Pond Vandalizm

If you have been following our emails you probably already know about the continued problem with our little pond.

A neighbor has been allowing his child to pull up pond plants, throw the pots into the pond and damage and kill many plants, distrub mosquito dunks and mess with our little ecology.

Sean and Amos have graciously given their time and money to this project, replanting, tending, making a beautiful corner for us to all enjoy. Sean has politely talked to the neighbor about this problem, approaching this issue gently while his efforts have been disregarded...

Personally I am angry. This is money and time that is being wasted. Effort that is being ignored.
I want Judkins to reach a level to be an envy of other P-Patches. How can we progress when our garden is subject to destruction and vandalism?

Now if you witness any vandalism or destruction in our garden, particularly with our pond PLEASE CALL 911.
Below is a copy of Seans Email for whomever didnt get it on the listserve.

JUDKINS] See pond vandalism? Call 911

Sean

So says Officer Elsinger of the East Precinct Community Police. She said we s...

3:09 PM (1 hour ago)

Sean Loading...

3:09 PM (1 hour ago)

Sean to JUDKINS

show details 3:09 PM (1 hour ago)

So says Officer Elsinger of the East Precinct Community Police. She said we should have called at the July 14 work party when we witnessed the vandalism. Who knew? So if anybody witnesses property destruction she says call 911. There has been considerably more destruction in the last two weeks alone. The pots that were on pond bottom were thrown upside down into pond. The big 5 gallon pot that held the blue pickerel was thrown so hard into pond bottom the pot was deformed. I think they may all be dead but we put the pickerel with some mosquito dunk and floating and oxygenating plants in a 5 gal bucket in our plot. The mini cat tails and cut leaf water parsley is in the barrel behind the shed with companion plants and a mosquito dunk. So please leave our aquatic plant refugees as they are. They should be fine and there will be no mosquito issue due to the dunks. The pond I mucked out and added its monthly mosquito dunk. The officer
will visit and talk to the neighbors tomorrow. She will call me after.
A neighbor is going to drop off some fence posts and fencing near privet hedge behind pond. We need to fence that area in with a locked gate. The food bank plot got a good weeding and drink. I yanked most of the buckwheat out and used it as mulch. We will need to thin the turnips and space out the mustards next week when it is cooler. Anybody wanna help??? Sorry it is not better news and I am very grumpy. I spent a lot of money and time on pond plants and pond plant fertilizer and mosquito dunks and...all for the dragonflies and to have some beauty. It is SO frustrating to have it destroyed over and over these last few years. Add to that the neighbor laughing while his daughter did it...I am beyond frustrated.
Sean

Volunteer Hours Contest 2009

Ok so as alluded to in a previous blog I (Tristen) am hosting a volunteer hour contest.
The three gardeners with the most volunteer hours logged by our deadline (the gardens hours deadline) will win!!

You will Win:


1st top winner:
A Unique piece of garden art made by me, custom to you and your garden.
A Plaque made for your plots that list you as Judkins top volunteers 2009
A yummy dessert (made with your dietary needs in mind!)
A bottle of my homemade cordial (made from judkins herbs, I'm thinking lavendar this year...)
A Family/plot photoshoot from Tenebras Lux Studios
.....More to come I'm going to look for community sponsors

2nd top winner
A Plaque made for your plots that list you as Judkins top volunteers 2009
A bottle of my homemade cordial (made from judkins herbs, I'm thinking lavendar this year...)
A Family/plot photoshoot from Tenebras Lux Studios
....More to come!!

3rd top winner
A Plaque made for your plots that list you as Judkins top volunteers 2009
Family/plot Photoshoot from Tenebras Lux Studios
A Platter of cookies (made with your dietary needs in mind!)
....More to come!


There will also be a prize for:
Most creative hours logged
Hardest Worker
Most Caffinated ( most hours logged picking up coffee grounds)

This contest is to help inspire out judineers to logg in more hours. If your unsure of what to do to get hours PLEASE ASK many of us can help you with ideas.
So far I'm providing all the prizes, but if you want to contribute to the "booty" then let me know, I'll also be looking for cafe' sponsorship, and city peoples sponsorship.

Competition is good for the soul, lets make judkin's shine!
(and in all fairness since I'm hosting the contest I cannot win!!)

Garden Inspired artwork!

Hello Judkins!

Summer is coming, and now is the perfect time to get so garden inspired artwork showing!!
Lets see you judkins inspired art! I'll start with mine!

I create ribbon flowers, everytime I need inspiration I head over to judkins. So the pictures posted are my art inspired by our garden! I love flowers, and leaves, I love ribbon and fabric. SO combining the two seems natural to me.
these pictures highlight the best of what I am making currently.

Using vintage ribbon, buttons, and findings I am creating artwork showcasing my love of flowers and their structure.


Whats your art? How is it inspired by our garden?
What materials do you use?? Share with us and lets see what kind of artists we have in our garden!

Getting your hours in!

Ok so for you new gardeners last year was my first year at judkins.

There werent alot of workparties I could go to, so I didnt know how I was going to fill in my 8 hours by the deadline (I started in june).
Below are some ideas to help you fill up your time, and if anyone else has ideas or suggestions they should post here, leave comments or create their own lovely blog!!!

