Unity Urban Garden

Seeking Dedicated Volunteers For Spring 2012

2012-03-02T15:23:00.000-06:00

Unity Urban Garden Unity Urban Garden (UUG) in the Waltherson community, corner of Schley and Southern Ave., is seeking dedicated volunteers to assist with the Spring 2012 growing season.

If interested Contact: unityurbangarden@gmail.com

Community Garden Needs Your Vision

2011-02-05T14:10:00.004-06:00

Unity Urban Garden is recruiting serious volunteers who want help take this urban garden to the next level. UUG is a garden, located in the Waltherson Neighborhood in Northeast Baltimore. It is bordered by Walther Blvd., Moravia Ave. and Belair Rd. We began in 2008 with the goals to create a community space, beautify a vacant lot and educate the community about urban gardening. We have 12, 12x6 raised beds, a shade garden/seating area, compost bins and recently installed rain barrels. We eventually would like to add a walking labyrinth.

We are looking for committed volunteers who are excited about urban gardening and have time to invest in helping to manage and develop this garden. We are also in need of construction/building and grant writing skills. As we move into the next phase of this garden, we hope that it will provide a source of food for those in need. We are considering selling garden plots this year so please contact us if you are interested.

To learn more about UUG please check out our blog http://www.unityurbangarden.blogspot.com/ or stop by to 4001 Southern Ave. to see the site.

Our next meetings will be February 26, March 5 and March 19 at 4:30, location TBA. Please email unityurbangarden@gmail.com or call 443-474-9757.

2011-01-14T11:05:00.005-06:00

Even though it's still winter, the organizers of UUG are in the process of setting up a meeting to discuss the future of the garden. We, the organizers, are at a crossroads about the goals of the garden, our vision individually and exactly what we would like the bounty to be in the garden. We are generally at this point, bouncing ideas off of each other about partnering with another community garden or changing what we're growing. Right now we're not completely sure, which is where the meeting(s) come in. We haven't posted in quite some time and wanted to get those that read our blog up to speed on what we've been up to. We'll be in touch soon! Happy winter!

Creating UUG's Sign

2010-08-19T20:22:00.003-05:00

Unity Urban Garden is thriving and so are the weeds! We keep telling ourselves it points to how healthy the soil is. :-) We have much produce growing including okra, cucs, parsley, melons, tomatoes, sage, chamomile, echinacea, chives, etc. We are in the process of having two signs created by two youths. They have come out and braved the relentlessness of the mosquitoes and the heat on several occasions. We thank them. Our next goals are to complete our fence and get a handle on the weeds. We attempted to plant peanuts but they didn't grow. Better luck next time!

Updated Pics! Before and After!

2010-07-06T13:28:00.011-05:00

The Latest at UUG

2010-06-24T16:28:00.001-05:00

UUG has some things going on. We will update with current pictures very soon. We have about 4 rain barrels installed and about 6 raised beds going with herbs, veggies and fruit. The melon patches are taking up two raised beds and we started strawberry seedlings for next yr. Herbs we have growing include Calendula, chamomile, yarrow, Echinacea p., thyme, sage and lavender. We’re very happy that everything seems to be thriving and we have companion planted in some raised beds. We love seeing beneficial insects as it means we're doing something right!

The latest projects in addition to getting the rain barrels installed is designing and putting our UUG sign in place. We have to have this grant project done before we apply with the same organization for another grant at the end of July. We must engage the help of the youth as well.

The garden has had some issues with feral cats, one in particular we believe, defecating in our beds, so we built some caged wire around the beds and have been having less issues now. We like to do things to deter possibly challenges in the physical and work with the nature spirits, angels and guides to assist us, especially when we’re not there.

We have many beautiful flower perennials growing and it is truly very beautiful to see how far we have come thus far. The garden is not where we’d like it to be, but we and the garden are works in progress. In looking at the garden just last year we have most definitely come a long way.

Projects we have in mind after finishing up the present ones are to install a therapeutic labyrinth and get a shed. It’s imperative that we get a shed because it’s difficult at times with the tools being available to all of us and scheduling if someone has the tools but can’t be at the garden, where to put the tools, etc.

