A Variation on the Sharing Garden

The Haultain Blvd - "sharing" gardens

Slowly but surely, the Peak Moment video that Janaia and Robyn taped of us is making its way around the internet. We've had close to 3,000 views since it was first posted in early spring. We've begun to receive inquiries from people who would like to start a Sharing Garden in their own community.

Chris and I are fortunate in that we live very simply and have few expenses which means that we don't have to hold down regular jobs. We have no children at home. The Sharing Gardens is almost a full-time project for us. Here is the link to another Peak Moment video that offers a scaled-down version of growing food, teaching others about gardening, and sharing in the harvest. Perhaps an easier place to start if you're feeling daunted by taking on a whole garden project.

Your beginning can be as simple as sharing surplus from your own garden with neighbors, or if you have more than you can give away to them, find out when your local food bank meets and bring your surplus to them. They will greatly appreciate it since most food banks get the absolute dregs and leftovers to feed the people who receive food from them.

Would love to hear stories of how your adventures are going,

"Claiming the Commons - Food for All on Haultain Boulevard" (episode 185)

Sharing Gardens Receives $1,000 Grant!

The Sharing Gardens has received a thousand dollar grant from the OSU Folk Club Thrift Shop (LINK) We are very grateful for this donation and it's a funny story how we came to apply for it. Chris and I were on our way to a luncheon put on by the South Benton Nutrition Program - the twice weekly lunch program for Seniors at the Monroe Legion Hall. This luncheon was meant as a "thank you" to several people and agencies that help make their program possible (the Sharing Gardens, Mike Gibson from the Linn-Benton Food Share - LINK, Arlene Moody - free blood-pressure checks and Kathleen Nickerson from Hands On - a group that connects volunteers with organizations that need help. LINK

SBNP - "Thank-you Luncheon". The Sharing Gardens provide fresh vegies weekly, through the growing season.

As we were walking up to the door, Christy Warden, 4-H group leader, met us with a big hug and an application form for the OSU Thrift Store grant. "It's the last day you can apply and the proposal is due in Corvallis by 4:00," she said. "There's a good chance you'll receive what you ask for as they've always been very generous with the 4-H group."

Chris and I talked it over at lunch. If we received the grant, a drive to Corvallis would be well worth it but we hated the idea of burning gas without other reasons to make the 40-mile round-trip drive. It was at that point that Kathleen Nickerson (Hands On), who was sharing our table piped up, "I couldn't help hearing your conversation and, it just so happens that I have to make a stop at the Thrift Store this afternoon anyway. I'd be happy to deliver your application!"

So, we quickly filled it in and gave it to her. We promptly forgot all about it as it was so uneventful and easy to apply. What a great treat, and surprise it was, a few months later, to receive this generous donation. We'd like to encourage all our local readers to be sure and shop at their store at 144 NW 2nd Street in
Corvallis. Supporting them supports us, and many other worthy causes.

Doreen and Merlin in the new Monroe greenhouse, re-potting tomatoes.

We have some new wish-list items. Here's a list of them followed by a link to our full list. Please bring all donations to the Monroe site. Click here for map/directions.

Here are the highest priority items:

Ken makes tomato cages with field-fencing

• Field fencing: the stiff kind, so we can build tomato cages with them.
• Picnic table: With or without awning. Benches or chairs would be nice too. Maybe someone would like to build one for us? We're setting up a really nice, shaded place within the garden fence where visitors can sit and enjoy the scene and help us with projects that don't require being in the field.
• A T-post puller
• T-posts or old well-pipe - We need to put up a few more trellises to support tomato cages and beans. Eight to ten feet tall would be ideal but we can make the shorter ones work. Slightly bent OK.
• Strong wire - also for trellis building. Each row is approximately 70 feet long. 
• Cedar fence boards - we use them to build bird houses and compost bins (among other things).
• Lawn clippings: We have lots of lawn/leaf bags for you to re-use. Just come by when we're there and we'll give you some. Please don't tie bags too tight (makes it hard to re-use them).
  
