FRIENDS OF THE WEST END UPDATE! March 10, 2010

Friends of the West End Park met Friday, March 5th, 2010. There’s lots of exciting stuff coming up at the park, here are a couple of updates:

• At our last park clean-up we found contaminated mulch: pieces had nails, peeled paint and large pieces of construction wood. I took pictures and I wrote a letter to the Park Commissioner. I must report that the City responded quickly and did a GREAT JOB removing the mulch from the park. I’m also very pleased that new trees and bushes were planted in the park. I’d like to express my gratitude to our Park Commissioner: Mr. Paul Taylor, Park Pride’s Executive Director: George Dusenbury, Director of Community Building: Ayanna Williams and Representative Cleta Winslow! Thanks for taking care of our park and responding to our concerns! We couldn’t be happier!
• At our last meeting we discussed Earth Day at West End Park. We’ve decided to do a two day celebration at the park: April 15 & 16, 2010. We’ll be making benches for the park, painting the basketball court, making new planters, planting trees and improving the children’s garden area. We will build a bulletin board to keep community members informed on upcoming events, activities, etc. We also hope to install pegs to keep cars off the turf. Our group would like to encourage children in the neighborhood to donate a plant to their “Children’s Garden”.  We’ll be creating garden art to label their plants. We hope to have workshops for community members and children. We’ll keep you posted!
• In addition to Earth Day, we hope to host our 2nd Annual Spring Egg Hunt on April 3 @ 10am. Last year, this event was a wonderful success! We hope you’ll join us for a morning of fun in the park!
• As the weather gets warm, please come out and enjoy your park, play tennis, participate in clean-ups, etc! Lets continue to maintain & improve our park!

Companion Planting (Potatoes) February 6, 2010

WHAT TO PLANT WITH POTATOES?

Companions for potatoes are bush bean, members of the cabbage family, carrot, celery, corn, dead nettle, flax, horseradish, marigold, peas, petunia, onion and Tagetes marigold. Protect them from scab by putting comfrey leaves in with your potato sets at planting time. Horseradish, planted at the corners of the potato patch, provides general protection. Don’t plant these around potatoes: asparagus, cucumber, kohlrabi, parsnip, pumpkin, rutabaga, squash family, sunflower, turnip and fennel. Keep potatoes and tomatoes apart as they both can get early and late blight contaminating each other.

STARTING YOUR SPRING GARDEN… January 29, 2010

Starting Your Spring Garden
FROM Truly Living Well (www.trulylivingwell.com)

A local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) managed by Mr. K. Rashid Nuri…

Mr. K. Rashid Nuri Now is the time to plan and build an organic spring garden at your home. What is the first step? Determine the best place for your garden. The garden should be located in an area that is fully exposed to the sun. You will pay more attention to your garden the nearer it is to the house. Make sure that water is readily available. The single most important factor in creating a successful garden is soil preparation. I call it dirt making. Get the soil right.  If you create good healthy soil, the plants which grow in that soil will also be healthy. Healthy plants are disease resistant. Begin soil preparation by gently turning the soil. If this is the first time the land is being used to grow food, a tiller may prove helpful. Too much tillage destroys soil structure. Subsequent soil preparation can be done with a spade or garden fork. After opening the soil add copious amounts of organic material such as compost, leaf mold, well rotted sawdust or decomposed animal manure. You can make your own compost or purchase it from most garden supply stores. Compost is the key to successful gardening. Compost added to gardens improves soil structure, texture, aeration, and water retention. When mixed with compost, clay soils are lightened, and sandy soils retain water better. Mixing compost with soil also contributes to erosion control, soil fertility, proper pH balance, and healthy root development in plants. Make beds in the garden that are separated by walkways. You do not want to walk in the area that you plant with vegetables. Walking on a vegetable bed compacts the soil and retards plant growth. Utilize the garden space wisely. Select crops you will eat and enjoy. You must like what you plant or the garden space and the food will both be wasted. Decide what you want to plant and where you will plant it. Know what you will plant after the spring season crop is finished. Southern exposure has the most light. Tall crops should be planted on the north and west side of the garden to prevent shading of smaller plants.

FIND YOUR AVERAGE LAST FREEZE… January 26, 2010

FIND YOUR AVERAGE LAST FREEZE…

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/How-to-Find-Average-Last-Spring-Frost-Date.aspx

WHAT TO GROW IN MARCH…

VEGETABLES	Sow Indoors	Sow Outdoors	Transplant
Arugula		XXX
Asparagus			XXX
Beet		XXX
Broccoli	XXX		XXX
Cabbage	XXX		XXX
Carrot		XXX
Celery	XXX
Chard	XXX
Eggplant	XXX
Endive	XXX	XXX	XXX
Fava bean		XXX
Fennel, bulb	XXX
Kale	XXX		XXX
Kohlrabi	XXX	XXX	XXX
Leek	XXX		XXX
Lettuce	XXX	XXX	XXX
Mache		XXX
Onions, bulb	XXX
Pac choi	XXX	XXX	XXX
Parsnip		XXX
Peas (snow, shell, snap)		XXX
Peppers	XXX
Potatoes		XXX
Radishes		XXX
Rhubarb			XXX
Radicchio	XXX	XXX	XXX
Scallion (green onion)	XXX		XXX
Sorrel		XXX
Spinach		XXX	XXX
Tomato	XXX
Turnip		XXX

