September 2024

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

September 11, 2024 7 PM

Remote Meeting

Alex, Lily, Pam, Jolene, Sam, Nick, Ann and Karen.

Alex started the meeting.

Minutes With a motion by Ann and seconded Lily the August 2024 minutes were approved.

Registrar Update

Lily said now we have 12 half plots and 7 full plots vacant. The Tomato Tasting went well considering what a difficult tomato growing season we have had.

The budget for next year is available for review. So far we have spent about $7500, mostly on wages. We have a budget of $3000 a year for plumbing and we have not spent most of it yet. Actual revenue was close to the projected revenue in this year’s budget. We will know how many people are paying the no work day fee in January.

We still need about 100 workday shifts for this year, but there is still time to have them.

Redrawing the borders of the 500’s row

Lily shared the proposed redraw of the 500’s to make the borders less confusing. She also proposes to leave half of 514 fallow due to severe flooding this year.

Motion by Ann and seconded by Karen to approve the 500’s border redraw. Motion approved.

Closing Day

Garden closing day will be in November and a post Thanksgiving Day tool put away is planned.

Seed Fair 2025 will be Saturday April 5th.

Seed repackaging will be January 20, 2025.

Weed pile

The weed pile was moved to the Dining Garden by Malachai and Tary from Shorewood.

Garden Worker Report

Nick said he has been working on plumbing projects. He still has a couple of underground leaks to fix. He said he needs to schedule more workdays. Sam said getting workdays done is her priority. Pam and Lily fixed some plumbing also. It was noted that if we have a surprise freeze, turning on all the faucets a little bit will keep the pipes from freezing.

Additional topics   

There was general discussion about the plan for a second line up the main path at Eagle Heights. Perhaps we should ask Physical Plant for advice about how to proceed.

There was also a request for horse manure.

Motion by Karen and seconded by Lily to adjourn.

Adjourned just after 7:45pm

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee

August 2024

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

August 14, 2024 7 PM

Remote Meeting

Alex, Lily, Pam, Yohan, Barb A, Ann and Karen.


Alex started the meeting.

Minutes With a motion by Ann and seconded by Barb A the July 2024 minutes were approved.

Registrar Update

Lily said there has been considerable plot turnover lately, but there are only a few empty plots, mostly in low lying areas.

The tomato tasting will be August 25th and the temporary food service permit has been approved. We could use a few more volunteers for the event.

There has been a request to allow authorized personnel to remove weeds in plots without notice to the plot owner. After discussion, the committee denied this request. Lily proposes placing written notices on plots to inform gardeners to remove noxious weeds. The committee agreed.

The budget for the next year will need to be reviewed and approved at the next meeting.

The leaf pile at University Houses has a plastic pipe that is the overflow for the rain garden that drains all of the university Houses parking lots. During heavy rains or fire hydrant flushing the leaf pile floods. This means the leaves are sitting in water part of the time. Lily proposes a rain garden for this area in the future and move the leaves nearer the weed pile. Discussion ensued. It is a good idea, but the rain garden would need a caretaker like the other rain gardens to be successful. Since the volume of water can be large, a drainage ditch might be more effective.

Lily proposes to redraw the boundaries of the 500’s row to fix the borders so they are less confusing. Her proposal will be shared at the next meeting. Also one gardener had to give up their plot in the lowest part of the row due to flooding issues. A rain garden at the low spot was discussed.

There are many tree stumps in the garden which are difficult to remove. An organic method to kill tree stumps is to drill holes in it , fill them with Epsom salts, water and cover it and the stump will die. The committee thought we should try this method.

There is a concern in the non-organic section of University Houses. A neighboring gardener reports an issue of spray from a neighboring gardener coming into her plot. Lily proposes that no spraying be allowed within one foot of the plot being sprayed. The committee agreed.

