Karen and Barb L. Kathryn introduced Ilana, our co-chair candidate.

Minutes Motion by Kathryn and seconded by Barb L and the May minutes were unanimously approved.

Registrar Update

Kathryn said that the gardens are full, with all plots taken and 2 people on the waiting list. The weed juries have started and she is starting to send out email to the plots with difficulties.

Treasurer’s Report

Barb L. reported that we are on budget and in good shape. There was discussion about our upcoming expenses. Bean beetle predatory wasps will be about $1600 and we thought we should ask if FH King would like to participate.


Garden Worker Report

Will said we already have the spray for potato beetles and will spray when there will be a dry spell for a few days. The spray degrades when it gets wet. The construction of the weed pile is proceeding. Rhonda is in contact with Shorewood for their input. University Houses is all mowed and ready for leaves. The GOC tour of University Houses will be June 23. All thistles are gone from the fruit areas. Will said that Adam reports that a vinegar- citric acid spray kills bindweed. When the weedpile is moved from Eagle Heights, we will probably have to pay a landfill fee because of the garbage in it.

Someone reported that the mowed paths look good. There was some discussion of the edge of the tall grass at the edge of the paths. Will said the tall grass provides habitat for the damselflies, which eat many insects. Will said he will discuss the idea of shallow swales to divert water into the infiltration basins at University Houses.

Co-Chair Position

Ilana said she she has a plot in Eagle Heights and would like the co-chair position. She is willing to give a one year commitment. Discussion continued.


Motion by Kathryn and seconded by Barb L. to approve Ilana as Co- Chair of the gardens. Passed unanimously.

More discussion ensued about the role of the co-chair. The Garden Committee makes the decisions and the co-chair implements them. An agenda in advance of the meeting is a good idea. The next meeting is July 12th at 7pm.

Sub- committee reports

Bean Beetle Brigade

Kathryn says that all is prepared to order the predators when the time is right.


Weed Juries

The weed juries have started and Kathryn is starting to send out email to the plots that have difficulties.


Website

The committee has not met. Karen requests that the new website be connected to the old minutes blog so the minutes can be viewed.


Other discussion

Micaiah asked about ordering supplies. He said he was cleaning the shed and one of the light bulbs is out. Discussion ensued about the new Housing policies which make ordering more difficult.

It was suggested that we discuss tools at the next meeting.

Ilana asked what roles people at the meeting had with the garden.

Karen said she was the secretary and had run the Seed Fair for a while. Barb L is the treasurer. Micaiah is a paid garden worker. Kathryn is the paid Registrar. Will is a paid garden worker.


Goals for 2017 (from previous minutes)

The goals discussion at the December meeting was summarized and updated as follows:


Improve the meeting- Have the agenda a week in advance with the discussion time allotted to the item. Someone needs to keep the discussion to the topic and the time allotted. Have sub-committees do some of the work and bring a proposal to the committee meeting for approval. Transparency is a good idea, we need to make sure all people are informed. After an online discussion, we need to decide if there is consensus on a topic at the next meeting. Maintain a positive tone.


More events- Increase social events like the plant exchange.


Recognize good garden examples- Juries can also find good gardens.


Put a berm above the Eagle Heights weed pile to solve water problems.


Unfinished Business- improve path maintenance.


Online application- for a later year.


Recruiting- ONE new co-chair

There was discussion of the importance of strategic planning. What is the most important?

Adjourned around 8pm by Kathryn

Submitted by Karen

Subject to correction by the Garden Committee

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

July 12, 2017, 7 PM

Eagle Heights Community Center

7:00 Illana welcomed Will, Ann, Ulrike, Barb A, Kathryn, Jolene, Wilson, Niels, Tianxing, Michaiah, Karen and Barb L.

Minutes Motion by Kathryn and seconded by Barb L and the June minutes were unanimously approved.

Registrar Update

Kathryn said that the gardens are full, with all plots taken and short waiting list. The weed juries had two sessions in June and many plot owners were sent notices. Three plots were released back to the gardens. Kathryn said a group of people used the lasagna method to rehabilitate plot 704. She also said that many plot markers are missing.

