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