Pictures will be posted soon!

2010-05-17T11:31:00.002-05:00

2010-05-15T18:31:00.008-05:00

A plant spirit buddy that was ready to work!

Shel installing wind chimes to welcome the elemental wind spirits.

Black gold.

We love our worms.

We have amended the soil and have begun to put our veggie and herb seedlings for companions in our raised beds. It's not exactly easy prepping soil. We used organic soil, compost and bone meal. Check back for other pics as we continue. Tues. we'll be prepping an herb raised bed. Our herb seedlings are doing very well and are ready to go into their permanent homes.

Before

Essence sifting the compost.

After

We've added more seedlings since this pic was taken.

Rain Barrel Update

2010-05-15T18:22:00.003-05:00

2010 Spring Clean-Up

2010-05-04T21:28:00.018-05:00

On April 17th, Unity Urban Garden officially opened for the season in conjunction with the Baltimore City Mayor's Spring Clean Up. 10 Volunteers and community members joined in to plant a variety of plant's donated by Shari's co-worker (see previous posting for list). The plethora of hostas donated beautifully finish the border area on Schley Ave. We proudly affixed our sign from University of Maryland Cooperative Extension, officially recognizing UUG as a Master Gardener site. Thanks to Shari' and Shelowann for completing the Master Gardener program and continuing to use their knowledge and resources to grow the garden. We had a productive day of weeding (yea!), mulching and planting. One of our new young volunteers, along with her mom w harvested some chives and mint planted last season. During the next few garden days we look forward to planting new crops, erecting official UUG signs, rain barrels and completing the fence on Schley. Thanks to all the volunteers who came out on the 17th!

Japanese Maple Seedlings

2010-05-03T11:31:00.002-05:00

The Process of Installing Rain Barrels

2010-05-03T11:22:00.005-05:00

We thought it would be interesting to chronicle the process of installing about 3-4 rain barrels at Unity Urban Community Garden. Donna, a neighbor that lives directly adjacent to the garden has agreed to allow us to use a part of her property to gather rain, which is at the back of her yard where her garage is. Right now we're trying to create the best way get the rain into the rain barrels. This means we'll have to build some sort of attachment to her existing gutter that will lead to the rain barrels. First though, we had to clean Donna's gutter and reshape a pretty beaten up gutter as you'll see below. Here are a few pics and be on the lookout for more as we continue this process.

Just a Few of Our Herb Seedlings

2010-04-23T07:58:00.003-05:00

Echinacea
Yarrow
Chamomile
Dwarf Calendula

A Change in Work Day

2010-04-08T09:06:00.003-05:00

UUG has changed its regular work day on Wednesdays to Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30 pm. So work days are Tuesdays and Saturdays, 9 am-12 pm. Hope to see you!

Oh a Planting We Will Be!

2010-04-05T12:47:00.003-05:00

Unity Urban Garden was donated boatloads of perennials by Shari's co-worker. Thanks bunches! Here's her dig and haul of the goods along with a short list:

Hostas
Lamb's ear
Day lillies
Some type of ornamental grasses
More day lillies
Liriope
Daffodils

HELP PREPARE UNITY URBAN GARDEN FOR THE GROWING SEASON!

2010-04-05T11:26:00.001-05:00

Join in on the fun!

* mulch the grounds
* pick up general debris
* build compost sifter
* plant perennials
* plant flower seedlings
* and much more!

WHERE: The corner of Southern and Schley Avenues (4001 Southern Ave.) Baltimore, 21206

WHEN: Saturday, April 17, 2010 from 9-1 p.m.
Rain date: Sunday April 18, 2010

Please wear sturdy shoes and bring gloves.
For more information call: 443-220-3053 or 410-485-3037
Email: unityurbangarden@gmail.com

Parks & People Foundation Donation of Bench

2010-03-14T11:02:00.001-05:00

We're grateful. It's a beautiful bench.

Spring at Unity

2010-03-14T10:22:00.003-05:00

Greetings!