Garden Worker Report

Will said the last work day removed thistle and bindweed and rechipped the 1124/1126 sandbox area. The 100’s path was also rechipped. Will stated that the work groups will be redirected to path maintenance if the weather permits. He said that ¾’s of Eagle Heights has been mowed.

Rhonda has been in touch with Shorewood about the leaf pile needing to be moved by the end of August and they have moved 40 to 50 cubic yards of leaves to University Houses. Will is asking to bring even more leaves to University Houses.

Kathryn said there are two vacant plots that need rehabilitation. She asked if grounds could give us cardboard to rehabilitate the plots.

Will said that the gardeners at University Houses are dumping the weeds at the perimeter of the weed pile. Discussion ensued. Michaiah said it might be good to have some signs. Kathryn will send out an email reminder. Jolene said that a diagram about each weed pile might be good. Ulrike said a video about how to do it right would be good. Illana thought that a sub-committee to work on such a video for both weed piles would help. The sub-committee will be Ulrike and Barb A.

Will said that by the next meeting we will probably start the Eagle Heights weed pile project.

Gardeners cannot park in the visitor parking at Eagle Heights during road construction. The nearest parking is Frauchi Point.

Michaiah said the is a tree hanging into plot 1340. Can we do anything about it? He says the fruit is drying and the tree is distressed. He also asked if we could get recycling at University Houses.

The maintenance of the picnic tables was discussed. The wood on some of the tables is in poor condition. There are 4 smaller tables in good repair under the arbor and 2 larger ones that are not in good repair. Discussion ensued. Niels will inventory the tables and see what repairs need to be done.

The committee is aware that thistles are a problem this year. Ann has a tool called the parsnip predator that is good at cutting the root on thistles. Will said he would try to borrow the tool from the preserve for a workday to kill thistles. They can also be pulled every 4 to 5 days for 5 to 6 weeks and that will kill them. The biocore thistles are abundant and this is a problem with reseeding.


Path maintenance


The gravel road by the Eagle Heights shed is a problem. UW Grounds is responsible for the road and Rhonda said she would look at it and come up with a solution. Will said he thought that Grounds would probably fix the road at the same time the weedpile work is done.

Sub-committee Reports

Bean Beetle predators- Ulrike said the mummies will be here on Thursday the 20th of July. The predator effect will probably be good for about three years.

Weed Juries- A couple of gardeners were praised by the juries, along with their work at identifying difficulties.

Website- The minutes are now connected to the new website.

It was asked if we ever sprayed for potato beetles. No, it wasn’t done and they haven’t been a real problem.

Michaiah said that the driving mower in the University Houses shed does not run. Will said it needed to be taken to UW Swap.


Goals for 2017 (from previous minutes)

The goals discussion at the December meeting was summarized and updated as follows:


Improve the meeting- Have the agenda a week in advance with the discussion time allotted to the item. Someone needs to keep the discussion to the topic and the time allotted. Have sub-committees do some of the work and bring a proposal to the committee meeting for approval. Transparency is a good idea, we need to make sure all people are informed. After an online discussion, we need to decide if there is consensus on a topic at the next meeting. Maintain a positive tone.

More events- Increase social events like the plant exchange.

Recognize good garden examples- Juries can also find good gardens.

Put a berm above the Eagle Heights weed pile to solve water problems.

Unfinished Business- improve path maintenance.

Online application- for a later year.

Recruiting- ONE new co-chair

There was discussion of the importance of strategic planning. What is the most important?

Adjourned at 7:54pm by Illana

Subject to correction by the Garden Committee

Submitted by Karen

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

August 12, 2017, 7 PM

Eagle Heights Community Center

7:00 Illana welcomed Ann, Barb A, Edward, Ric, Jolene, Kathryn, Jolene, Tianxing, Michaiah, Karen and Barb L.


Minutes Motion by Kathryn and seconded by Barb A and the July minutes were unanimously approved.

Registrar Update

Kathryn said that the weed juries had two sessions in June and July and a lot of plots need work. Barb A. asked if we were using workdays to clear abandoned plots. Kathryn said she is telling new gardeners if they take a really weedy plot, they do not have to do a workday.

