Correction on first formal volunteer day... and, possible shift in volunteer day hours

In my last post, I suggested that April 20th was the first volunteer day at the garden. However, the calendar widget states that the first formal volunteer plantings at the 37GYVF begin on the 27th. The info I put in the widget is correct; sorry for the confusion. The reason I got mixed up is that I WILL IN FACT be out there on the 20th doing some fertilizing, getting the watering tanks set up, and planting seed potatoes. I was planning to work from about 8 AM to noon on that day, maybe a little longer. Of course, you are all still welcome to come join me!!! (informally, that is :)

Also, a couple of people asked if they could come in the afternoon, as opposed to the morning, on the 27th. While they may have originally been asking so as to better fit it into their personal schedule, I thought hard about my reasons for only blocking off the AM for garden help. For example, it is said to be best to transplant seedlings in the late afternoon or early evening, to avoid heat and sun shock. The best thing of all would be to take advantage of the entirety of a cloudy day to do it -- but we certainly can't ensure this in advance. The worst thing to do is plant them mid-day on a hot day. I know we won't yet have much heat but we may well have full sun by noontime...

My thinking was that 8-noon would be most convenient for people, and that it should work OK for the seedlings given at least a partly cloudy day. "Get it done early, get em' home in time to enjoy the rest of their Saturday" was my thinking.

I will contemplate these things and then make a decision to modify the time slots or not. I may leave the early spring plantings as AM projects, and then shift the later volunteer days to late evening. In any case, you should see any changes I make no later than noon tomorrow (the 11th)...

best,
Mr. M

First big planting day less than two weeks away! (April 20th) -- sign up!

For those of you itching to get your hands dirty and to work alongside Mr. M and a handful of his hardest-working students -- please realize that our events sign-up / calendar is now up and running! Our first several events are volunteer days to help with mass planting, as we have many things we need to get into the soil. Simply click the link at the top right of the blog, and follow the prompts to let us know on what day(s) you plan to come out!

--> It's important to note that you're not limited to the "time slot" that the calendar shows for you; so, for example, if you sign up for the 11:30-12:00 SLOT, that doesn't mean you can only stay for thirty minutes starting at 11:30. Rather, registration for any 30 minute time slot is a commitment that you will come sometime between 8 AM and noon, and hopefully stay and lend a hand (or two) for at least a couple of hours!!! :)

Also, I wanted to thank last years' shareholders for making such a strong display of loyalty and committment. We had a 100% re-sign-on rate. Hooray!! Related to this, I need to tell you all that we are opening up four shares previously reserved for teachers and four shares previously reserved for garden neighbors to the larger Chicago community. That makes eight newly available shares, if you know of friends or family who are interested to join.

My reasoning for this: The paid student internships are too important to have to cancel due to lack of funding, and it simply doesn't look like we'll have the buy-in form employees at the school that I thought we would. Also, I am confident that we can expand beyond the 24 shares originally planned, if I can get more neighbors to the garden to sign up. We've already raised $250 in donations to help subsidize shares for low-income members!

In any event, this means please let friends and family know about your share, and that they can for a short time sign up for the same DEAL! The first eight forms/checks we have after April 15th will be the first eight we take for these slots.

Looking forward to putting some plants in the ground with many of you, beginning two Saturdays from now!

Mr. M

Introducing our newest members!

Hey you! Have you heard that Spring is here and plants are growing inch by inch. Lucky for you, plants isn't the only thing that's growing, so is our garden club! As the days become warmer and warmer the garden club began to expand. Check out our new peeps......

Getting ready to water our veggies

Still making time for video games and competition

And at the end of the day we're proud of what we accomplished So stay on the look out because before you know it our plants and fellow friends will grow on you, and you don't wan't to miss out. Cause once you do the plants will turn brown on you!