May, 2025

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

May 14, 2025 7 PM

Remote Meeting

Lily, Ann, Jolene, Pam, Ron, Zach, Barb A, Nick, Alex and Karen.

Alex started the meeting.

Minutes: With a motion by Lily and seconded by Ann the April 2025 minutes were approved.

Registrar Update

Lily says there is now a waiting list for EH gardens. There are 3 open plots at UH, but they are shady.

A former Eagle Heights gardener is teaching a class about growing watermelons in northern climates at an off site location. They ask if the committee would be okay informing tour gardeners about this opportunity. The committee agreed.

Another gardener would like to try repairing a cart bed with a mesh screen and fiberglass. The gardener has the supplies to do one cart and see if the repair will work. If the repair works, they would like the supplies to do more carts for their workday. The committee agreed this was a good idea.

The garden juries will start soon and there will be a second walkthrough 2 weeks later.

Windrow Composting

The windrow composting project will need Malachai’s support. The Committee agreed we will need a written agreement with the Dining Farm before we proceed. Some questions remaining are; Who will buy the tarps? What will the schedule be? ( The committee is concerned that adding more tasks to the Garden Working is unsustainable.) The proposal by Malachai that the gardens keep the ride on mower filled with fuel may not work because we get the fuel from Housing. Jolene will check about the gas.

The composting will work by building the row, putting on the permeable canvas top and not turning the pile.

University Houses also has a huge weedpile. Maybe we can do it there too.

Garden Worker Report

Pam said the mowing has begun. She is planning one workday during the week and one on the weekend for the season. Nick also thought that schedule would be good. Some support posts by water risers are missing. Nick will check on the missing posts.

Zack and Chris (a gardener) will be repairing the share shelves. More wood than expected will have to be replaced.

Pam and Lily fixed the leak in the water line last week. They need more risers and faucets to complete repairs.

Motion by Ann and seconded by Karen to spend $200 on the needed plumbing supplies. Motion carried.

It was noted that there is a second probably buried water shut off on the 1300 that goes to the east nursery area.

Road Erosion

The Committee would like an update from the GOC about the road erosion. Eagle Heights Drive drains down the road through the pedestrian ramp past the shed. In a big storm, a lot of water comes down the road causing large ruts. We know that gravel has been added, but the road continues to wash out.

The drainage from University Houses parking lots also terminates near the weedpile.

Zack said the ditch has been extended to the west along the road at the back of the 100’s.

Motion by Ron and seconded by Barb A to agree to the windrow composting if a written agreement is signed by the Dining Farms. $1000. Is approved for tarps, fencing and other supplies.

Motion passed.

Motion by Barb A and seconded by Ann to adjourn which passed.

Adjourned about 7:40 pm

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee

April, 2025

                                       

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

April 9, 2025 7 PM

Remote Meeting

Lily, Ann, Jolene, Pam, Ron, Zach, Yohan, Nick, Alex and Karen.

Alex started the meeting.

Minutes With a motion by Lily and seconded by Ann the March 2025 minutes were approved.

Registrar Update

Lily says that the gardeners of 234 plots came to the Seed Fair. The bulk order of seeds was a good idea. We did not run out of spinach. Lily proposes we buy kale and broccoli seed in bulk for next year.

There is a proposal for an Eagle Scout to build Leopold benches for the gardens. The committee decided 3 or 4 would be good. We need to decide where they would go in the common areas of both Eagle Heights and University Houses.

Lily would like to purchase some 33 gallon galvanized garbage cans to store row cover in the shed. Discussion ensued.

The person conducting a study about apple pollinators is now applying for a UW Permit.

There is a meeting with the UW Plumbers at 10:30 on Friday. Lily and Nick will be there.

Garden Worker Report

Pam said not much has happened yet except she has been picking up trash.

Nick and Zach stabilized the Share Shelf at Eagle Heights. They think the current shelves are unsalvageable. The white shelves outside the large door of the shed should be used instead. Jolene suggested we ask a gardener to switch them out for a work day. Zack said he would help too.

Questions about the proposed financial assistance program were asked. Discussion ensued. Lily said she will bring a written proposal draft for review before next year's application time. We will use the Gardens Network Guidelines and ask the applicants to self report their status and take their word for it.

Windrow Composting

Malachai was unable to attend. Lily shared the draft proposal. We will need an agreement with the Dining Farms about coordination and also use of their large mower for the main paths. What will happen if we overload the cement pad? Shorewood has agreed to move the excess to the Dining Farm area. Lily will send the draft documents to everyone so we can make a decision.

Motion by Ann and seconded by Ron to adjourn which passed.

Adjourned about 7:37 pm

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee

March, 2025

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

March 12, 2025 7 PM

Remote Meeting

Nick, Lily, Ann, Ric, Jolene, Alan, Jessica, Barb A, Alex and Karen.