Starting next year, The Preserve will want a report of all pesticide and herbicide spraying at University Houses, including dates of application and amounts. Discussion ensued. When University Houses was merged with Eagle Heights, there was an agreement that the non-organic gardeners could continue gardening as they had. (I think this is true but I am not certain?) At this time the non-organic section of University Houses is in the C, D, E and F rows of the garden. Starting next year all new gardeners will be required to garden organically. After discussion, it was agreed to have the non-organic gardeners sign a form that makes them aware of the new reporting requirements when they renew their plots.

The weedpile windrowing composting at Eagle Heights is still being discussed with Malachai.

The north south access road erosion at Eagle Heights was discussed at the GOC meeting. It is proposed to share costs of the repairs with all users. The gardens will also share costs because sometimes Shorewood uses the road to make deliveries to us.

The mulberry tree will be evaluated for safety.

We received a delivery of chips from Housing, but Heartwood Trees has not made a delivery yet.

Garden Worker Report

Pam said the 5 carts are now back in service and Nick has a list of parts we still need to fix more. The mowing never stops this year. Pam said the gardeners have been very helpful and supportive this year.

There will be plot clearing workshops this weekend. There is plenty of work to be done and the garden workers plan more workdays.

There was an email from Nick, who could not attend the meeting.

• With some benevolence and wisdom from Karen, Pam and I were able to get a handful of carts repaired and back out for gardeners. The three of us spent an afternoon making repairs and I know Pam had done a bit more too, so she could speak to any further progress.
• The other has been plumbing, as we've had a few leaks spring up. Pam and I worked on a busted riser in the 1300s, which put the row out of commission, but were able to get a new one installed and get the water back on. I was using the leak as an opportunity to go through all the old plumbing parts (risers & spigots mostly) to see which were usable but didn't make it through the full stockpile before leaving on my trip. The water had been back on but I didn't have a chance to fully clean up the area around the leak, so I apologize for leaving things in a bit of disarray.
• Within the shed, I was sorting out our old plumbing supplies and had tried to mark everything I made it through. If I remember correctly, anything with pink ribbon could potentially be repaired while anything with green tape could be recycled or tossed. If folks wanted to see supplies and brainstorm a way to repurpose, feel free, although most things marked 'to go' are in a rough state.
• Which leads me to the proposed supply request. I believe we have a budget left from what was allotted at the beginning of the season, so hopefully not a big issue, but I think it would be good to get some more spigots ordered. Most of what we currently have are shabby. We ordered two in the last supply request, which seemed to work quite effectively. You can see them at the first plot of the 300s. I think if we ordered another 15 (10/EH and 5/UH), that would cover us for quite some time and make repairs easier as we don't need to test which parts do and don't work.
• If folks agree on the order, this is the link for the spigots we previously purchased from Ace. Jolene, would this be enough, or would you like an official supply request sent in? I'd be happy to do that if need be, just let me know. https://www.acehardware.com/departments/plumbing/valves/rough-faucets-and-hose-bibbs/41972?qtyRequested=1&deliveryRequested=false

After discussion, there was a motion by Ann and seconded by Karen to buy 25 spigots. Motion carried.

Motion by Barb A and seconded by Lily to adjourn.

Adjourned just after 7:35pm

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee

July 2024

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

July 10, 2024 7 PM

Remote Meeting

Alex, Jolene, Pam, Sam, Barb A, Ann, Nick, and Karen.


Alex started the meeting.

Minutes With a motion by Barb A and seconded by Ann, the June 2024 minutes were approved.

Registrar Update

Since Lily was not here, Alex presented her report (in italics).

We still have some openings but there also continue to be new applicants.

At the last GOC meeting Laura Wyatt suggested we consider appointing an invasive plant person in the gardens. Ideally it would be someone with a lot of plant knowledge to walk through the gardens and look out for invasive species, especially new ones.

-Nick thought this would be a good idea.

We also discussed the possibility of collaborating with the Dining Farm and putting fruit trees in the buffer zone/former 400s (where we once had them before).

