 Bruce Huskins and Tim Smith were on hand to field questions about
gardening, and each of the three community gardens in the city had
representatives who spoke about last year's experiences.Rachel
Smith opened the meeting by talking about the lot improvements that
had been done last year. The Madison Street gardens had been fenced
to give them greater curb appeal.
She said there is going to be a project this year with local
schoolchildren to decorate birdhouses for all the gardens. She said
that thus far two schools had requested 48 birdhouses, so she
anticipated there would be plenty to go in all the gardens.
The main project for this year is to add fencing to the Logan
Street garden area.
Smith also announced there would be a drawing for two free
Madison Street plots.
Scott Jackson is on the board at the Logan County Housing
Authority and offered comments on the gardens there.
He said there were 22 plots last year. This year they are going
to expand that by five, making a total of 27 spaces available for
those interested. During his talk the question came up: "Are the
plats at the housing authority reserved for residents there?" The
answer is, no. The plots are available to anyone who wishes to rent
one. It was also noted that in all the gardens, returning gardeners
get first options on the plots; then what is left over is offered to
new gardeners.
Bruce Huskins is the manager of the Madison Street garden. The
role of the manager is, among other things, to make sure the gardens
are maintained according to the rules of the garden group.
Huskins reported that there are still plots available at the
Madison Street garden.
He also talked about a small problem he had last year. He said it
wasn't something he wanted to see happen, but a gardener had let a
plot go to weeds. Huskins said he requested that the gardener clean
it up and that didn't happen. So, Huskins mowed it down. Huskins
said the gardener in question wasn't too happy about it, but the
lesson served its purpose. The next time he suggested a gardener
clean up a plot, the gardener did.
Huskins shared that in his plot last year, he had a bumper crop
of pumpkins blossoms. He said he planted 25 plants and ended up
harvesting enough blossoms to take them to the Farmers' Market in
Latham Park. He reported that selling them at $2 per dozen, he sold
$750 worth of blossoms last year.
Vinyard commented on Huskins, saying that he has done a
remarkable job at the Madison Street garden. That lot was originally
the site of a derelict house that was torn down by the city. Because
the city had to claim the property to demolish it, the lot is now
owned by the city.
Smith said this was one of the side goals of creating the
community garden project: to clean up lots and save them from being
neighborhood eyesores.
Tim Smith is the manager at the Logan Street garden. Rachel Smith
said Tim is a great leader and a good neighbor at the garden. She
noted her own garden might not have made it through the summer had
Tim not devoted time to keeping it watered for her.
Tim offered special appreciation to Illinois American Water, who
contributed a lot to the garden water bill. He said that without
their contributions, there wouldn't have been much of a garden
anywhere.
Also in attendance on Saturday were Doug Fink and Vickie Hum,
co-managers of the Farmers' Market in Latham Park.
Rachel Smith explained that many gardeners had the mistaken
notion that what they didn't use for themselves they had to give
away, but that isn't true.
Fink and Hum worked last year to encourage growers to bring their
produce to the market, and said they wanted to encourage them all to
do so again this year.
Questions turned for a short while to the market managers, as
folks wanted to know more about how to go about selling their
produce at the market.
Fink said this year the market will be on Wednesday mornings, a
change from previous years when it was in the evening, and also on
Saturday mornings as before. On both days the hours will be from 8
a.m. to noon. Opening day will be May 11, and the market will run
through October.
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To sell at the market, gardeners must fulfill the county board
requirement of proof of insurance in the form of a homeowners policy
or a renters policy. There is also a one-time fee of $20 for setting
up in the park. This money goes to advertising and promotion of the
market.
A guest asked if she had to come every week if she signed up. And
the answer was, no. Gardeners are welcome to come once a week, or
periodically, whatever suits their needs and coincides with the
crops.
Huskins and Smith also offered some gardening tips. With last
year being so very hot, Smith did a lot of watering at night, when
temperatures are cooler. He told the group that worked out well, but
he offered a word of caution. When watering at night, do not apply
the water to the plant, Smith said. Instead soak the ground.
Huskins told folks that when planting tomatoes, one should plant
them deep. He said he's even seen people dig trenches and lay the
plants down in the trench. He said the main idea is to get the roots
deep because that is where the best moisture will be.
It was also shared that when raising peppers, gardeners need to
have two plants. A single plant will not pollinate itself, so there
need to be two. It was also noted that they should be planted fairly
close together, again in order to get that pollination.
Rachel Smith contributed that adding bee-attracting flowers such
as marigolds will help with the pollination of certain plants. In
addition, marigolds help deter bugs.
Tim Smith shared that Wal-Mart and Big R are going to give seeds
to the garden project again this year. He said he wanted to express
appreciation to them, and of course to Illinois American Water, who
will once again this year contribute to the water bills at the
gardens.
In other thoughts that came up during the meeting, Jackson
mentioned that in some of the plots on College Street, the gardeners
had planted only a couple of plants. He suggested that folks who
only want a plant or two find someone to share a plot with.
A guest in the audience said he had seen last year's produce
going to waste because the gardener was out of town. He said he felt
bad letting it all rot, but would have felt like he was stealing it
had he harvested it. He wondered if there was some way the gardeners
could communicate when they have extra produce that others can have.
The group talked about putting up stakes in the plots, perhaps
red, yellow and green, with green meaning take all you want; yellow
saying don't take it all, but you can have some; and red saying do
not harvest.
The group touched on a few other topics, including having a
community picnic so gardeners could get to know each other better.
As the meeting drew to a close, Rachel Smith noted that of all
the thanks that had been issued, there was still one left: a big
thanks to the city of Lincoln. The city provides the spring tilling
of the gardens, which makes it much easier for gardeners without
access to that type of equipment to have a garden.
Anyone who is interested in renting a plot for this year can
contact Kathy Vinyard at City Hall. Vinyard said she is not there
every day, but folks can stop by the building and safety office for
more information and to drop off their applications.
It was also noted that fencing day at the Logan Street garden
will be April 20. Anyone who wishes to help with the project is
invited to be at the garden at 10 a.m.
[By NILA SMITH] |
