Attention Community Gardeners!

We are put together a comprehensive map of community gardens in Columbus and we want yours to be included! We can't do it without your help!

To be included on the 2009 map please email as much of the following info that you can to
liz@genuinecolumbus.com :

• Location*
• Contact name*
• Contact phone*
• Email
• Project name
• Status (active or inactive)
• Type (educational, community, church, kitchen, beautification, etc.)
• Parent Organization
• Website
• Any photos or videos you would like to share

We hope to have map completed in time for the first day of Spring – yet, the map will continually be updated as the growing season continues throughout the year.

All are encouraged!

*Required information

ACGA Annual Conference Volunteer Information

I highly suggest that you consider being a part of the ACGA National Annual Conference. Here is the official volunteer information:

Thank you for considering volunteering for the American Community Gardening Association’s 30th Anniversary Conference!

Recent conferences have involved 50 – 75 volunteers. These people may want to be totally involved or to take on a discrete task. You may need to provide training for these volunteers and a written backup for their reference. Possible tasks for volunteers can include:

• Registration packet assembly people (solicit tourist information, conference premiums, folders, name tags, tickets, etc and stuff into packets just before conference)
• Signmakers for all signage needed
• Name tag assembly
• Greeters and direction providers
• Staff registration table
• T-shirt coordinator (design, select, promote, print, sell)
• Meal ticket collectors
• Audio visual coordinator to oversee equipment and its distribution to presentation rooms
• Gophers to run errands during the conference
• Slide show or film festival coordinator
• Room monitors to introduce speakers, distribute and collect evaluation forms, thank speakers; trade fair setup assistants
• Silent auction (solicit items, organize items, set-up, close-out)
• Photographers and group photo
• Help with tours
  

In past years Community Garden volunteers have offered to house conference participants for free or for small fees ($10-$15 per night) and have donated that money to their organizations. Depending on the quantity, this may be publicized in the Conference Registration Brochure or just offered word-of-mouth to students and those requesting scholarships.

Being a volunteer is one way host organizations have enabled local community gardeners a way to get a conference discount. Most recent conferences have provided a $10 discount per each hour of volunteer service, up to $100 or allowed volunteers to attend the workshop at which they monitor.

A Good Little Gardener

I have been busy the past couple weeks and I wanted to share some of the things I have been doing that you might like to do, too!

One, I have been reading the most expensive ($40), but fantastic book of ideas for gardeners, Panty Hose, Hot Peppers, Tea Bags, and more... It is a great book that I thought I could just scan and write down a few ideas from, but in just the first chapter about building up the soil, I have a full page of notes. I think I am going to have to keep it. Christmas present to myself, I guess.

Two, I finally subscribed to Organic Gardening. I am not a big magazine subscription kind of person, but just like the book, I discovered so many great ideas I folded back about 10 pages of things to write about on the blog. Once again, its a keeper.

Three, I joined the ACGA. I am officially supporting a wonderful organization here in Columbus. That also means I can join in on the teleconference with David King this evening, as well as any others. PLUS, it also pays for OG, gets me a newsletter, their support when finding funding, and reminds me to get my community garden on the website! Here is the link to the SHCG description: http://acga.localharvest.org/garden/M2104?ul.

Photo/Video/Author Requests!

The Columbus Community Gardening Blog, www.columbuscommunitygardening.blogspot.com is requesting photos/utube submissions from community gardeners here in Columbus and other areas. We would like to feature all of the hard work that you've all done to transform your neighborhoods, grow food and create beauty!

Please submit photos to: trish@local-matters.org.

In addition, anyone who is interested in becoming a contributing author on the blog, please submit your name, garden name/location, role in the garden, and a brief description of your garden history. If you don't do it already, blogging will expand your garden knowledge and enjoyment more than you could imagine.

We want this blog to be about, enriched by, and from all the different community gardening perspectives in Columbus, so write to us. We can't wait to hear from you!

Sincerely,
Amy (Penny) and Trish (www.local-matters.org)

Support Community Garden Research: Take this survey

Dear Fellow Community Gardener,

I would like to invite you to participate in a research study about perception of community gardens. My name is Melissa Surratt, and I am a graduate student at Cornell University. I am conducting this research for my Masters thesis.

If you choose to participate, you will be entered into a drawing for a FREE iPOD SHUFFLE!!! There are FOUR chances to win!

• The survey will take less than 20 minutes to complete.
• You will not be asked any information that could be used to identify you.
• Completing this survey is voluntary.