As of now, 2 large and 2 small plots are empty. There was a suggestion that we use workdays to clear plots that have been abandoned. Kathryn has a list of people that are willing to clear plots for their workday.

Garden Worker Report

Michaiah said the last workdays were spent rechipping paths and path maintenance. Someone asked when the weedpile project would start. Michaiah said he didn’t know yet. The DNR does not allow us to have a leaf pile for longer than 9 months.

A discussion started about if there was enough work for a third garden worker. Discussion ensued. Communication would be more difficult with three workers. Jolene said it makes more sense to have the workers work more hours. Michaiah said he wanted to work at the gardens more hours. Kathryn said she needed more plot markers.

Someone asked if the garden workers were using lawn mowers to mow. Michaiah said yes. He said he thinks scything is more sustainable, but we would need a third garden worker to implement it.

Sub-committee Reports


Bean Beetle predators- The bean beetle predators arrived and were placed in the gardens by Barb A and Ann. Barb A said they should be hatching right now.

Weed Juries- Already discussed in the Registrar’s report.

Website- The minutes are now connected to the new website. Barb L said perhaps this is a good winter activity.

Picnic tables- Niels has repaired all the picnic tables!

There was discussion about educating gardeners about the proper weedpile procedures. Signs and perhaps a video would be good. Ulrike, Barb A and Illana will work on it.

Strategic Planning- Discussion was general and some of the ideas were: How do we recruit volunteers? What do we want to do? How do we advertise volunteer opportunities? People sometimes do not read email. Could we have gardeners take charge of various areas like the raspberries for a season? Arbor should have lower grass so it can be used. What are the priority tasks that we want the garden workers to do? How can we get more input? What is the common vision? Workday labor is significant. Would it help if garden workers drafted a plan?

Goals for 2017 (from previous minutes)

The goals discussion at the December meeting was summarized and updated as follows:


Improve the meeting- Have the agenda a week in advance with the discussion time allotted to the item. Someone needs to keep the discussion to the topic and the time allotted. Have sub-committees do some of the work and bring a proposal to the committee meeting for approval. Transparency is a good idea, we need to make sure all people are informed. After an online discussion, we need to decide if there is consensus on a topic at the next meeting. Maintain a positive tone.


More events- Increase social events like the plant exchange.


Recognize good garden examples- Juries can also find good gardens.


Put a berm above the Eagle Heights weed pile to solve water problems.


Unfinished Business- improve path maintenance.


Online application- for a later year.


Recruiting- ONE new co-chair

There was discussion of the importance of strategic planning. What is the most important?

Adjourned at 7:55pm by Illana

Submitted by Karen

Subject to correction by the Garden Committee

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

September 13, 2017, 7 PM

Eagle Heights Community Center

7:00 Illana welcomed Ann, Barb A, Ric, Kathryn, Will, Janet, Tianxing, Michaiah, Karen and Barb L.

Minutes Motion by Kathryn and seconded by Barb A and the August minutes were unanimously approved.

Registrar Update

Kathryn said that since August 1st, 27 gardeners have given up their plots. There are 16 plots open at this time. Kathryn said she would prefer not to use workday labor to clear plots because we have so much else to do. General discussion ensued regarding why people leave their plots. Some of the reasons could be the heavy rains and difficult parking situation. Would it possible to clear plots with a broadfork? Will said he thought it would work to mow the plot short, till the surface and seed with ryegrass. This is effective in the fall. Kathryn will give Will and Michaiah a list of plots to mow, till and seed with ryegrass.

Kathryn is working on an application online that can be emailed to the Registrar.

Garden Worker Report

Will said that half the wood chip pile was moved across the road at Eagle Heights and half moved to University Houses just temporarily while the weedpile project is completed. The weeds are gone and the entire pile was rejected because it contained too much soil. The weedpile space has been graded and rolled. The final plans are being prepared by the Landscape Architect Rhonda. Kris said they would pour the slab as planned and use slab pieces under the leaf pile. They are still trying to get the project done before the end of the year.

There will be workdays of 8 to 10 people until the end of November. The blackberries and raspberries have been cleaned. Will said an email is needed about the weeds at the at the east end of the area. When getting rid of plants like sunflower, it is important to leave the root ball in the garden. We will move the jumping worms if we move dirt.