The organizers of Unity Urban Garden, Essence, Shari' and Shel had a meeting not too long ago and discussed goals and plans for the upcoming Spring Equinox season and the months to come. We are in the midst of starting herbs and veggies from seed. We planted a few berry plants last season so it will be nice to see them grow this year.

This year our goals are to create a permanent sign, post the beautiful sign we received from the Maryland Cooperative Extension of College Park with the Master Gardener's Association of Baltimore, finish installing our fence, install a much needed shed, attend free seed giveaways, test/amend the soil, install rain barrels, find out which grants we can apply for and budget the rest of the money that UUG was gifted from previous grants.

Since UUG is a garden that was created with partnerships with the community at the forefront of our work we are always in dialogue about how to welcome and gain more volunteers from adults to children by creating projects or having them be a part of some existing projects we know we will be completing. We also decided that UUG will not be an exclusive organic garden as we rely heavily on donations and most donations in the form of plants and such are not organic. A possibility is to have a small section of the garden be completely organic in the future.

Last year we were very fortunate that the garden was not vandalized and only a few non-essential items were taken. This year I will be energetically cleansing the garden before we begin work in it, which I am excited about. As the garden grows the organizers are growing right along with it as we learn just how far we want to go with the garden as we also grow spiritually on a personal basis. UUG is a work in progress.

Here is a list of the herbs we will be starting from seed:

Basil, sage, thyme, lavender, oregano, chives, peppermint, goldenrod, calendula, lemon balm, yarrow, rosemary, echinacea and chamomile.

Check back for upcoming updates, pics and posts!

Peace,
Shelowann

Awwww Pics!

2009-11-30T18:54:00.001-06:00

Better late than never!

Parks & People Annual Greening Celebration!

2009-10-28T10:56:00.011-05:00

On October 21, 2009 Shari' and Essence represented Unity Urban Garden at the Parks & People Foundation's Annual Greening Celebration. The Garden was one of four gardens nominated for the 2009 Best neighborhood Greening Grant project award. The nominees where chosen from local gardens who were awarded a Parks and People Greening
Grant. This grant will allow Unity Urban Garden to create permanent signage, add a shaded seating area, rain barrels and native plants.

During the celebration Unity Urban Garden was also awarded a signature "open spaces" two person bench from the TKF Foundation and a "Certification of Special recognition" from U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin. This was a lovely evening allowing Essence and Shari' to meet and exchange ideas with other community gardens. We also presented a poster presentation of the garden since its inception in April 2009 to the present.

Give thanks! :-)

Winner of the Bench!

2009-10-14T12:55:00.004-05:00

*GRIN

Unity Urban Garden was the winner of the lovely wooden bench we discussed in an earlier post. It was found that our garden is the most open and the bench will allow more energy around the garden. This is great and we are very thankful to the
Parks & People Foundation! We will post a picture of the bench as soon as it is delivered. :-)

Updates!

2009-10-11T11:24:00.006-05:00

There is much going on at Unity Urban Garden. We have currently entered a contest with several other community gardens in Baltimore for a beautiful wooden bench, which we need very much in our garden! We had to send in answers to three questions explaining what the bench will be used for, how the community will benefit, and where it will be located.

We are also preparing a few of the herb raised beds for cover cropping, which we received the seeds from a fee give-away here in Baltimore City. Our resident horticulturist and Shari', went to Herring Run's Plant Day to get more plants. We got four berry bushes including blueberry, a hyacinth tree, hydrangeas, and more understory/shade plants for the shade garden. What it looks like in the garden now is little seedlings planted in seemingly random areas but they were planted in the best places for optimum growth/support, and beautification.

A neighbor was giving away two very pretty plants (one is a holly and the other one we are not sure of just yet but it is pretty and we can cut it back if need be as it grows or until we find out what it is). So, we dug up these two plants and have replanted them in the garden.

We also had more leaf mold and wood chips delivered thanks to the city!

As you can see from the picture we have a bit of an aphid invasion and will be using soap wash on them. Companion planting will definitely be in place even more so in the future to cut down on those pesky critters!

If we win the bench we will let you know!

The mimosa seedling is still available!

