Plot Applications are now ready! Click here to apply for a 2009 plot at the Golden Community Garden. Requesting help from the city submitted by Matt Burde Some individual city staff have been getting requests to help with the garden, and while they may be enthusiastic about helping, their supervisors can do their best if they're involved. City staff are helping with the garden, and the city asks that requests be directed through the GCG steering committee, and then we'll work with the Golden Sustainability Coordinator, Theresa to see what help we can get. This should make it easier to keep everything as efficient as possible.  Thank you for your understanding, and support.   Garden Location Click here to see the location on Google maps Our mission   The mission of the Golden Community Garden is to enable members of Golden's community  to work together to organically grow fruits, vegetables, and flowers for our families, and our community.  The Garden will also be a green space where all of Golden’s citizens and visitors can enjoy nature’s beauty and engage in meaningful conversation and education.  Work Days Site clean up and prep 9 am Saturday and Sunday April 25th & 26th Meet at the garden location off of the 8th St. bike path down to Clear Creek. Meetings Meetings are Monday evenings at 8 pm at the American Mountaineering Center and Friday mornings at 7 am at the Windy Saddle Cafe. Please come and let us know your interests for the Golden Community Garden.   Book discussion May 12th 7 pm "All New Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Barthoomew www.ClearCreekBooks.com 1200 Washington Ave. Golden, CO 80401 303-278-4593   Help Needed   There's lots to do to get the garden growing. If you just like digging and such, there are work days coming up! If you'd like to help on your own time, below are some things we could use help with. Just send us an email if you want to take on one of the below or suggest your own idea to help. Getting tools Planning & support for garden classes Planning & support for work days Helping build a way to match gardeners who want to share a plot with each other. And here are some examples of what people are already doing: Designing the garden! Planning the irrigation. Planning the plots. Contacting lumber companies for donations of landscape timbers Interviewing other community gardens for tips Writing grant requests Making lists of possible donors     What is a Community Garden?   Read more at: http://www.communitygarden.org/learn/best-practices-10-tips-series.php   or   www.DUG.org   or   Google 'Community Garden'

Click picture to view larger image. Our Site Plan submitted by Matt Burde  Landscape architects Susan Saarinen and Micheal Buchenau drafted the above initial plan It started with a site, then a design charette, then the above design was conceived and drawn up by our wonderful member landscape architect Susan Saarinen, and Denver Urban Gardens landscape architect Michael Buchenau. On Monday April 13th, we presented the design to 25 of you, and got the following comments.  The handicapped parking seems to be too far from the raised beds for accessibility Can the meandering path hook up with the bike path again near the gate? Plot size - 4' wide is maximum width to be easy to reach from each side - 10 feet wide (4 foot planting plus 2± access in middle plus 4 foot planting) seem a good width, maximum length could be whatever. Sand boxes around boulders and general kid's play area - "Adventure Playgrounds" (Berkeley Marina), climbable for kids like Pearl Street in Boulder. Let's build cob ovens to cook for community potluck Consider vermiculture bins for soil fertility and fun education Permanent informational signs for trees and other plants Fruit bearing bushes and vines on bank above water Green houses near proposed handicapped parking What about fruits like strawberries and raspberries? Bee hives Xeriscape in the native informal landscape Row of beehives by orchard We'd love to hear your comments. Please send us an email or post them on the Google Groups discussions page.  About Us    Member of the Month  submitted by Yoko Burde   Brenda Porter She has been a Golden resident since 1997. Since then she's been looking for more ways to get involved in our community. And every time she has a chance while in Denver, she visits a community garden to watch people gardening and see what's growing. Gardens are a kind of art for her. When she heard about the Golden Community Garden, she immediately decided to get involved and now she is one of the most important members to lead the project. Her mind is always full of great ideas. Through the G.C.G. she wants to have workshops for everybody, such as how certain insects are great for gardening, how to compost, how to can food, and cooking with food grown in the community garden. Her other life is full of excitement also. She works for Colorado Mountain Club as the education director teaching leadership for adults, teaches yoga, loves hiking with her dog and sketching (but right now she doesn't't have time to paint.). And she is starting a book discussion series at Clear Creek Books in downtown Golden. May 12th will be a discussion about the book Square Foot Gardening. Brenda's goal for the community garden is to have a place for Golden pedestrians to come and enjoy nature. Thank you so much for sharing your time and hard work.   Garden Tips  Garden Tips by Dave Wann (local author and gardener) Strategic  Gardening: Growing Midsummer Night's Paste Rather than individual crops, grow recipes! As you start seeds of chili pepper, tomato, and onion indoors, think salsa. When you sow those rows of lettuce and radishes, envision tossed salad. As you prepare the soil for strawberry and rhubarb root crowns, imagine their sweet, complementary flavors in pie. You can even set target dates for serving the recipes. For example, I've planted red-, white-, and blue- fleshed potatoes in early May to roast on the Fourth of July. Practice "tough love." Your plants need to be ready for the challenges of the west. Don't baby them. For example, if you've started lettuce seedlings indoors, put them outside in daytime whenever it's warmer than 38 or 40 degrees. They need to know how bright the sun is here, and they need to start getting enough natural light to avoid becoming leggy as they stretch for light. As soon as nighttime temperatures remain well above freezing, leave the seedlings outside all night. How else are they going to learn how fast temperatures plunge in a high and dry climate after dark? From "The Zen of Gardening in the High and Arid west" (about gardening on Golden)