Ecological Working Group: Compost Day

hey everyone so we're having a compost bin construction work day!!! Just so everybody knows, we have officially been collecting compost from several businesses in clifton over the past few weeks. Building the bins at janies will let us have a depository for our compost which means we'll be able to build up some bed filler/amendments over the next few months.

ALSO, there is a workday at a community garden at the earth and spirit center off of newburg road, at 1pm. Perhaps we could bust a move at janies on saturday and then folks who wanted to network with other community gardeners and get a sense of what they're up to could do so over there?

so come to the compost day if you can!!!
bring food if you want!!

Where and When it is:
11am
this saturday, march 1
157 n jane st.
Its between Sycamore and Brownsboro.
There is ample parking in front. Just come up the steps on the left of the bright yellow house. I have a dog named Jackson. Or maybe walk up to the right side of 155. It's a vacant house and that's actually the yard we'll be working in. Also I have a neighbor a few houses down. He has a garden and compost bins we might want to look at.
My # is 897-2088 if there are any questions. (that's janie's number)

Thoughts on Materials:
We could use alot of pallets and other things necessary for construction. Here's the latest correspondence from the scavenger work group:
I can get some pallets today. I have some fencing. There are some metal fence posts on sight. I have screws, but not a battery operated drill. I'm not sure what my nail situation is. I think I have some, but I need to check. I do have a circular saw. I also have tie wire. rusty but usable.
People with construction skills and materials they think would be good should stone soup it up and everyone bring some stuff!

SEE YALL ON SATURDAY!!!

Ecological Working Group: Community Garden Update 3/1

Next Sunday's meeting (03/02, 4p.m.-6p.m.):

--We decided to take a field trip next Sunday(meet at the Clifton Center) to see some other gardens nearby. We will meet again at the Clifton Center and leave from there. Some people offered car seats to carpool. Noel Rueff will be arranging for us to visit the St. Joseph's garden site. We may also see the garden near Field Elementary and at the Masonic Home. The Masonic Home garden in particular may be a good example for us since it was designed with the elderly in mind.

--As always, all are welcome!

Issues:

Land use permission:

--Mike reported back about negotiations with SHV concerning use of the vacant lot on Quarry St. They will be able to meet with us early next month

--We decided that in addition to the proposal already written, there should be another document to present at the meeting with SHV which would suggest ways in which we could involve SHV residents in this project. Proposed were: raised beds in the garden which would be more accessible to the elderly; and edible landscaping projects around the SHV buildings.

Neighbor concern:

--Neighbors around the site expressed concern last Sunday over issues of privacy and parking, among others

--It's been proposed that we organize a meeting with the neighbors to address these concerns. Any meeting with them should stress that gardeners will be from the neighborhood. Also suggested was stressing that this is a sort of pilot project or demonstration site for larger projects elsewhere.

Insurance/liability issues:

--Mike researched insurance for the garden and found that it would be $1500 a year, too high for us now

--John proposed the elegant solution of having SHV formally lease the land to Clifton Community Council for 1 year, so that their insurance would cover it

Moving forward:

Raised bed resource and building group:

--Matt, Sam, Gabe, Shane, and Rob have commited to work on sourcing materials and building raised beds on site when we have permission to use the plot

Site design group:

--Shane, Sam, Matt, and Jarrod have committed to working on drawing out a site design plan, a necessary first step for any construction efforts

Compost collection:

--Matt reported on the status of compost collection at local businesses. There are now several Clifton-area restaurants helping us with this.

--It requires regular pick-up, for which there is now a detailed schedule. Janie and Matt are doing most of the collection now, but anyone else who wants to help may email cliftongarden@gmail.com. Feel free also to solicit anywhere that may have fresh green waste to donate.

Resources:

Materials:

--Noel suggested Wallitsch's nursery and Boone Gardiner Garden Center for cash donations

--Rob worked at a winery where he thinks he can get us some free metal and plastic 55-gallon drums for rainwater catchment and compost tumblers

--The new construction site on the SHV campus may be a great source of building materials generated from the waste stream there. Useful materials that may be obtainable include: cinder blocks, bricks, rebar (good for greenhouse construction)

Other gardens that we should check out and research:

--St. Joseph's (next sunday)

--Field Elementary

--Masonic Home

--Crescent Hill Presbyterian

--California garden

--Brightside gardens, now managed by Cooperative Extension Service (there are lots of these!) See http://www.louisvilleky.gov/Brightside/Beautification/Community+Gardens/

Greening Our Neighborhoods & Businesses: From Design to Community. A Lunch and Learn event.

What: Greening Our Neighborhoods & Businesses: From Design to Community. A Lunch and Learn event.

When: Thursday, February 28, Noon to 2 PM.