The proposal for the windrow composting at Eagle Heights should be ready for the next GOC meeting. If it’s approved there, I will share it with the committee for review by the garden committee. The University Houses weed pile is not looking great, and we do not have a confirmed plan for it. The constant rains have flooded the lower areas of the garden, and I don’t think that any trucks can drive in right now without getting stuck. A rearranging of the weed pile and mulch area at UH might make room for a water retention/rain garden area. The storm drains from University Houses all drain into that low area from an underground pipe.

-Pam reports that the weedpile at University Houses has now been stacked, so there is more room for weeds.

I’d like to go ahead with the plan to change University Houses Gardens to organic-only, except existing gardeners that can continue to use non-organic practices if they renew. We’d ask those gardeners to report their pesticide/herbicide usage so that we can pass that information on to the Preserve. They track other non-organic control methods and would appreciate being informed about it. If everyone is still in agreement, I could update the application for 2025.

After discussion the committee agreed with the plan to transition all of University Houses to organic and to update the 2025 application accordingly.

I’d like to propose that we hold the tomato tasting again this year in early September.

We should hold a tomato tasting.

Does anyone know who the birdhouses behind the Eagle Heights shed belong to? A gardener wants one, and I did not know if they were just abandoned there, are garden property, or are from the Preserve.

There was discussion about making sure they had sparrow excluders, but no one knew where the birdhouses came from.

A gardener reported that she fell on the washed out road leading south past the shed at Eagle Heights. She requests that this be repaired. I plan to bring this to the next GOC meeting, since various groups use this road

The committee agreed this is a topic for the GOC.

We are out of wood chips at Eagle Heights. We were able to get a new delivery to University Houses a few weeks ago, but University Apartments will not have more chips for some time. We have a small brush pile there that we could place a work order to have chipped, but gardeners would like more delivered also. I will try to see if Shorewood or UW Grounds have any when I get back. If anyone knows of a reliable source of wood chips, that would also be great. It would be good to avoid having contractors dumping without notice, since this was such a problem in the past.

Ann recommends Heartwood Tree Care for chips and thought they would be careful of walnut chips if asked.

Tire tracks have been seen going around the Eagle Heights gate. The committee thought this was also a topic for the GOC.

Mulberry Tree

After discussion, the committee would like a qualified person to check the tree for safety. If it is safe, it could be pruned back. We could also have mulberries in another part of the garden, perhaps near the 500’s. Could Lily ask someone on the Preserve staff about the safety of the tree.

Garden Worker Report

Pam said the Garden Workers have all been mowing and mowing and mowing.

She also said she has run multiple productive workdays.

Jolene said the last GOC meeting was a tour of Eagle Heights and Malachai offered the use of the Dining gardens ride-on mower. Malachai would offer training to the Garden Workers. The Garden Workers thought it was a good idea and would save time. The mower would be used on the main path, the perimeter and around the 500’s. We all agreed the bigger mower would not work on the smaller paths. The committee is comfortable with the use as described above.

Alex thanked the Garden Workers for their hard work.

Additional Topics

Barb A said the Arbor rain garden had standing water for three days after the last huge rain storm. Pam said she and Doug dug out the trench leading out of the 115 rain garden. Nick having rain gardens is great.

Karen volunteered to help with cart repair now that the cart parts have arrived.

Jolene requested that a gardener attend the GOC meeting.

Motion by Karen and seconded by Barb A to adjourn.

Adjourned just after 7:35pm

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee

June 2024

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

June 12, 2024 7 PM

Remote Meeting

Lily, Alex, Jolene, Pam, Sam, Barb A, Barb L, Nick, Doug and Karen.


Alex started the meeting.

Minutes With a motion by Lily and seconded by Barb L, the May 2024 minutes were approved.

Registrar Update

Lily and Malachi coordinated the weed pile move at Eagle Heights . Shorewood moved it to the Student Farm area instead of offsite, which is good news. In the future Malachai proposes composting in windrows, which is allowed by Wisconsin DNR. A proposal is being prepared for approval from both the GOC and the Garden Committee. These will be long rows on the weed pile concrete covered by tarps on top. This way soil on the weeds will not be a problem, but part of the solution. The compost would be shared by the Community Garden and the Dining Farm.