Click on this link to take the survey: Cornell Community Garden Survey

or paste this address into you're your browser:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=s6AL8q3ekyohsTCrS12Yjw_3d_3d

Your participation is extremely valuable! Responses can help increase understanding of how neighborhoods can be better designed.

Thank you in advance for your consideration to participate in this research. I hope you will consider forwarding this invitation on to others!

--
Melissa Surratt
M.S. Candidate '08
Applied Research in Human-Environment Relations
Department of Design and Environmental Analysis
Cornell University

Volunteers and Friends of Four Seasons City Farm:

Just a reminder, volunteer work days in the gardens take place every Saturday from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm. Volunteers meet in the Garden of New Freedom located at the intersection of Mound and Carpenter. We look forward to seeing you then!

In addition, as many of you may know, City Farm will be attending the Near East Farmer's Market with fresh produce on Saturday mornings starting June 21st and going through the beginning of October. The market will be held on 18th, between Main St. and Rich St. by the Blackburn Recreation Center, from 9am-4pm. The Near East Area Commission and partnering organizations need volunteers to make this Market a success! Volunteers are needed to set up the moveable street barriers (I'm told they are not heavy) and help staff a Farmer's Market information table.

Even if you help out on one Saturday this summer, your help is needed!

Please contact Pam Argus at the Central Community House to volunteer at 252-3157 ext. 124. Tell her you're a City Farmer! As always thank you for supporting City Farm and the community!

Help out by Taking a Survey

From the ACGA listserv:

The Urban Ag Committee of the Community Food Security Coalition invites you to take a survey which we hope will help us know better what we should be doing to help urban farmers and gardeners and promote urban agriculture.

Many of you have heard about the North American Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture Alliance -- if not and you're interested, please contact me and I will forward info. This survey should inform that new group's work as well.

Please follow this link and take the survey if you are an urban ag practitioner. It should take between five and ten minutes to complete. If you have comments about the survey itself, please feel free to e-mail them to me by hitting reply.

Also, thanks to all of you out there who helped develop or helped test the survey.

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB227QKMN7JNP

Cynthia Price
Co-chair (with Betsy Johnson), CFSC Urban Ag Committee

Help with CG Research

I just received this email from the ACGA listserv:

Hello fellow community gardeners,

As a gardener and community psychologist I am collecting data on how gardeners perceive their community gardens and how they perceive their neighborhood communities.

By completing the following Internet survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=nXMet3Thd4z1o2lQcvpFaQ_3d_3d you will be contributing to the most recent community garden research, and, of course, the data about how your fellow gardeners perceive your garden community will be provided to help make future garden decisions.

Also, please email the survey link to any other community gardeners you know. The more responses we get the more we'll know about community gardens.

If you have any questions about the community garden survey, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Very best,
Seb Prohn
--
Graduate Student Psychology in the Public Interest
North Carolina State University
919.455.4343

Donate Food

Don't forget your local food pantry needs your donations! Give your extra veggies and fruits.

TEEN Summer Jobs

Summer Jobs in the Weinland Park Community Garden at Godman Guild (303 E.6th St., Cols., Oh., 43201, 294-5476, ask for Trish or Jessica)

Garden Story Series on PBS

GardenStory

• is a series of ten half-hour episodes
• an in-depth exploration of how gardens change our lives
• Neither a travelogue nor a how-to series, GardenStory is a fresh, new approach
• features distinguished designers and citizen advocates

A 4SCF Board Member, Margaret, wants everyone to know about the Garden Story series that could air on WOSU, if we do a little requesting! Here is the website link with great information:

http://www.gardenstory.org/index.html

Please contact WOSU TV34 to let them know you would like The Garden Story Series to be played here in Columbus:

Visit the website

2400 Olentangy River RoadColumbus, OH 43210

Phone: (614) 292-9678Fax: (614) 688-7625

Email: wosu@osu.edu

Plant a Row for the Hungry

This is important. We need to do this. This post is a little soap-boxy.

How often do we make it down to our local food pantries or to serve at soup kitchens? How often do we say, someone else is helping, so I don't need to? I say it a lot.

This year I am going to plant a row for the hungry and deliver it to a soup kitchen or food bank. Once I establish a connection there I will deliver my extra food there regularly.

Free Seeds for Schools

http://www.tomatobob.com/Seeds-For-Schools.htm

How cool is Bob?! Bob is very cool...

"Have a School Gardening project or are you involved with a Community Garden that supports local food banks? We would be happy to send you a selection of seeds at no cost.
Requests must be made by postal mail on School or Non-profit Organizational letterhead."