October+2011

Garden Booster Meeting Minutes October 10, 2011 - 6:30 p.m. - Westmeade Library ** Old Business and Celebration ** We gathered and shared Basil Lemonade, Chocolate Chip Cookies (made and shared by Gretchen and her mom) and Muffins made by Julie. There were celebratory Wheat Harvest Magnets and seed packets for all in attendance. Ginger Sands, Entertainer and School Garden Advocate, got the meeting going leading some fun activities involving singing, vegetables and rainsticks. Ginger explained why she is passionate about gardening for kids and distributed some statistical data to suggest why gardening should be an activity endorsed by every school. This was followed by the year in retrospect which is posted on the wiki and shows the many things that were accomplished this year in the garden. Special thanks to to the people who made the garden possible. These generous folks paid for Chef visits and Taste Testing events for our Kindergarteners, Provided seeds and plants for our vegetable gardens and containers for planting seeds, Soil for 3 full vegetable beds and additional soil for the Pollinator garden, and strawberries for the Salad for 500! Also receiving thanks were ** New Business ** Discussion followed about how to proceed for the coming year, and Julie Simpson, TN Master Gardener was introduced. She has agreed to be the guiding spirit AKA site coordinator for the garden this year by helping shepherd us through the seasons with guidance about what to plant, when to plant it, how much to plant and how to encourage its use when it is time to harvest. Goals for the coming year were discussed. ** Immediate Needs ** Mulch and cardboard to put the garden to bed for the winter. Metro will provide us mulch if we pick it up, and Phillips Toy mart has cardboard as does Triple AAA Appliance. A work day will need to be set. How to compost at school….Karen is contacting the guy from the state who will help assure us that what we are doing is healthy. ** Dreams --- ** Mr. Breese suggested that we might want to seek another eagle scout project for help in some of these more ambitious projects before us.
 * Good Food for Good People who sold Mums at the Fall Festival and in turn gave in-kind services.
 * Martha Stamps whose canned fresh organic fruits and pickled vegetables and the proceeds of a lunch she served on our behalf earned $450.00 for our garden.
 * **Alex Cauthen and his team of volunteers** who installed the new beds and built the wall for the Pollinator Garden.
 * Ms. O’briant and Ms. Street who helped with the Garden Helpers each week last year. Ms. O’briant was at Westmeade nearly every week.
 * Timberlake Christian Church from Virginia for weeding & mulching in the dead of summer.
 * Parents who tended the garden with their kids this past summer.
 * How to deeply involve the teachers in the garden/outdoor classroom was a priority concern
 * How we could earn money to support the garden. Mr. Breese confirmed that if we would run any sales through the PTO books we could earn money in a variety of ways. ‘
 * Writing grants was also a topic to be explored, and Ms. Stein agreed to do some research and send it our way. This will be posted on the Wiki. As part of Coordinated School health there may be more money available to us.
 * Ms. Keown said the boy scout troop will volunteer to do their service work with us.
 * Ms. Simpson will be working on organizing a school garden club as well as working on ways to create curriculum.
 * For a drip irrigation system to make watering more efficient and easy.
 * For a hoop house to allow more production in winter
 * Putting in Berries where the hedges next to the garden currently reside
 * Finding volunteer presenters to work the outdoor classroom curriculum concepts so that teachers can simply sign on for the classroom event as an all-in-one package.