As it gets colder we will be putting the garden to rest as best we can. We will allow Mother Nature to do what she does. The garden is looking great and we are excited for next spring as we will have more experience and be prepared for what may or may not come!

Mimosa Seedling Needs a Loving Home

2009-09-12T12:07:00.003-05:00

Anyone interested in a mimosa seedling? We have one at Unity Urban Garden that must be moved after it dies back. Check out the pictures of the seedling and the mimosa full grown. It would look lovely in a yard that has some space. Mimosas smell sooooo good, and have what I like to call, pink and fluffy flowers; it's definitely very feminine and pretty. :-)

Saturday, August 29, 2009

2009-08-30T10:23:00.002-05:00

Last week, Shari' and Sandy cut branches on some of the trees in the shade garden area. The area is more open and spacious now. This past Saturday, we finished a bit more of the fence installation, moved the remaining wood chips to cover the perennials that border the outside of the fence, picked lots of weeds, and tended the compost bins. It has been lovely getting all of the rain and the plants seem to be happier than before. We will call the city to get more wood chips delivered.

The Latest at Unity Urban Garden

2009-08-25T18:45:00.004-05:00

Unity Urban Garden is coming along well. We have planted a lot of perennials and a few annuals along the borders of the garden as you can see below. We had the chance to attend a free plant and seed giveaway and we are happy to say most of the plants and seedlings we were gifted are healthy! We planted some winter vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage, but they are struggling a bit at this point.

The garden is really really coming together nicely and it is amazing what a few perennials will do! The four o'clock plants in the pics below smell absolutely amazing! They smell better than roses and this is the consensus of us all!

We have been feeding the plants an organic Atlantic fish emulsion every few weeks and the plants are looking healthier. We will definitely be putting down a cover crop over the herb raised beds over winter. We are happy to say we have not had much of an issue with the stray cats...knock on wood, and Mr. Berger has been a silent visitor to feed the cats every now and then. We hope he approves of the work we are doing.

Now it is time to focus more on preparation for the cold months.

Peace!

Updated Pics!

2009-08-25T18:34:00.007-05:00

Pictures

2009-08-01T21:00:00.004-05:00

Pictures

2009-08-01T18:49:00.004-05:00

What's Happening at Unity Urban Garden?

2009-07-21T12:47:00.003-05:00

Plenty! We are happy things have slowed down a bit, yet there are still a few things happening at our garden as we move forward. We have planted veggie seedlings from cucumbers to the watermelon plant donated by the lovely Sandy (she likes to squirt me with the hose). At this point we have to give these plants more TLC as they are not growing as fast or looking as healthy as we'd like. So, we ordered some organic, Atlantic fish emulsion (AKA fish poo), laid down hay on top of the soil to hold more moisture for the plants, and are watering the plants more. We have been told they need more nitrogen.

A change of plans as well with the herb garden area. The seeds did not grow so now we will be planting more veggies, flowers and other perennials until next spring, thanks to a Baltimore City seed and plant giveaway. I for one, will not be giving up on growing herbs, especially since I'm the resident Medicine Woman.

The shade garden is looking just swell! We used leftover concrete from the plot as a border and Shari laid down grass clippings to give the area a bit more attractiveness and cohesiveness. Funny, all of the perennials planted are purple when in flower. It looks quite lovely (pics will be posted very soon).

The fence is almost completely installed and we will have a few entrances, one of which will be handicap accessible.

We have two compost bins cooking and let me tell you, it is f-u-n-k-y in that area for various reasons and all of them don't have to do with the cooking compost bins. :-)

We are still working around Mr. Berger and the area where he continues to feed his cats. We saw feces in one raised bed once and sprinkled loose herbal teas in the beds, as well as laid down branches and twigs on the unused beds to deter the cats from putting their cute little feet in there. Up to this point, it seems to be working, although we pause every now and then after smelling what cannot be defined as friendly compost material or the au naturalness of Mother Earth. Let's keep hope alive, shall we?

We are also adding perennials and small shrubs to the border of the garden, which will look very nice!

With the help of Mike, our resident horticulturalist, we will be designing a labyrinth that incoporates more unused concrete/mosaic tile, and plants.