Jessica started the meeting.

Minutes: With a motion by Ann and seconded by Lily the February 2025 minutes were approved with the correction to windrow composting instead of window composting.

Registrar Update

Seed Fair April 5, 2025

Lily said 452 Gardeners have renewed their plots and we now have 75 new gardener applications. We have 19 full and 17 half plots empty. Most of these plots are not the best.

The no workday fee of $45 has been paid by 179 gardeners. The average is 150. 60 gardeners abandoned their plots last year compared to 45 the year before. The average is 50.

The mulberry tree evaluation purchase order to Physical Plant has been approved and we are awaiting their response.

There is no update on the windrow composting project on the weed pad because the GOC meeting was cancelled.

Garden Worker Report

Nick reports that the new Garden Worker Zach will start March 15th. Nick and Pam will start explaining the duties on March 19th. Pam has been looking at our Weed Wackers and has made good progress. She also cannot get horse manure at the time.

Policy on Financial Assistance

Ric asked if the policy was in final form. Lily suggested we work from the draft presented to us. The committee agreed this was a good start. Discussion ensued. One question was, can a gardener use the plan 2 years in a row? The policy would be first come first served. The policy needs to be in place by December 15 of the year.

At other area gardens run by the Gardens Network, they use a sliding income scale for lower fees. The committee agreed that we will give some guidelines but we need to trust people. Jolene suggested that a gardener applying for a second year will have lower priority over a new applicant. The Committee liked this idea. Lily will keep track of the donation money in the general fund. The new policy will not offer three workdays in exchange for plot fees.

Additional topics

The soil is now 40 degrees. Some gardeners are now planting spinach.

There was discussion about gardeners helping each other when one was on vacation. Gardeners need to help each other and keep watch on neighbors plots when they are gone.

Adjourned about 7:27 pm

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee

February 2025

                                       

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

February 12, 2025 7 PM

Remote Meeting

Zach, Lily, Ann, Ric, Pam, Jolene, Alan, Alex and Karen.

Ann started the meeting.

Minutes With a motion by Lily and seconded by Pam the January 2025 minutes were approved.

Registrar Update

Seed Fair April 5, 2025

Lily said 388 Gardeners have renewed their plots and we now have 44 new gardener applications. She thinks there is less interest in gardening compared to previous years.

Lily will send an email to the discussion list for volunteers to do new gardener orientations.

The Committee agreed to make Opening Day and the Seed Fair on April 5th. Lily thinks this might save some of the tools from damage when gardeners try to dig into frozen ground.

Lily proposes to remove the deadline to pay the no workday fee. Previously there was also a financial penalty that we no longer have. The gardener would still have to pay the no workday fee before being assigned a new plot. The Committee agreed.

There has been a request for help with the plot fee. The gardener changed status. Discussion ensued. There is a real threshold for asking for help. Jolene said we need to say this is available if we provide it in the future.

The Committee decided to develop a program for next year for a limited number of spots and the procedure for applying to the Registrar. The number of sponsorship spots available will depend on the amount donated by other gardeners. For this first request we are offering the gardener in need the chance to do three workdays in exchange for the plot.

Lily said we have been offered a sand excavator toy for the garden. Should we accept it? The Committee thought it was a great idea.

Compost

At a previous meeting there was discussion about providing compost to the gardeners.

Lily found that the price has doubled since we previously bought it. Giving all plots 3.5 cubic feet (½ a cart load) would cost us $5000. Malachai will propose the windrow composting system to the GOC at the next meeting. This compost would be cheaper and would work.

If we could also get fresh horse manure in the fall again, that would also be a solution as it would be ready to use on plants by the spring. If we could find a source of horse manure, UW Physical Plant would transport it for us if the farm would load it in their truck.

We should pay someone to evaluate the mulberry tree. The branches are obstructing the path. It would be best to act while the ground is frozen. Lily will put in a work order with PP to ask for an assessment and quote for removal.

Garden Worker Report

Jolene said the process has been started to hire a third garden worker and the target start date is mid March. Pam said not much is happening in the garden in winter. Jolene asked that any needed supplies be ordered soon. Pam is checking the charger of the weed wackers before buying the new batteries already approved for purchase.

Motion by Ric and seconded by Lily to adjourn.

Adjourned about 7:30 pm

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee

January 2025

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

January, 2025 7 PM

Remote Meeting

Alex, Lily, Ann, Ric, Barb A, Pam, Jessica, Jolene and Karen.

Alex started the meeting.

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

Registrar Update

Seed Fair April 5, 2025 and Seed Sort January 20, 2025.

