2014 Garden plots available beginning March 5th

Anyone interested in leasing a garden plot for the 2014 season should join us at the Rockrimmon Public Library on Wednesday, March 5th between 6:30pm and 7:30pm to reserve and pay for their plot. Plots this year will cost $70 for the season. You should download your lease form here so that you can fill it out at home and have it ready when you arrive at the library.

Gardeners in good standing from the 2013 season are in the process of reserving their plots now. Remaining plots will be offered to new gardeners on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 6:30pm on March 5th. We expect to have around 8-10 plots available.

Some members of the garden committee and some of our returning community gardeners will be available at the meeting on March 5th to greet new gardeners and answer questions.

A few changes to the garden for 2014:

• Overseeing the school beds. Because we had a difficult time keeping the school plots watered last summer, we are now assigning each community gardener the duty of overseeing one 4'x10' school bed. Students and families from Foothills Elementary School will still be offered opportunities to water the school beds, but community gardeners will ensure that the plots are maintained in the event that a plot is forgotten or abandoned or not taken care of. If the school family who has volunteered to water is not watering well (deeply) or not watering at all, community gardeners will be expected to “fill in the gap” by keeping their assigned school bed watered, weeded, and trellised as needed. Community gardeners are also free to harvest from the beds they are assigned, up until a few days before school starts. At that point, we will reconnect with our community gardeners either by email or by the info board at the front of the garden to let everyone know what crops need to stay in the ground to be harvested by students.

• Straw. We have purchased straw bales that you will see around the perimeter of the garden. Community gardeners may use straw from the bales to cover their beds which will help the soil retain moisture until crops grow tall enough to shade the soil. The increased price of a plot (from $65 last year to $70 this year) reflects this change.

• Perimeter beds. We are planning to build more raised beds around the perimeter, probably sometime toward the end of April. We will publicize that build day and would love to see community gardeners and neighbors there!

We hope to see you on March 5th!