Essence is doing most of the grunt work (maybe it's sounds of joy) for the acquisition of grant monies, and we were blessed to receive a grant thus far that went toward buying organic soil and other things used in the garden.

In the art of gardening, some things occur with ease and other things we are still learning as we go. It is better to jump in making a dream come true versus just sitting and doing nothing. Onward we march!

Look for more pics very soon! We leave you in joy and peace!

Construction and Planting Days, June 13-14, 2009

2009-06-27T13:37:00.007-05:00

Construction and Planting Days! *grin

2009-05-29T11:20:00.008-05:00

Construction Days

Location: 4001 Southern Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21206 at the corner of Southern and Schley Avenues in Waltherson

When: Saturday June 13, 2009
Time: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Rain date: Sunday June 14, same time
Please bring gloves and wear sturdy shoes.

We will be positioning the vegetable raised beds mainly and filling them with newspaper, hay, and organic soil. We will also erect posts for fencing. We can only set the posts as the concrete we will use to keep them in place must sit overnight.

Planting Days (vegetable plants into the raised beds)

When: Sunday June 14, 2009
Time: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Rain date: Monday, June 15
Time: 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Please bring gloves and wear sturdy shoes.

*Panting days are on both Sunday and Monday, rain allowing.

We want to make a weekday available to volunteers as you can see. Children 12 and over are welcome. We hope to see you there! Rain? Pshaw! Not on our plot! :-)

We will flyer the neighborhood this Sunday, May 31st. We estimate we will need 15 volunteers, not inlcuding the core group.

Questions? Contact: 443-220-3053 or 410-485-3037

Meetings

2009-05-29T11:01:00.002-05:00

May 21, 6:30 p.m. - 8
May 27, 6:30 p.m. - 8

On May 21st's meeting, we had the pleasure of having Sandy and Mike present. Sandy and Mike live in the neighborhood and have taken interest in the creation of Unity Urban Garden. During both meetings we began to really cement into place the construction of the garden.

During the meeting we had on May 21st we discussed different resources to obtain possible wholesale construction materials such as for fencing and the shed. We discussed what type of fence we would like and types of borders. Yes, we have decided to install a very short fence that will still be inviting and pleasing to the eye. The fence will probably be of natural material like wood and be no more than 3' - 4' high.

At the suggestion of Shari' and we all agree, we would like to have at least one raised bed be accessible to persons in a wheelchair. This will be located at the front of the plot, close to the intersecion of Schley and Southern Avenues.

During the meeting we had on May 27th Mike attended and we went even deeper into aspects of construction of the garden. Mike will be leading the construction of the fence and has kindly offered to allow us to use A LOT of his tools, in addition to going on garden shopping trips with us. He really is a delight to have around.

We are still waiting on the city to get free mulch and wood chips. These will be used for walkways and filling in areas.

GOOD NEWS as well! We received a grant from the Waltherson Association and two donations from Kwame El and Adele Linsalata! Thanks a lot to all of you. The money will be spent wisely.

Meeting

2009-05-15T11:39:00.005-05:00

Wednesday, May 13, 2009, 6:30 p.m. - 7:45 p.m.

What had a great meeting this day. We met at the plot in order to lay down more of the soft tarp-like material onto planting areas to decrease weed regrowth. A very nice gentleman, Mike that lives in the neighborhood, came to introduce himself to us. When he very calmly told us he was a horticulturist with over 30 years of experience in gardening and gardening landscaping we were ecstatic to say the least!

It is so wonderful when we are at the plot working and people just walk up and introduce themselves with the intention of assisting us, and to tell us how great they think our endeavor is. Like I mentioned before, we learn much about the neighborhood and its workings and history from these very people. So, we talked to Mike for quite some time, and will most definitely be receiving more of his knowledge about design, gardening, landscaping, and whatever else we can learn! Then, Sandy, a very nice woman that lives in the neighborhood and interestingly enough, seems to always drive by when we are at the plot, stopped by to lend a helping hand and share her thoughts.