Someone stated that there is a group that is surveying for jumping worms. Will said that Jumping Worms have been confirmed in the Eagle Heights garden. Barb A said we should educate people about the worms. We share shovels and tools which could help spread the worms. Kathryn said she would send a message about the worms in the next email.

Machaiah said there would be a workday on Wednesday or Thursday of next week, starting at 4pm.

A question was asked about when the swales next to the weedpile would be constructed. Will said they would be done soon after the concrete pad goes in.

New Co-Chair Applicant

Janet, an Eagle Heights gardener has submitted a letter applying for the vacant co-chair position. She has a degree in Entomology and an Agriculture background. Discussion ensued and she was approved unanimously. After the vote, the committee introduced themselves.

Sub-committee Reports


Bean Beetle predators- Discussion ensued about the bean beetle predators. Have they been effective? Should we send out an end of season survey? Will said perhaps we should go through the CALS supplier because they have a bigger order that we do. Janet said she would look into the topic and inform us for next year.


Weed Juries- The University House weed jury meets every month and is working quite effectively. Kathryn said the University House jury has 100 plots to look at every month. At Eagle Heights there are more than 500 plots, and she thinks it would be better to divide Eagle Heights up into smaller subsections for next year.


Website- No report


Strategic Planning- Illana said some of the comments she received were:

have a seasonal list of tasks

paths

mulch

priorities based on a timeline

what are the priorities for the Garden Workers

What is the big picture?

Could we see all the suggestions on the wall sometime?

Should we renovate plots? The garden has been here since 1962.

Soil regeneration

Sheds

Fruit plantings

Walls

Everything we do every year and big picture goals.

Goals for 2017 (from previous minutes)

The goals discussion at the December meeting was summarized and updated as follows:

Improve the meeting- Have the agenda a week in advance with the discussion time allotted to the item. Someone needs to keep the discussion to the topic and the time allotted. Have sub-committees do some of the work and bring a proposal to the committee meeting for approval. Transparency is a good idea, we need to make sure all people are informed. After an online discussion, we need to decide if there is consensus on a topic at the next meeting. Maintain a positive tone.

More events- Increase social events like the plant exchange.

Recognize good garden examples- Juries can also find good gardens.

Put a berm above the Eagle Heights weed pile to solve water problems.

Unfinished Business- improve path maintenance.

Online application- for a later year.

There was discussion of the importance of strategic planning. What is the most important?

Adjourned at 8pm by Illana

Submitted by Karen

Subject to correction by the Garden Committee

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

October 11, 2017, 7 PM

Eagle Heights Community Center

7:00 Illana welcomed Barb A, Kathryn, Will, Jolene, Henry, Niels, Janet, Tianxing, Michaiah, Karen and Barb L.

Minutes Motion by Kathryn and seconded by Barb A and the September minutes were unanimously approved.

Registrar Update Kathryn said she sent letters to request seed donations from companies and has received seeds. The gym has been reserved for the Seed Fair for April 7th and the meeting room for the monthly garden committee meeting.

The garden juries have completed their work. Most people think the job for Eagle Heights is too large . Dividing the garden into 4 sections would make the work more manageable.

Kathryn and Barb L are working on the 2018 budget. At this time there are 19 plots open. The Porta potties will be in place until mid November.

Garden Worker Report

Will reported that almost all the north-south paths at University Houses have been rechipped. University Houses has leaves and will be getting more. The work on the concrete pad at Eagle Heights and the leaf delivery timing is in conflict. Will has concerns that we could be short of leaves at Eagle Heights. The original plan was to pour the pad in August.

All work parties will be at Eagle Heights except for 2 parties at University Houses to repair the west end of the path. Discussion ensued about the delivery of leaves to Eagle Heights. Michaiah suggested a compost sale for the last weekend of October. Price will be $5 for a half cart load.

Michaiah was thanked for fixing leaking faucets.

Garden Oversight Committee (GOC) Update

Laura from the Preserve reminds gardeners that bikes are not allowed in the Preserve. Bikes are allowed in the Garden. It was decided that an additional sign past the weedpile could help make it clear that bikes are not allowed in the Preserve. Discussion ensued about the bush piles left from clearing invasive species. Will said we helped but the piles were not chipped and then grass grew through them. CALS offered to clear the area.