CULINARY HERBS	Sow Indoors	Sow Outdoors	Transplant
Basil	XXX
Chives		XXX	XXX
Cilantro		XXX
Dill		XXX
Fennel, leaf			XXX
Horseradish			XXX
Marjoram	XXX
Parsley		XXX	XXX
Rosemary			XXX
Sage			XXX
Savory, summer	XXX		XXX
Thyme			XXX

UNIQUE KID FORT August 29, 2009

via: apartmenttherapy.com

photos source: Flickr user tastybit via Creative Commons

AUGUST CLEAN-UP + JUMP ROPE CANCELLED! August 13, 2009

This month’s clean-up + jump rope is cancelled.

We’ll conduct our monthly assessment and I’m working to get Mulch for September’s clean-up.

Also-great news: we made it to the 2nd round for a community garden grant from Park Pride, the grant would help us with rain barrels. We’ll see what happens!

FALL CROPS in GA! August 3, 2009

Diego and I started our lettuce seeds today! I love salad so I’m excited to have lettuce again. Here’s a list of GA specific fall crops w/ planting dates. These planting dates are for actual plants that are transplanted not seeds:

Spinach-Planting Dates: Oct 1-21, Moon Favorable: Oct 18-21

Broccoli-Planting Dates: Sept 7-31, Moon Favorable: Sept 18-30

Carrots-Planting Dates: Aug 1-Sept 7, Moon Favorable: August 6-19 and Sept 5-7

Source: http://www.almanac.com (you can go to website and enter your zip code for region-specific information)

UPDATE: FUNDRAISING FOR OUR PARK July 30, 2009

picture from mother earth news, craig elevitch

So here’s the UPDATE: I’m working to get our fundraising stuff in place now that we have a 501C3 fiscal agreement w/ Park Pride.

Base on our last meetings this is what we’re doing…

• FALL FEST-At our last meeting people were interested in a Fall Fest in the West End Park that can highlight and promote some of our urban farming initiatives but also provide activities for young children. We were thinking pumpkins, hay, etc. We talked about a seed swap, local urban farmers bring fresh veggies from their gardens, a map of gardens in the West End/SW Atl and more. If you’re interested in joining the planning committee (which promises to be much fun) please email me: yomara@9to5.org

• SIDEWALKS-one of the major repairs needed in our park is our sidewalks-especially our lovely brick sidewalk (north of the park) which currently makes it difficult for individuals w/ strollers or wheel chairs. Unfortunately, the city is in a major budget crisis and we don’t know how much help they’ll provide! I’m working to put pressure on the City in the meantime, we’re considering kicking off a ‘brick by brick’ fundraising campaign to cultivate private donors and get it FIXED! I’m researching how much it will be to have engraved bricks and once I know we’ll have an outline so neighbors can support by buying a brick!

• FUNDRAISING EVENTS-we’ve talked about doing a semi-formal at the park possibly on the basketball court w/ live music. We’re thinking Spring. We’re still exploring our options. If anyone is interested-please email me at yomara@9to5.org.

• GRANTS-I’m writing a couple of small grants to get rain barrels and start a small children’s garden/outdoor classroom. If funds are secured- we may need some of you handy neighbors to help with some of the projects.

The fall promises to be a busy season. Your INVOLVEMENT is MUY important!

• Next Friends of the West End Park meeting is on August 19, 2009, 10:30am, location TBA
• Next Clean-up is on August 15 at 10:30am (this time we’ve been promised mulch!)

Donations ARE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE and can be made to:

Friends of the West End Park

Mail to: Friends of the West End Park, 1080 OAK ST SW, Atlanta, GA 30310.

Thanks and I’ll keep you posted!

MY TOMATO PLANT : ( July 25, 2009

Okay-I learned my lesson! I must start my pile of compost asap so I can improve my soil. Here are some pictures of the tomato plant-I believe it’s Fusarium wilt. If any of you can recognize what it is or have any ideas for treatment, please contact me or comment.

WHAT TO PLANT IN AUGUST in GA… July 22, 2009

VEGETABLES	Sow Indoors	Sow Outdoors	Transplant
Bean, bush snap		XXX
Beet		XXX
Broccoli	XXX		XXX
Brussels sprouts	XXX		XXX
Cabbage	XXX		XXX
Carrot		XXX
Cauliflower	XXX		XXX
Chard	XXX	XXX	XXX
Chinese cabbage		XXX
Collards		XXX
Cucumber		XXX
Kale	XXX	XXX	XXX
Kohlrabi	XXX	XXX	XXX
Lettuce	XXX	XXX	XXX
Mustard		XXX
Parsnip		XXX
Potato		XXX
Radish		XXX
Rutabaga		XXX
Squash, summer		XXX
Spinach		XXX
Turnips		XXX

CULINARY HERBS	Sow Indoors	Sow Outdoors	Transplant
Basil		XXX
Chives			XXX
Cilantro		XXX
Parsley		XXX

source: http://www.motherearthnews.com