2nd Clean-up Day

2009-05-15T11:19:00.013-05:00

Saturday, May 9, 2009, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Things went splashingly well! We had one volunteer, Peggy that came and boy, did she work! She was a great help to us and was very friendly. Thanks Peggy! On this day we pulled weeds, moved soil to areas that had to be filled in versus just throwing it away, picked up debris, moved leftover pieces of concrete, and laid a soft tarp-like material in areas where the raised beds will be to decrease the regrowth of weeds. The day was quite lovely and took place after long bouts of rainfall in Baltimore so as you will see from the pictures below, we were almost ankle deep in mud! The soil is very clay-like and it was very easy to get bogged down in it.

Peggy hard at work. She was amazing, because she could hold a conversation and work hard at the same time! :-)

Unstoppable Shari'. She is our Energizer Bunny!

The mud I wrote about.

Mud was not going to stop us!

Covering to keep weeds out. We will probably adopt another way of keeping down weeds before the plants are planted. In addition, the mud has hardened to the point where we doubt anything will grow before Construction Day.

Rough Draft of Garden Design

2009-05-15T11:11:00.001-05:00

Meeting

2009-05-15T10:54:00.003-05:00

Wednesday, May 6, 2009, 6:30 p.m.-7:45 p.m.

Of course, we talked about design during this meeting. It is all about design at the moment. We also discussed Construction Day including fencing/protection of the garden while still allowing it to be inviting, recruiting volunteers for Construction Day, 2nd Clean-up Day, and our list of needs for the garden.

One thing that is a blessing with the three of us working together is that things flow well. We always respect each other and allow each other to voice opinions. I (Shel) have noticed even if we may not necessarily agree with each other on how something should be done, sometimes we may not say we do not agree, and it is not really a big deal as things still work out very well. Being a part of the creation of this garden is allowing us to learn so much about ourselves and others.

I believe some of these things are realized and unrealized at this point. The goal is to be steadfast to completion and take this initiative to another level, spreading the love and education about self empowerment and the enormous potential for total self sufficiency for ourselves and the community. At the root of it all, the betterment of ourselves and the community is the most important thing.

Equipment/Monetary Donations for Garden

2009-05-03T18:09:00.002-05:00

We need gently used or new:

1 medium sized shed
1-2 benches
4-5 trellises (rustproof/or resistant and treated with non-phytoxic material; not phytoxic to plants)

Medium sized work table

Organic soil ~ we have 15, 3x12 raised beds, and the interior and exterior garden to manage and support. Composting will help, but that will take time. We estimate it will cost $275-$350.

15-20 seed trays/other type containers to grow plants and herbs
2-3 shovels
2-3 spades
1-2 spading forks
2-3 hoes
2 hammers
2-3 garden rakes
2-3 lawn rakes
3-4 trowels
2 diggers
1 rotary tiller
3-4 pruners
1 lopping shears
1 pruning saw
1 hedge shears
1 wheelbarrow (2 would be even better but this depends on space in our shed)

~ Unity's 2nd Clean-up Day Announcement

2009-05-03T16:47:00.009-05:00

Please help us in our second phase of clean-up to prepare planting for our garden. We have had the land tilled this past Friday and we need your help in clearing away leftover debris. If possible, please bring rakes, shovels and gloves. If you live in the neighborhood, please feel free to stop by during the week and pile large weeds/grass by the back fence.

When: Saturday, May 9, 2009
Time: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Location: Waltherson Community (northeast Baltimore)
Street: 4001 Southern Avenue (the empty lot at the corner of Schley Avenue)
City: Baltimore, 21206

Tilling and Conditioning the Soil

2009-05-03T16:33:00.005-05:00

Good news! Civic Works came this past Friday, May 1st, and along with tilling the soil they conditioned it as well! We originally thought we would have to clean up all of the clumps of grass and weeds ourselves then they would come back to condition, but they did it all! Give thanks for that! It looks great! They even leveled the plot off. I am trying to make the pictures bigger but Blogger is not acting right. :-)

~Community Greening Resources Network Membership Letter

2009-05-03T16:29:00.002-05:00

~Baltimore's Flower Mart

2009-05-03T16:24:00.004-05:00

Flower Mart was this past Saturday, May 2nd. Here is what Shari' picked up, and they are all perennials that bloom. We love bloom!