The Student Farm purchased a Ride-on mower and says they will teach our Garden Workers how to use it. It would only be able to be used on the larger main paths. Jolene says the driving requirement has been removed from the job, so that could be a problem.

Lily said we now have 12 empty plots, but we do have applications coming in.

There was a dead turkey found on one of the paths at Eagle Heights.

Lily requests that we change plot F3 and F4S at University Houses. Plot F4S and the southern half of F3 would be combined to make a full plot (renamed F3). The Northern half of F3 would beccome a pollinator garden. The large walnut tree near it in the Preserve makes it very difficult to grow most vegetables. The committee agreed.

Lily reported to the Committee that the new team of Garden Workers is good to work with and they make a great team.

Garden Worker Report

Nick said that Pam, Sam and he have been mowing and cleaning up common areas. University Houses hoses have leaks and there are leaky spigots at Eagle Heights. He is starting to plan for 2 lines up the main path at Eagle Heights. Nick has been doing the plumbing.

Jolene said that a list of supplies is being prepared for order, including parts for carts.

Pam said she has been having a couple of workdays a week. There were 10 truck loads taken from the Weed Pile to the Student Farm area. Sam said vacant plots need to be cleared.

Wages and Positions

The wage change for longevity pay has been approved by UW Human Resources. They want to be sure we have a system in place to review yearly. In January the wages will need to be reviewed and sent to HR for approval.

UW HR has made a change in the Temporary Employment positions. All TE positions will now have an end date. Jolene will ask each year on December 31 if the employee is returning.

Jolene said the Garden Team is doing exceptional work this year and she appreciates the team's communication.

Other Items

Lily will be on vacation at the beginning of July.

Barb A said the Arbor rain garden is working and the water is going in the right place. Doug said the rain garden in 115 is working well too.

Someone suggested that a narrow rain garden could be put down the 500’s row if flooding became a problem.

Motion by Barb L and seconded by Lily to adjourn.

Adjourned just after 8pm

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee

May 2024

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

May 8, 2024 7 PM

Remote Meeting

Lily, Alex, Jolene, Ann, Pam, Ron, Sam, Barb A, Barb L, Alan, Nick, Doug and Karen.


Ann started the meeting.

Minutes With a motion by Ron and seconded by Lily, the April 2024 minutes were approved.

Registrar Update

The gardens were full, but few people have given up their plots. Lily proposes changing the date for getting a full refund to match the academic calendar. Some people are not sure if they will garden until after the semester is over. Discussion ensued. The committee agreed to change the full refund deadline to the third Friday in May and make the change starting this year.

Weedpile

Lily saw a gardener from the student gardens using our weedpile. The confusion has been cleared up at the GOC meeting and the good news is the Student Farm will take the dirt from the weedpile, which may save us some money.

It was proposed to have an additional 1 hour required weedpile work day for all gardeners with no ability to pay to not do the weedpile workday. After much discussion, it was agreed that we would announce that we are considering this option, but let’s see how things progress with the weedpile this year. There was a suggestion about having a weedpile ambassador at the weedpile at busy times to help people understand the procedures. The weedpile ambassador could get workday credit. When doing every workday, all gardeners on the crew should have a short weedpile education.

There is also a question about what a stick is. Are brussel sprout sticks and raspberry canes sticks? Lily will ask UW Physical Plant about this. Is there a possibility to get woody material chipped. Jolene says this is possible by Housing Facilities.

The present status of the weedpile are that University Houses is mostly done and Eagle Heights probably needs a couple of more work days.

Water

The water is on and there were only minor leaks which Nick is working on. The main shutoff for Eagle Heights is near 816 Eagle Heights. There is a backflow preventer at the shutoff on both Eagle Heights and University Houses.

Excess Supplies at University Houses

After discussion there was a motion by Ann and seconded by Alan to give the green chain link fencing, the sink and shelving at University Houses to SWAP.