Who:

• Joan Pauly, National LEED- Neighborhood Design Committee: "Neighborhoods Taking the LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - Neighborhood Design Standards"
• John Baker, Co-Chair, Clifton Community Council and members of the Sustainable Clifton working group: "Weaving Neighborhood Living and Learning: Sustainability Design and Ecovillage Education"

Where: Adena Center at Webster University Louisville, KY Campus
Directions: I-71 Exit 2, Zorn Ave. @ River Rd behind BP to the Galen Buiding, Second Floor. (Map)

Cost: Free and open to the public. Donations welcome. $10 requested for a light lunch buffet.

Please RSVP: To 502 410-2786 or communitybiz@yahoo.com

• How can neighborhood residents and businesses go green?
  
• How can local business associations and neighborhoods coalitions get ahead of the curve to take advantage of the new standards and opportunities in sustainability?
• How do we plan for successful green futures?
  
• What can individuals do in our own backyard and with our neighbors and local retailers, to create green neighborhoods now?

LEED - ND is the primary green neighborhood planning standard of the US Green Building Council. The Gaia Education Ecovillage Design program is the principal learning curriculum of the UN Institute for Training and Research. In Louisville, the Clifton neighborhood has committed to exploring these approaches to moving towards sustainability, and other neighborhoods are discussing similar strategies. Join us in a discussion with LEED and neighborhood leaders in discussing opportunities for neighbors and businesses to "go green."

Links:

LEED-ND/ Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - Neighborhood Design
Sustainable Clifton
Joan Pauly
Gaia Education: Ecovillage Design Education
Sustainable Business Networks
Adena Center

Interested in learning more about local sustainability? Join the conversation! Go to http://groups.google.com/group/sustainabilityeducation
and sign up for regular news and discussion on how to "go green" in Louisville and beyond.

This Workshop qualifies for CEU credit for the Program in Sustainability Studies of the Adena Center at Webster University. If you would like to apply for CEU credit for this course or for the Certificate in Sustainability, please contact adena@webster.edu
More Information: www.sustainabilityeducation.blogspot.com

About the Living and Learning for Sustainability series

This event is sponsored by the Sustainable Business Networks project, helping to build the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. Join us for Earth Week with Judy Wicks and the Second Annual Green and Local Business Conference, April 20 and 21, 2008!

Ecological Work Group

For those who were there, thanks for coming to the first open meeting for the Clifton Community Garden project! This post is intended as a follow-up to that meeting and as an informative introduction to those who have expressed interest but were unable to attend the meeting.

The next meeting:

Sunday, Feb 17 from 4 to 6 PM in the Community Room of the Clifton Center. Hopefully by then we should know whether we have permission from Sacred Heart Vilage to use the land, so it would be nice to see some planning and work crew organization happen. Perhaps a walk to the site would be helpful to discuss ideas for layout and design?

Soil testing:

A few of the people who organized the meeting would like to go to the site together within the next couple of days as their schedules permit, in order to take some soil samples to send to the Cooperative Extension Service. If anyone would like to be present for this in order to learn/teach about soil testing, please call Matt (649-6104) or reply at this address (cliftongarden@gmail.com) and let us know what times are good for you. Soil testing will be the first monetary expense of the garden project, and since there is no official Clifton Garden bank account presently, the present organizers will personally incur the cost. We will bring documentation of the cost to the next meeting at which donations will be welcome, not exceeding the said cost in total.

A call for Organizers:

We, the present organizing group of the Clifton Garden, would like to let you all know that any time is a good time to step up as a key organizer on any particular aspect of the creation or management of the garden. The five of us (Jennifer, Jarrod, Matt, Sam, and Whit) have been proactive on organizing this project up to its present point of development, but we would like to see this group expand. Any aspect of the garden may be organized by more than one person, and any one person may be proactive in organizing more than one aspect, but an clearly identifiable group of proactive leaders could really move this project forward quickly to planting in the spring. Some (but certainly not all) of the key areas that will need organizing are:

• Compost: On site system construction, identification of and collection from sources
• Water: Catchment systems, on-site storage, organizing with city to get free water
• Tool/resource aquisition: Searching for donors, checking on Freecycle, etc.
• Treasurer: organizing and management of a Clifton Garden bank account
• Grants/Cash donations: seeking donations from local businesses and other organizations for necessary funds
• Site planning & design: plot allocation system and rational placement of infrastructure
• Construction: The site will need a tool shed, gathering space, bulletin board, and small greenhouse
• Outreach: informing the community about the garden--an ongoing task
• Education: organizing educational workshops and visits from educators to teach relevant topics
• Art: organizing artistic initiatives in the garden and an artistic element to garden construction and design projects

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Feel free to inform us of anything we haven't mentioned that you feel needs attention. What are your talents, interests, knowledge, and passions? Just send an email to cliftongarden@gmail.com or tell us at the next meeting if you'd like organize or get involved in a project--we're wide open. You are the Clifton community garden!

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Ecological Work Group

The Sustainable Clifton Ecological Working group is hosting a "Community Garden" meeting at the Clifton Center on Sunday, February 10 at 4:00p.m. in the Community Room. Come and discuss plans and share visions for the collective creation of a community garden in the Clifton neighborhood. All are welcome - bring a friend.