• Riding lawn mower with bagger: Or someone who could come mow a section of the grass, outside the fence, where we can put in a bunch more squash mounds.
• Spoiled hay or straw - we already received a ton and a half of straw from Mark Frystak and the Soggy Bottom Farms. That will probably carry us for another month but when we start to plant tomatoes and squash we'll be in need of another delivery of a couple more tons. Remember, we can give you a tax receipt if you need it.
• Metal watering can
• Four 16" tires for our farm truck
• Cash donations are also very much appreciated

Jiminy, our 1968 GMC truck - we couldn't do the Gardens without him!

To see our full wish list, follow this link.

Do you need Lettuce Starts or Seed Potatoes?

We've got lettuce!

The Sharing Gardens has a surplus of very healthy lettuce starts - ready for planting. We also have maybe a hundred seed potatoes - various varieties, perfectly sprouted and also ready for planting. Also a bit of chard - Erbette and Rainbow varieties.

You can come by on Thursday, or Saturday morning (May 10 and 12th) between 9:00 and noon at the Monroe garden - behind the Methodist Church in Monroe. 648 Orchard St. Donations welcome, though not required.

Llyn and Chris

Leaving the Nest...Goodbye to Alpine

By Llyn Peabody

After much deliberation and soul-searching, we've decided to close down the Alpine Sharing Garden and focus exclusively on the Monroe site. Since having built the greenhouse (which requires us to water it at least once a day, and open and close vents based on daily and nightly temperatures) we realized it was just going to stretch us too thin to try and manage Alpine as well.

Sign painted by Chris Burns - 4' X 6'

There is a possibility that other people in Alpine may continue to garden there. The Garden Club (a group of about eight people who oversee the park) have agreed to let the fence and the raspberry patch remain. The garden will need major remedial work as much of the grass has already filled in where we had garden beds these last three years. (It's amazing to me how fast it has happened! No need to worry about the lawn coming back!) It's not clear how the garden will be organized and how people can get involved but you can let us know if you want to be put in touch with other interested gardeners and we'll connect you. If there isn't enough interest to keep the Alpine Garden going, the Sharing Gardens will come and remove the fence and use it at the Monroe site as the fencing was all either donated to us, or paid for out of donated funds. The raspberries will be distributed to those who are interested.

Alpine Garden - before the fence

We feel bittersweet at the passing of this milestone. Alpine is where the Sharing Gardens were born and it will always hold happy memories: I remember, before we'd even started the fence, potting up raspberry cuttings donated for use in the gardens and to share with the community. We had an amazing first season that went from ground-breaking on April 15 to our first harvest just three months later on July 13. To me, just new to gardening, it seemed miraculous to turn a lawn into food in such a short time. The Alpine garden was the site for the filming of the Peak Moment TV program (click here to view it) and several fun potlucks. As we frequently gardened without volunteers there, and it was smaller than Monroe, we often felt that Alpine was our sanctuary garden. It provided a place of peace and re-creation. We wish to thank once again, the Garden Club, the Alpine Community Center, all the granting agencies and the dozens of people who gave of their time, money and resources and who helped move the idea from a dream into reality. We couldn't have done it without you.

9.5 weeks after breaking ground

We are very excited about this coming season in Monroe; with  the greenhouse in place we are able to have a continuous supply of starts ready to pop in the ground as space opens up. We're expanding within the fence-line to utilize every available space. We hope to make a shaded area with a picnic table so people can enjoy each other's company while shelling beans, or processing sunflower heads, or whatever other sit-down tasks we can come up with. It's going to be a really nice place to stop by and visit. We hope you will!

14 weeks - 2009

A few specific wish-list items:

• T-posts or old well-pipe - We need to put up a few more trellises to support tomato cages and beans. Six to eight feet tall would be ideal but we can make the shorter ones work. Slightly bent OK.
• A T-post puller 
• Strong wire - also for trellis building. Each row is approximately 70 feet long. 
• Spoiled hay - we already received a ton and a half of straw from Mark Frystak and the Soggy Bottom Farms. That will probably carry us for another month but when we start to plant tomatoes and squash we'll be in need of another delivery of a couple more tons. Remember, we can give you a tax receipt if you need it.
• Riding lawn mower with bagger.

Raspberry Bounty!