Phlox "Mary Helen" (two of these)
Verbena "Homestead Purple"
Suwannee
Aquilegia "Nana Alba"
Scabiosa "Butterfly Blue"
Aquilegia

Meeting

2009-05-03T15:45:00.010-05:00

Thursday, April 30, 6:20 -7:45 p.m.

This day we discussed various topics from fundraising, grant deadlines, linking up with more community associations, ordering seeds, Baltimore's Flower Mart Day this past Saturday , location of plants in the garden (thanks Shari' for your lovely drawing :-))/design of the garden. We have contacts of resources that will give us free mulch and wood chips, which is fantastic. We now know it will cost somewhere around $275-$350 for organic soil. Yes we will be composting. It will take time to use the rich Black Gold, as Shari' very appropriately calls it, from composting.

We met at the plot before sitting down to talk to move our raised beds that were delivered so the tillers would have free reign, as they were scheduled to come Friday. The raised beds are HUGE (3x12), so we are thinking to stack them in twos, which would mean even better soil in the long run. Most of the raised beds will be used for the veggie garden, and we are thinking to possibly do a different type of raised bed for the herb garden.

Here are pics of the raised beds.

Meeting

2009-04-25T11:31:00.004-05:00

April 23, 2009, 6-8 p.m.

During this meeting we talked mainly about the design of the garden. We briefly discussed grants/fundraising, how to haul the rest of the concrete to an area of the plot where it will not be in the way of the tillers, a tentative appointment scheduled to have the plot tilled next week, and recognizing our volunteers that helped us tremendously during Clean-up Day. We discussed what type of natural walk-ways we would like to use in the garden, how to position the raised beds, the use of different types of raised beds, and other logistics about design. We discussed a lot more!

Then we proceeded to check out the starter plants Shari' began and let me tell you, they are looking goooood! We gave ourselves a deadline of the end of May to have the lot prepped to begin Construction Day and I (Shel) will be ordering herb and companion seeds this weekend.

~ Trees

2009-04-20T09:26:00.002-05:00

These are trees Civic Works came to mark that are either dead or not thriving. The trees will be taken down and we will hopefully be able to use some of the wood chips in the design of the garden.

~ Clean-up Day Pictures

2009-04-20T08:47:00.013-05:00

Mr. Berger, the previous owner's lawn mower. He used to live in a house on the plot that was torn down years ago and is still quite attached to it. Surprisingly, the lawn mower stays outside and has never been stolen.

Mr. Berger used to have feral and house cats that he stills comes to feed and the feeding spot is located on the plot. We cleaned this area up and left some of the feeding containers for Mr. Berger. We did not want him to come and see the stuff gone.

What is the city without a beer can? Not good quality I might add. :-)

We dug up some dandelion. Hey, we love dandelion but it is a highly invasive weed. We definitely will not be growing the mighty dandelion. Sorry dandelion, we still love you though!

Supplies delivered by the city. Woo hoo!

A pretty plant, but probably invasive.

That is Shari'. She dug up some lovely rose bushes so they would not be destroyed. We plan to replant them.

Yucca; it looks lovely full grown. We plant o replant this as well.

Brian, a volunteer. He worked it out!

This little boy was so happy to help. He wanted to jump right in!

Another young volunteer that helped us immensely.

Work it out Spoon! We are so grateful! Spoon headed up the hardest of the labor. He had not eaten either until later that afternoon. Shame shame Spoon!

We were originally supposed to get a dumpster but the city ran out. This is what they delivered.

We took it, of course! Beggars cannot be choosers. :-)

Essence to the left, and a volunteer. Ok, do not sleep on the other little lady to the right here. She was hauling heavy concrete. We are MIGHTY in numbers! Essence was on the phone initially giving it all she had to get some sort of dumpster delivered. Those cell phones are good for something.

Kevin, who helped us tremendously as well. Thanks Brothah! I told him I would go and get him something to eat if he needed it and he said, "Oh, I already ate. I knew was we were in for." Go ahead Kevin, because we surely did not know.

Before picture of a sidewalk located on the plot. It must have ran alongside the house when it was up.