Strategic Planning
Illana said she had some emails about planning. Discussion ensued about what was strategic planning versus operational planning. Janet suggested we have a 2 hour winter planning meeting with no other business, with snacks. Some ideas said include: Workday labor hours are important. Do operational planning first and then strategic planning. Everyone should send calendars to Illana before the next meeting.

Vacant Plots

Michaiah and a volunteer cleared 4 plots and Kathryn gave one away. Kathryn asked if Michaiah could do more plot clearing and he said yes.

Is there a schedule for the concrete pad? Will said no.

Bean beetle predatory wasps do not overwinter.

Goals for 2017 (from previous minutes)

The goals discussion at the December meeting was summarized and updated as follows:

1. Improve the meeting- Have the agenda a week in advance with the discussion time allotted to the item. Someone needs to keep the discussion to the topic and the time allotted. Have sub-committees do some of the work and bring a proposal to the committee meeting for approval. Transparency is a good idea, we need to make sure all people are informed. After an online discussion, we need to decide if there is consensus on a topic at the next meeting. Maintain a positive tone.

2. More events- Increase social events like the plant exchange.

3. Recognize good garden examples- Juries can also find good gardens.

4. Put a berm above the Eagle Heights weed pile to solve water problems.

5. Unfinished Business- improve path maintenance.

6. Online application- for a later year.

There was discussion of the importance of strategic planning. What is the most important?

Adjourned at 7:47pm by Janet

Submitted by Karen

Subject to correction by the Garden Committee

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

November 8, 2017, 7 PM

Eagle Heights Community Center

7:00 Illana welcomed Barb A, Kathryn, Will, Janet, Rosemary, Rollie, Ann, Ulrike, Michaiah, Karen and Barb L.

Minutes Motion by Kathryn and seconded by Ann and the October minutes were unanimously approved.

Registrar Update Kathryn said that Gretel and Will Z checked all the corner posts and markers for Eagle Heights. Kathryn is checking on an online application for 2018.

Garden Worker Report

Kathryn said we have a new concrete pad at Eagle Heights. We will do an inventory of tools and supplies at cleanup day. When is cleanup day? It was decided to do the cleanup on December 3rd, a Sunday, at 10-12 at Eagle Heights and 12:30 2 at University Houses. There was discussion about putting the University Houses hose reels away soon before it freezes.

Will said there will be a workday in the next couple of weeks. There will not be work done on the berms and swales until the culverts are finished. Then a tractor will be used to make the swales. Will said the following tasks need to be done. Pull 3 to 4 trees that are diseased or damaged, run 2 more work days, reconstruct the west end of the University Houses main path and mow the paths flat everything flat so the rodents are not happy. The tree tubes are all done. The garden workers can legally work until mid December.

Budget and Application

Kathryn and Barb L are preparing the budget, which will be very similar to last year.

Kathryn has rewritten some of the rules, making mostly stylistic changes. For example the rule now say mint is discouraged, not forbidden. The new application will be out December 15th. If the new prototype PDF is not ready, then it will be paper as usual. Otherwise the PDF can be filled out an sent electronically to the Registrar. THEN THE APPLICANT PRINTS THE APPLICATION AND SENDS IT IN WITH THE CHECK. We still need to take checks for the application fee. Kathryn asks people to read the 2018 application draft by next Wednesday and make comments and suggestions.

The new manager in the Housing business office has stated they will not be issuing refund checks. Discussion ensued about this Housing policy. Kathryn said there were 11 refunds for ½ the price of the plot for leaving before June 1st. Would it be possible to get a Registered Student Group account? Barb L will check on this possibility.

Operational Planning Calendar

Ilana will email a copy of the draft also. Some of the suggestions were:

Put information about how to apply for a plot on the bulletin boards at both gardens. List gardeners by plot number and alphabetically.

Talk about the Food Pantry.

Get more gardener volunteers to take care of more complicated plantings in common areas. Discuss the fruit plantings in this idea also.

Consider pruning the common raspberries for a fall crop only.