1. workparties if you can.
2. make cookies for workparties
3. pick-up coffee grounds (starbucks, tully's, mezza luna) there can never be enough so just keep getting them!
4. signage (our signage is pretty poor right now, so if you can create lovely signs for the bad weeds vs good weeds, bad bugs vs good bugs etc that works!)
5. help weed and water the food bank plot.
6. Talk to mark or kenya (or all the gardeners together at a meeting) about creating artwork for the shared spaces.
7. Take pictures!!!
8. publish blogs.
9. weed paths.
10. Bring a friend with you to workparties, their hours count too!

A couple of gardeners have talked about creating sellable items to raise funds for our patch, postcards and paintings. This is an amazing idea for creating funds for items like a retaining wall or a picnik table, AND it counts for your hours.

4 out of your 8 hours need to be done in judkins, I hope the above list helps out if you had any questions. Its really easy to get your hours done and often you can find your over in hours.
Since all these volunteer hours help out our lovely little garden dont stop at 8!!

I will be setting up a contest (with prizes) this coming month.
The top three judkineers with the most hours logged will recieve handmade prizes, get a blog written about them, have fresh cookies and otherwise be worshiped for their awesomeness.

I'll post the contest soon, keep an eye out for it and really start logging those hours.

Heat Spell and shared spaces

Hello all!
Looks like we are headed into a heat spell for the rest of the week.

Our food bank plot and front slope have plants that really need some babying right now so while your at the garden if you can take some time and water the food bank and front slope.

The food bank is coming along nicely, its raised beds full of young plants that are destined to go to st. Mary's which provides food the many (many) local people.
Our front slope has lots of little seedlings on it, including some squash for the food bank.

Dont forget to log your time into the binder!!

Hope your enjoying the weather!!

Flowers of the garden!

Springs flowers at Judkins P-Patch!

Pictures of Judkins Work Party May 3rd!

Judkins P-Patch work party, with tons of volunteers and judkineers turning out to clear lots of projects and get our garden going for the year! James the Giant peach ( is Above,) our compost Mistress.
My Partner Paul hard at work with Volunteers getting the path worked on!
Look at this amazing crowd of volunteers!
Volunteer Coordinator!
Judkineers hard at work!

Sean Showing Us the Path!
Amos in the morning!
Volunteer Coordinator!
Sean at the front Slope!

We had coffee, cookies, a great turnout and alot of fun! Come join us for the next one!

Compost rules! Or a message from James the GIant Peach!

HOT COMPOST INSTRUCTIONS:

FIRST OFF: NO DIRT, NO BINDWEED, NO CRAB-GRASS, NO BLACKBERRY

1. CHOP all your Dirt-Free green/wet plant matter to BITE SIZE PIECES
(the CLEAVER is in the shed, the Chopping Board is right infront of the
compost bin)

2. ADD the SAME amount of Brown, dry leaves (piled by the bins) to the
chopped greens...SO: 50% GREENS 50% BROWNs

3. Moisten and mix lightly. This green/brown blend should carry the same
moisture as a wrung out sponge.

THAT'S ALL!

ABOVE ALL: do NOT just throw your un-chopped weeds/plants into the bins,
not only is it disrespectful, as someone else will have to do your work,
but it messes up the ecosystem of the living hot compost system, causing
it to die and fail. Find a place in your own plot, (or your home yard
bin) to place your weeds if you are unwilling to chop them yourself.

THANKS!

Sincerly,
James the Giant Peach,
Compost Head-Mistress

Work Party!!! Wensday april 8th 5:45pm

Come and help us get the giving garden planted!!

Christina will be leading this work party!! Come by with shirt sleeves rolled up for a fun time getting the Food bank plot in order and planted for this up and coming season!

Onions and cilantro on on the list for food bank donations.
Christina will be bringing a pen and pad so we can document how many pounds of produce we donate each week, Scale, pen, and notepad will be kept in Shed!

Way to go Christina!! Thank you for stepping up and leading this work party, and for getting our giving garden in order!

Collecting Garden Stories

I've been asked to collect some garden stories to share at the Harvest Festival this year.
I would love it if all of my fellow gardeners would sign in and write blogs of their experiences in the garden.
How has the P-patch effected your life?
What have you learned?
What do you grow? Do you share your produce?

These are some of the questions asked...but I think we can all come up with more interesting stories. I would really like to hear from all of you so we can work on getting judkins more notice!!

I really want some quirky stories, stories about previous years at Judkins, stories about why we come back each year to work the soil and grow food.

Plus I'll be coming by to more of our work parties to take pictures and document our year!!

Spring Again!

After a long winter (as I like to call it Snowpocalyspe) I can honestly admit I wasnt sure I would see spring.
In my own little plot I had 20 fava bean seedlings and 30 snow pea seedlings all set and happy....until the second of the heavy snows...mostly what survived was my ground cover and my pansies, hardy little plants, they kept blooming throughout winter even under the snow!

I'm delighted by the new growth I see around the garden, many little bulbs are sprouting and blooming.

Our FoodBank plot has gotten started for the year, we have a goal of 500+ pounds to be delivered to St. Marys. Spring is a time for goals and dreams, setting goals for our garden gives us a chance to dream of the good we can do throughout our nieghborhood.

I'm still not sure what I'll be growing in my plot. I have my pansies, some garlic, some onions, and one fava bean plant....so I have lots of room for new plants!! Any suggestions?
~Tristen