A beautiful after picture.

One of our young elders that had a lot to say about life in general.

Lisa, Shari's partner. Thanks Lisa! She womanned the table, sign-in sheet, and basically helped out wherever she could.

~ Clean-up Day

2009-04-20T08:28:00.009-05:00

April 18, 9-2 p.m.

We got a lot done on this day. We had quite a few people from the neighborhood show up to help and stop by just to check us out. The great thing about building this garden in the community is we receive valuable information from them about the history of the land and the neighborhood in general. The people were very helpful and we are very appreciative.

We had no idea it would take so much man power to get the plot cleaned in preparation for tilling. We were most pleased that more men showed up than women, as there was concrete that had to be broken and hauled to the dumpster. We had to rent a jack hammer for 4 hours and had a sledge hammer and some other tools to assist the men. Wow, it was hard work and we were not even breaking up the concrete for the most part. Essence was brave enough to try but I (Shel) was not interested in that aspect. A lot of people that showed up were families and our young elders. We went longer than we thought and planned. Now we have to decide what to do with the rest of the broken up concrete that we were too pooped to haul onto the truck. We are thinking we may use it as walk ways on and within the plot. Cool, right?! :-)

The Beginning, Oh Joy!

2009-04-20T07:32:00.019-05:00

5,000 sq ft of endless possibilities.

There is definitely something to be said for folks that delve into the unknown, or rather, that allow oneself to relearn what they knew before. We are super excited to embark upon this adventure in creating a community garden. All things are in alignment and they are steadily getting done. We wanted to begin a blog of our journey for several reasons: to allow those that want to donate gardening supplies or money, including individuals and businesses, to be able to see exactly what we are doing with Unity Urban Garden. We also decided to blog for others of like mind with any sort of interest in what we are doing to allow them to check us out, make comments, give advice, etc.

Below is an updated list of all our meetings, and we will be posting them daily or at least, once a week:

2009
Saturday, March 28, 6-8 p.m.
Thursday, March 5, 6:30-7:15 p.m.

Thursday, March 12, 6:30-7:30 p.m., two of us were able to attend a class entitled, Transforming Urban Spaces with Ben Nathanson as the teacher. The class was very inspiring and was mainly about transforming alleys in urban settings into gardens, while still allowing the space to be available to the community.

Saturday, March 21, 4-7:30 p.m., we met with Roy Skeen, who has several community gardens in the Baltimore area, and he surveyed the plot and gave much needed and appreciated feedback about design and others things we needed to do. We enjoyed having him and loved the information he shared with us! After meeting him, we had a general meeting.

Wednesday, March 25, 7:30-8:45 p.m., two of us were able to attend the Moravia Community Association Meeting where we introduced ourselves, made our intentions clear about beginning the garden, and made contact with people in the neighborhood. They were quite welcoming and happy about our venture. :-)

Friday, March 27, 6:30 p.m., we met at the lot to meet someone that would give us the same feedback Roy gave, hopefully from a different perspective. We had an appointment with a young lady who did not show then we set up another appointment with another young lady that next Saturday, April 4th at 2 -3 p.m., and she was able to make it. We received very useful information from her as well.

Baltimore was scheduled to have Clean-up Day on April 18, so we discussed having our own Clean-up Day at the plot as the city would drop off supplies such as brooms, rakes, trash bags, and disperse dumpster trucks. On Sunday, April 5, 9-10:30 a.m. we distributed flyers in the neighborhood where the plot is located.

Thursday, April 9, 6-8:20 p.m.
Saturday, April 11, 4-5:30 p.m., we distributed flyers again.
Wednesday, April 15, 6-8 p.m.

All meetings that do not have a comment were meetings in which, initially, we talked about if we were prepared to commit to this endeavor, the work involved, our dream and ideas of who in the community we wanted to reach and work with, and what we wanted to use the garden for. After these initial meetings, we began to discuss how to tell the community about our journey/advertising. Later, we discussed exactly what we would possibly plant, where to buy the seeds, etc. Presently we are in discussion about fund raising, applying for grants, and design. We are always talking about design! :-)