Chair Tom Warnock called the meeting of the Steering Committee to order under the cherry tree at the Garden on a bright and breezy Friday, May 21, 2004. Present were Vice Chair Ralph Rasmussen, Dianne Rasmussen, Sally Skibbins, Jer Skibbins, Jim Grenwelge, MA Brauer, and your faithful scribe Chester Case.
Referring to the Planting Schedule Ken Holmes updates each month (and now presents in a computerized spreadsheet format), Tom reviewed the considerable planting accomplished to date, what is on the immediate agenda, and what is coming up. We’re doing very well. Beds are being prepared in a timely fashion, the Greenhouse is prodigiously productive and, after a few weather setbacks, the warm growing days are upon us. Tom smiled as he forecast: “The Grand Garden Goal is in sight: all beds planted by the Summer Solstice.”
This being a very busy time of the Gardening year, a Work Party was planned for Wednesday, June 23, 2004. Day Leaders will spread the news and survey their day crews to see how many will be participating. (See “Work Party” in this issue for details.)
Committee members pondered the perennial gardening issues that become really serious as the growing season intensifies, like bed preparation, planting, watering and (the Gardener’s delight) harvesting. Tuesday Day Leader Sally Skibbins told of her project to disseminate gardening wisdom on these topics by weekly distribution of copies of pages from the Day Leaders Handbook -- wherein, she said, “there is a wealth of accumulated information.”
A Committee member surmised that, given the rate of annual “turnover” in our roster, we undergo close to a complete replacement of members in 5 to 6 years. Fortunately for the continuity of the Garden, there is a cadre of long-time Gardeners to help induct and assimilate new Gardeners. Day Leaders will make special efforts to teach and coach new and experienced Gardeners in “Posh Squash Ways.” (See “Watering Wisdom” and “Harvest Rules” in this issue.)
Workshops, demonstrations and talks at the mid-morning coffee break have been very productive this year, the Committee noted. Most recently, Genny Wilson (Wednesday) made the rounds to talk about health and safety in the Garden and emergency readiness. (See “Health, Safety and Emergency Preparations in the Garden” in this issue).
Other items: Negotiations with the Baker Estate for the purchase of the site remain pretty much where they were last month. Ralph Rasmussen reported on the excellent progress of the cookbook project. (See “Cookbook on the Way” in this issue.) MA Brauer spoke about her very promising project with the tomatoes. (See “Brauer Named Head Tomato” in this issue.) The Committee authorized the purchase of a really cool four-wheel utility wagon for the Garden.At its next meeting, the Committee will return to the draft Organizational Plan, hopefully for a final revision and presentation to the Gardeners for comment.
Wednesday, June 23, 2004, 9:00-12:00 am, followed by picnic lunch.Goals: general cleanup, mulching and spreading chips, and a compost-fest. Victuals to bring: Monday, appetizers and condiments; Tuesday and Wednesday, salads; Thursday and Friday, desserts. Chef Jim Grenwelge will fire up his redoubtable grill for meat and veggie burgers. The Garden will supply beverages. Bring your own utensils.
Friday, June 18, 2004 at 1:00 at either OhlsonCenter or the Garden, depending on the weather. Gardeners are welcome at meetings of the Steering Committee; they can bring matters of concern to the attention of the Committee and can speak on matters under discussion, but cannot vote.
The second edition of the Posh Squash
Cookbook is scheduled for publication in July 2004. The energetic
Colette Coad and a considerable crew including Dianne Rasmussen,
Linda Warnock, Reva Basch, Chester Case, Genny Wilson and many
other Gardeners pulled off the nearly-impossible. They gathered
recipes, wrote text, planned, edited, negotiated with the
publisher and scrambled against a stern deadline to find a proper
photo for the book cover. The ingredients were swiftly assembled
and put in the publisher’s pot, where the book is now
cooking. The initial press run is 500 copies. The publishers
expect, on the basis of their experience as specialists in
cookbooks for nonprofits and community organizations, that
we’ll sell around 700 copies at $15 each. A great fundraiser
for the Garden. Now is the time to place your order. Reserve your
copies now and ensure that you will get your cookbooks from the
first printing. Please make your checks payable to Posh
Squash. Each copy of this high quality, three-ring binder
cookbook is only $15.00. We can ship them for an additional
$4.50. Order forms will be available at the Work Party on
June 23rd or from your Day Leader.