To be continued….

Discussion ensued about Strategic Planning. Janet said we are just discussing the operational plan now. Illana said we will have a 2 hour meeting in January with snacks which she will facilitate.

Goals for 2017 (from previous minutes)

The goals discussion at the December meeting was summarized and updated as follows:

Improve the meeting- Have the agenda a week in advance with the discussion time allotted to the item. Someone needs to keep the discussion to the topic and the time allotted. Have sub-committees do some of the work and bring a proposal to the committee meeting for approval. Transparency is a good idea, we need to make sure all people are informed. After an online discussion, we need to decide if there is consensus on a topic at the next meeting. Maintain a positive tone.

More events- Increase social events like the plant exchange.

Recognize good garden examples- Juries can also find good gardens.

Put a berm above the Eagle Heights weed pile to solve water problems.

Unfinished Business- improve path maintenance.

Online application- for a later year.

There was discussion of the importance of strategic planning. What is the most important?

Adjourned at 8:05 by Ilana

Submitted by Karen

Subject to correction by the Garden Committee



Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

December 13, 2017, 7 P.M.

Eagle Heights Community Center



7:00 Ilana welcomed Niels, Kathryn, Ann, Edward, Rosemary, Rollie, Michaiah, Will, Barb L., Barb A., Jolene, and Tianxing.

Minutes Motion by Kathryn and seconded by Will and the November minutes were unanimously approved.

Registrar Update Kathryn said that seed donations are coming in and that seed supplies are organized. She needs to order row cover. Ann and Natasha will have a new version of the plot application ready on Friday and there is a new Chinese translation. Kathryn has collected checks from no-workday gardeners; there are ~ 90 gardeners who still need to fulfill this obligation and some will pay as they apply for a new plot.

UW Housing will no longer refund checks for gardeners who choose to forfeit their plot. The group discussed their commitment to refunding these gardeners and new ways to accomplish this. Ilana asked that we revisit this issue later in the meeting.

Garden Worker Report Will said that most of the work is wrapped up for the season. He discussed a few things that could be accomplished this winter such as mounting shovel heads on handles. Jolene said that the university is going for more permanent positions, but that it's nice to have Kathryn and Will be able to work in the winter. She thinks she can get a recurring seasonal temporary category that will allow them to do so.

Treasurer's Report Barb L. said the budget for this year is similar to that from last year, except that labor hours are down. Will said this was due to the fact that we did not build stone walls this year, he is now mowing rather than scything the paths, the water system is now in better shape, and the work-day workers are doing more of the work. The group discussed leaving the budget as is to accommodate unexpected costs next year.

Strategic Planning Ilana suggested that January 11th was the best date for the strategic planning discussion, based on her poll. The group decided to meet from 6 to 8 P.M. and bring potluck dishes. There was a discussion as to the nature and relevancy of the existing mission statement (see attached mission statement). Will suggested that we revisit our mission statement and rework it before we do the strategic planning meeting. Some committee members felt that would take a long time and endanger the strategic planning discussion. For now, the strategic planning discussion will take place on Jan 11th.

Calendar Review Ilana read the June through December calendar text and members corrected several small points.

Adjourned at 8:07 P.M. By Ilana

Submitted by Barb A., subject to correction by the Garden Committee



Eagle Heights Gardens Mission Statement

Mission

The University Apartments Community Gardens are an opportunity for the UW Madison community and area residents to enjoy nature, build community, learn about gardening, and feed their families. Specifically our purposes are:

Nutritional – The gardens are an important source of fresh produce for many students and their families

Recreational – The gardens are an opportunity for many people to enjoy nature and interact with the earth.

Educational – We help our gardeners learn about the natural world, new gardening techniques, and ways to garden in an organic or environmentally friendly manner.

Community building – The gardens are a place where students, university and community members from diverse age groups and cultural backgrounds can interact, learn from each other, and share in the creation of an aesthetically pleasing and environmentally friendly space.

These purposes are an outgrowth of the broader goals of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve, of which the gardens are a part, and its mission to "shelter biologically significant plant and animal communities for teaching, research, outreach, and environmentally sensitive use, and safeguard beloved cultural landscapes."