Budget Review

Lily requests we have a budget review subcommittee. The last review was two years ago and we now have more garden workers. Ann and Barb L agreed to be on the subcommittee.

Electronic Vole Deterrent

Doug agreed to write an informational piece about why they do not work and why we are banning them from the garden. He will share the draft first via email before it is sent out by Lily.

Other Items

There was a request for a hand tamper for paths in individual plots. After discussion it was decided that a tamper was not in the best interest of the gardens. Paths in plots are determined by the plot holder at the time and hard packed soil is not necessarily for the next plot user.

A research project for pollinators is requesting to remove some apple blossoms off our trees next year in a project concerning pollinators. The Committee gave permission, but they will also have to get permission from the preserve.

Longevity Pay for Garden Employees

Jolene proposed giving pay increases to retain employees at the gardens. The percent increase should be decided every year in January. Student employees will have to be treated separately due to University rules. Jolene proposed a 2% raise. Discussion ensued. 4% was proposed and agreed to for the only employee with longevity. The Registrar has been with the gardens for 3 years. Jolene said there is a salary cap for every position.

Motion by Barb L and seconded by Ann to approve a 4% raise to the Registrar backdated for the three years. Motion approved.

Alex will send an email to Jolene with this information to start the process.

Garden Worker Report

Pam said the University Houses weedpile is almost finished and signs are being added to tell gardeners how to proceed. University Houses has been mowed twice and Eagle Heights needs to be mowed. Nick, Pam and Sam are working things out and will start setting up workdays.

Nick said new plot markers have been made, bright red with yellow numbers and they will be set out. The water system is being checked for leaks.

Jolene said the mowers were serviced by Housing Grounds and one of the mowers' self propulsion is broken. Housing Grounds is checking for parts and repair costs. Ron sent an earlier email about the use of electric mowers. A good time to have this discussion would be when we had to replace a mower.

Garden forks seem to be in short supply. Pam is fixing tools and said there are some forks without handles. At the last meeting, the committee approved $800 for tolls to be bought.

Jolene said the best way to buy tools is to send her the exact thing needed from a local supplier and she will see that it is purchased.

Barb A asked to discuss the great ideas about electric mowers at a future meeting.

Motion by Barb A and seconded by Barb L to adjourn.

Adjourned just after 8pm

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee

April 2024

                                       

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

April 10, 2024 7 PM

Remote Meeting

Lily, Alex, Jolene, Ann, Jessica, Pam, Ron, Sam, Nick, Doug and Karen.


Jessica started the meeting.

The meeting started with introductions, including the new garden workers, Sam, Pam and Nick. Will is also a new garden worker who was not able to attend.

Minutes With a motion by Ann and seconded by Lily, the March 2024 minutes were approved.

Registrar Update

There are 2 to 3 half plots left in all the gardens, but they will be assigned soon. The Seed Fair was well attended with 234 plots picking up 8 packets each. Our major donor is no longer giving us older seeds, which is why we were not able to give more packets. Lily proposes a mini August Seed Fair for fall crops. We will purchase spinach and other fall crops in bulk and repackage them. The committee agreed to this idea.

Lily says there has been a request from a gardener to grow lotus in their plot. The committee agreed to the request if mosquitoes are controlled and there is no water hazard present. Permission will be revoked if the conditions are not met.

Jolene reports we have new keypads for the sheds and asks all of us to turn in old keys as they can be reused by housing. Keys can be returned by placing the key in a green garden envelope and putting it in the drop box. Please contact Lily if you had a key and need the code.

Lily requests we buy a second post driver so we can have one in each shed. The committee approved.

There was discussion about there being a sapling puller in the shed. It has not been found yet according to Nick, who has been cleaning the shed. Nick also said there was row cover in the shed.