Garden plot renewals are at the same pace than previous years but new applications are lower. Lily will advertise in the UW Housing Apartment newsletter. Blue Moon Farms will again do our cool and warm weather plant sales. We are receiving nice seed donations. Gardeners asking for less strenuous work days will help with the more extensive seed repackaging.

Lily asked if the committee thought a postdoc was classified as student or staff. The committee agreed postdocs are students.

Workday Report so far

195 gardeners participated in garden worker lead workdays, 142 have paid the no workday fee and 73 have not done anything yet. This is following the same trend as previous years. We will have the final report after Feb 15th.

Food Pantry

Andrew with UW Housing connected Lily with Open Seat Pantry, which is a food pantry on campus for UW apartments residents and students. They will provide a collection barrel at Eagle Heights Garden. The pick up time will be 4pm Wednesday at Eagle Heights Garden.

Request for Blueberries north of E8 at University Houses

A gardener has asked about planting blueberries in this space. This is a difficult space due to shading and walnut trees. After discussion, the Committee decided to come up with a plan for the north tree line before acting.

Budget

We have reserves for next year and can pursue the new water line up the 300’s.

UW Plumbers have our request for a consultation but we do not have an answer yet.

Compost

There was a discussion about buying compost for both gardens. The idea would be 1 portion per plot at no cost. Lily will explore the idea.

Gardening on a Budget

Lily is working on some information for gardeners on gardening on a budget. She would like people to understand that gardening need not be expensive.

Garden Worker Update

Pam said that the carts and tools were put away by December 1st. Pam will be returning to the garden. A friend of hers is looking at the weed whackers and trying to fix them. Pam will get the chargers looked at too.

Recruitment and retention

Jolene said that since HR has put an end date on TE appointments and that Lily, Pam and Nick are returning. A resident gardener is interested in the 3rd position. Discussion ensued. Pam thinks three garden workers are good. Jolene will start the process with the person interested in the Garden Worker position.

Jolene said January is the month the Committee decided to take action on retention raises for staff. The employees left the meeting. Discussion ensued. The committee decided all returning gardens would receive a $.50 raise per hour. Jolene said she is not sure when the raise will take effect as this is HR’s decision. The new garden worker would be hired at $17 per hour.

Motion by Ann and seconded by Barb A to adjourn.

Adjourned just after 7:45 pm

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee

November 2024

                                       

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

November, 2024 7 PM

Remote Meeting

Alex, Lily, Ron, Ric, Nick, Jolene and Karen.

Alex started the meeting.

Minutes With a motion by Lily and seconded by Ric, the October 2024 minutes were approved.

Registrar Update

Important dates for next year are: Seed Fair April 5, 2025, Seed Sort January 20, 2025.

Seed donations are underway. So far we have received three boxes.

As we previously decided, we will buy direct sow seeds like spinach, bok choy, chard, and perhaps something else for distribution at the Seed Fair.

Fedco seems to have the best prices and the order. Will be placed in January when their new catalog (and price updates) are available. The committee previously discussed a potential budget of up to $500, but the purchase will probably be under $200.

So far 98 gardeners have not done a workday yet and 122 have paid the fee which is the same or a little better than other years at this point. We will know more in February, after the renewal deadline, when the statistics are for this season.

The tree removal is going well. Ron’s sapling puller works very well and there is one in the shed too. It is much easier to remove trees when they are young.

We would like to ask the UW Plumbers for a consultation about the new second line up the main path at Eagle Heights. We would like their professional input before we start the project. Lily placed a work order with Physical Plant to start this process but we have not had a response yet.
Lily has requested horse manure from Crest Haven Farm. Physical Plant is willing to haul this for us if Crest Haven will load it. However, Crest Haven had not replied.

Shorewood did take some of our weeds to Purple Cow, which Purple Cow accepted. They have fulfilled their part of the agreement this year. We will have to get someone else to take the rest of the weeds away. It would probably be in our best interest to have a start date for getting leaves from Shorewood at both gardens. Shorewood did take leaves to Purple Cow before giving them to us.

Theft

A lot of large scale theft has been reported in the garden with all the squash and cabbage being removed from a few plots. Discussion ensued. There was an extensive discussion of trail cameras. Jolene said the Preserve and the UW Police University would have to approve and that would be difficult. More discussion ensued. The Committee agreed that this is a difficult problem to solve.

More signage was recommended in several languages. "These gardens are owned by individual gardeners and removal of vegetables and supplies constitutes theft." Jolene suggested that there be a regular article about the gardens in the monthly newsletter. She said new residents arrive every day and know nothing about the gardens. This would also include an invitation to get a garden plot.

Mulberry Tree

Before she retired, Laura Wyatt said this was an invasive tree, but did not take any further action. Discussion ensued. The tree is leaking sap from the trunk. The symptoms point to slime flux or bacterial wet wood in the trunk and limbs, but the tree still needs to be evaluated by an expert. Jolene said maybe UW facilities or Grounds could do the assessment. The Committee agreed that if the tree was to come down, it would need to be done in the winter.

