Minutes From Quarterly Membership Meeting – April 25
John Hernandis opened the meeting at 10:05. Board members present were John Hernandis, Jo Ann Bartsch, Noreen Butano and Pauline Dey. There were 28 plot holders present.
John stated that there were 12 new beds installed and filled with soil in the garden. There was a web site set up and John introduced Mary Carneval the web site master.
John introduced the board members that were present.
Minutes of the last meeting were read by Pauline Dey. Bill Makowski made a motion to accept the minutes, it was seconded by John Goshorn. The minutes were unanimously approved by the plot holders present.
Treasurer Report: Noreen Butano announced that she is taking money for plots if anyone present has not paid and reminded them to sign a waiver. There was $2,171.57 in savings with $1053.83 expenses leaving a balance as of today of $1,117.72. Water will be turned on May 1st and turned off October 31. Plot holders are asked to use the rain barrel as much as possible. Noreen also presented the budget for 2015.
Assistant Garden Coordinator: Jo Ann Bartsch spoke for Marianne Nolan in her absence. New plots were filled with soil on April 17. Plot holders who want to join after today will be put on a new wait list, the wait list is always changing so don’t be discouraged. All 90 plots are taken. Liability release forms must be signed before entering the garden. There is some soil left and seasoned plot holders may use it.
Construction and Facilities: Jo Anne speaking for Mandy Pajerski in her absence. There will be work parties during the year. Wood chips are available for use along walkways. Try to keep up with weeding.
There will be a pollinator garden put in between the garden and the Haunted House. This was a request by the landowner, Bob Greene, to do some work along the eastern edge of the garden.
Funding and Resources Noreen Butano and Kathy Ziemba. Kathy said that she has received some donations already. They include 6 brass nozzles, $50 gift card from Cosco, 3 hose hangers, a 4 ft. teak bench, 2 sets of plastic numbers, 9 pieces of conduit, and 1 garbage can and bags. Kathy with the help of her husband Bob has constructed numbers for each plot. They are plastic mounted on a piece of conduit. Donors will be listed on the website. Noreen announced the matching $1000.00 challenge. If we get monetary donations an anonymous donor will match up to $1000.
Monitoring and Security Kathy Ziemba asked all plot holders to abide by the rules. The committee will look at plots during the season and anyone who is in violation will be sent an email, followed by a phone call and finally a letter. If the violation is not taken care of the plot will be taken away from the plot holder. Please use the garbage can. Clean tools and replace in the shed. The rules are posted on the web site.
Communications Mary Carneval stated that the web site is greeneacres.org. Greg Reindel helped set up the site. You can send notices to Mary at greeneacresweb@gmail.com. She will review them and send them to Greg to post. Dates to be put on the calendar on the web site are to go to greeneacresevent@gmail.com
Education, Pauline Dey stated that the demo plot is in. Plants will be put in in late May. One half of plot will be for children. Five boy scouts will have ft x ft gardens in the plot as part of their gardening merit badge… Children or grandchildren will also be able to plant in the children’s section. Eileen
Eppich will handle the children’s garden. We are planning a field trip to a few community gardens in the summer. And the library will be set up by Frances Hummer as soon as the weather allows.
The meeting closed at 10:50. John Goshorn made the motion and Mary Schwab seconded.
Unanimously approved by members to close the meeting. Time was 10:55.
After a break Gifford Dyer, a master gardener spoke on tomatoes.
Pauline Dey, Secretary
When should you plant your tomatoes?
How much space does a tomato plant need? What is an “Indeterminate” or a “Determinate” tomato? (Hint–get the “indeterminate” species and look for “VW” or “VF” which means it is bred to resist disease). Who knew tomatoes need calcium and eggshells are a great source? (Dry them out and grind them of course!). What is a sucker? Did you know that you should keep the bottom 3 or 4 suckers on, as they will create a branch with tomatoes? See more here