Garden Calendar

Lily shared the Garden Calendar with the committee. For March, tree removal, tree pruning, and servicing the mowers and other equipment is a priority. Repair of carts and especially wheelbarrows at University Houses is also a priority. Ric and Karen agreed last fall to repair carts, but that never happened. Ron said he would also help.

UW Housing does the mower servicing for the gardens. Jolene says that the Garden Workers will have a meeting with Sean of UW Housing Grounds to find out how to get gas for the mowers and understand how the gardens work with Housing Grounds.

The discussion turned to tools. A tool inventory was not done last fall and probably some new tools need to be purchased.

Motion by Karen and seconded by Ann to spend up to $800 on tools and cart/wheelbarrow supplies. Motion passed.

The committee stated that the garden workers should divide up the tasks on the priority list and get the jobs done among themselves. Discussion ensued. One of the garden workers suggested a rotating schedule of mowing when the mowing season starts and the committee thought this was a good idea. Someone else said there might also be some specialization of tasks.

Weedpile

The background on the weedpile is that UW Grounds cannot remove the pile until the large sticks, dirt balls, metal and trash are removed. Doug was in the gardens during the meeting and said he thought it would take about 2 workdays, and he agreed to lead the first one this weekend.

The plan is the usable sticks can go in the barrels for reuse. The dirt can go back to the gardens. The unusable sticks that can be chipped will be placed by the Christmas trees that arrived mysteriously over the winter. This pile can be chipped by Housing Grounds when the pile is done. The organic matter left over can be transported by UW Grounds to a composting facility.

Then we will be able to have Shorewood start again taking 15 loads of weeds a year for us as is our agreement.

Online Maintenance Form

Lily will remind gardeners to use the online form for maintenance requests when the water is turned on.

Jessica states she will be taking a maternity leave at the end of April. We wished her well.

Motion by Ron and seconded Karen to adjourn

Adjourned 7:44

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee

March 2024

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

March 13, 2024

Remote Meeting

Lily, Ann, Barb A., Barb L., Ron, Jolene, Alan, Jessica


Minutes With a motion by Ann and seconded by Lily, the February 2024 minutes were approved.

Registrar Update

Lily reports that the gardens are almost full now and she expects them to be completely full by next week. She reported that the demographics of 2024 gardeners are overall at usual distributions, although there might be a slight uptick of resident gardeners (25 additional gardeners). Lily said there are plenty of volunteers for the Seed Fair. She is working with Kirsten of Blue Moon Farms to establish the plant sales dates, which will be similar to those last year. Lily reports that we received new dumpsters at Eagle Heights, including a dumpster for recycling. It's unclear whether metal can be recycled in this bin and whether we want it for the Gardens.

Lily said that Rosemary had questioned whether the 12-inch path between plots is sufficient now that many people have fences. There was a long discussion about the walkways. Lily thought we should work on enforcement before we change the rules on walkway width. She thought the new jury system will help identify gardeners not complying with the walkway rule and give a heads up when further discussion is needed. And she thought the juries should start earlier in the year. Committee members also discussed providing help to move fences, researching whether fences do help with pest control, and designating a time when the whole garden could concentrate on fence compliance.

Lily proposed that we schedule the weed pile sorting for May. She also talked about putting up informational sandwich boards signs at the weed piles and the dumpsters that can help us avoid having to do a weed pile sorting in the future. Lily also brought up that it would be good to touch base with current FH King/Peoples Farm gardeners to help them comply with our weed piles rules. Finally, she called the committee's attention to the GOC documents that Karen has been working on and said she would send them to the GOC.

Hiring More Garden Workers

Jolene reported that 6 and possibly 7 people have applied for the 3 garden worker positions. She expects that we should have a solid crew of garden workers by early April.

Jolene will be traveling for family business, but will remain our primary University Housing contact. One of her co-workers may fill in when she has to be gone.

Finally, Lily brought up the issue of the shed locks and the fact that as people leave, they often don't return their keys. Jolene will look into getting a keypad lock for the shed.

Motion by Barb L and seconded by Ann to adjourn.

Adjourn at 7:50 PM