University Houses Pollinator Garden

Carol is starting a pollinator garden in the Northern half of F3, which is no longer a plot. She plans to start and maintain the garden with volunteer help. She asked about putting the following native plants in the garden. Ninebark is a shrub that can grow to 8 feet but hosts native butterfly caterpillars. Stinging nettles are another host plant. The Committee said no to the ninebark because it is probably too big and also no to the stinging nettles because they could spread to other plots. The Committee agreed to an allowance of $50 at Prairie Moon Nursery for seeds for the pollinator garden.

Garden Worker Report

Lily read a note from Pam, who could not attend. She has been cleaning up the blackberries at University Houses and also the blackberries and raspberries at Eagle Heights. It has been a great year but things are winding down.

Nick reports a lot less work to do this late in the fall. He has been leading the last couple of workdays clearing plots and covering them with leaf mulch. He is concerned about the leaning share shelf and would like to take it down before it falls down. The plan is to salvage the top and put it back next year. Lily and Nick will check the shelf next week. The bottom could be rebuilt using tee posts as anchors. We would call Diggers Hotline first.

Motion by Lily and seconded by Ric to adjourn.

Adjourned just after 7:45 pm

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee

October 2024

                                         

Eagle Heights Garden Committee Minutes

October 9, 2024 7 PM

Remote Meeting

Alex, Lily, Pam, Ric, Nick, Barb A, Ann and Karen.


Alex started the meeting.

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

Registrar Update

Lily said now we have 13 half plots and 11 full plots vacant.

Important dates for next year are: Seed Fair April 6, 2025, Seed Sort January 20, 2025.

As we previously decided, we will buy direct sow seeds like spinach, bok choi, and perhaps something else for distribution at the Seed Fair.

Fedco seems to have the best prices. Lily will send us a proposal.

Malachai from the Dining Gardens would like to revisit the discussion of sharing their ride-on-mower with the Community Gardens. He was not available this season to start the windrow composting, but a lot of our weeds have been moved to his area.

It has been suggested that the UW Plumbers help us to install a second main line up the path. This should be discussed at the next GOC meeting, which is the 3rd Friday from 10 to 11am.

Motion by Ann and seconded by Barb A to get the second line plumbing project started.

Motion passed.

The GOC has also requested that a garden representative attend the GOC meeting.

Revisions to the 2025 Garden Application

The main revision is the rule change that will not allow new gardeners to get a non-organic plot. Present gardeners can retain their non-organic status. At present there are 8 non-organic gardeners at University Houses. All of these gardeners are English speakers. Next year all gardeners using non-organic methods will have to keep records and use of non-organics will need to be reported to UW Environmental Health and Safety thru the Registrar.

Boundary Changes to the 500’s

Proposed changes to the 500’s row were well received by the present gardeners and will be implemented sometime this fall

Weed Wackers

New batteries are needed for the weed wackers and cost $175 each. One of the weed wackers does not work at all and needs a couple new parts which come to about $50. One of the problems with the batteries could be that they are plugged in all the time. It was suggested using a timer for the charger to avoid this problem. Also the batteries should probably be stored in the office over the winter out of the cold.

Motion by Karen and seconded by Ric to buy 4 new batteries and the new parts for up to $1000. Motion carried.

Garden Worker Report

Pam is trying to get the last workdays done. Mowing is finally slowing down. She has been making paths through the blackberry patch at University Houses. The hoses are put away at University Houses and the water is shut off at both gardens. Nick has been doing cleanup and workdays.

The committee asked the garden workers if they were returning next season. Pam will be back and Nick will probably be back. It was remarked that the gardens have looked especially good this year.

Barb A said the new spigot behind the Arbor Garden is especially slow. Nick said he could exchange it for a different one. Also one of the umbrellas is broken. Nick said we have a spare umbrella in the shed.

There is a tree on the removal list entwined with a grape in the Arbor Garden. Barb A said it is okay to remove the tree. Barb A requested some help in the Arbor Garden. Pam volunteered.

Motion by Ann and seconded by Karen that garden workers can work in the Arbor Garden. This will be a good opportunity for Barb A to share her knowledge of the garden.

Spigot risers and posts

Ric presented a list of all the water spigots in the garden and the condition of the supporting posts. Some are completely missing and some are too far away. A spigot without a post is more vulnerable to damage. Ric volunteered to make brackets to have the spigots better supported. The committee liked the idea. Nick said there are still a couple of underground leaks which will probably not get fixed until the water is on again in the spring.

Motion by Barb A and seconded by Ric to adjourn.

Adjourned just after 7:39pm

Submitted by Karen, subject to correction by the Garden Committee