We need your help with marketing the
cookbook. We would like to place the books in some key
retail and real estate establishments. We are looking for
people who know the owners or managers of businesses like Accents
by the Sea, Beach Rentals, Sea Ranch Village Store and Don Berard
and can make contact with them. We will give you all the
information and resources that you need to help make the Posh
Squash Cookbook fundraising effort a big success.
There are band-aids, antiseptics, a bee-sting kit and some other first-aid items in the shed, but after Genny Wilson’s recent break-time talks, it was clear the Garden needs to do more planning for emergencies. Not that the Garden is a dangerous place, but “safety first” is always the way to go. Genny suggested the Garden look into an Automated External Defibrillator, cost about $2000, for cardiac emergencies. The Steering Committee will pursue the matter. Day Leaders will follow up on her suggestion that each day crew have a cell phone on hand. Ken is looking into the installation of a cell phone on site.
Every Gardener knows that careful, consistent and timely watering is absolutely essential to a successful garden. For the most part, watering assignments are carried out as required. A lapse can be costly. A flowerbed planted at considerable cost in time and effort was not watered as required. Overlooked, it died. One thoughtful Gardener brought up an ethical dimension of neglect: When we plant, she mused, we cause a seed to grow. In growing, the plant is offering itself to our care. In exchange for that care, we are rewarded with fruits and flowers. When a plant offers itself to us, we incur an ethical obligation for its well-being. Not to get too sentimental about it, but in watering, we enter a relationship that involves more than just the practical pragmatics of growing a Garden.
Gardeners need to follow the watering plan scrupulously and water effectively. Experienced Gardeners need to coach inexperienced ones. Day leaders will talk at break time about watering, and will supervise daily watering. Weekend watering assignments will be confirmed so that, if needed, substitutes can be arranged.
Our soil dries quickly. Wind and warmth accelerate drying. Newly-seeded beds need to be kept damp. New seedlings need constant moisture -- not too much, not too little. After a certain point, a plant should not be watered further. We have all this and more to learn and practice; this is watering wisdom.
Now that plants are ripening, pods and heads forming, berries setting, the annual suspense sets in: when to fly the green flag? Premature picking, as in the cauliflower and broccoli beds, points up differences in perceptions of when a plant is ready to be picked. “Baby” vegetables may be all the rage in upscale restaurants, but they are simply not as flavorful or nutritious. That darling little zucchini with the extravagant blossom is not to be picked before its time, nor is the miniature cauliflower or broccoli floret.
Rules to remember:
· Ken Holmes, Planting Coordinator, is the chief agonizer over readiness to pick, and has the first and final say.
· Day Leaders may raise the green and the green/red flags within Ken’s general guidance.
· Pick for yourself and your family only what you can use now.
· Supervise children and guests if they are with you to pick.
· Think “share and share alike” as you pick.
· Learn the picking techniques peculiar to particular plants.
· Pull up stumps and stalks and take to the compost works.
The Steering Committee has designated Greenhouse Leader MA Brauer “Head Tomato” for the ambitious tomato project she will lead and supervise this season. She will have the say-so on planting, watering, feeding and picking. MA set herself the challenge of bringing off a bumper crop of tomatoes this season and has been hard at work. She and the Greenhouse Elves have planted and nurtured a prodigious number of thriving seedlings of many varieties. Growing techniques like cloches, which capture warmth, cut the wind, and retain moisture, as well as deep planting, increased soil amendments, and special watering, should help us prevail against the Garden’s tomato jinx.
