Member Update for June 19, 2016

Good morning gardeners, and happy Father's Day to the dads among us.

How are your gardens growing so far this year? It's great to see so many neat and well-tended beds. The weed barriers sure can make a garden look sharp. Not sure how to use them? Check out the directions posted on the shed door.

What a changeable growing season, weather-wise, we've been having. The next week or so looks hot and dry, so if you spot the water tank getting low, please email your garden coordinators at pygarden@yahoo.com (or just reply to this message) so we can order more water. When you're done using the water tank, make sure all the valves are shut and there are no leaks. Let's hope for a break in the weather and some rain soon.

When you get a few moments of free time, please spread some mulch around your bed. Mulch helps keep the weeds down and reduces the amount of mowing necessary to keep the garden looking tidy. We have lots of great mulch over near the compost so grab a shovel and get mulching! It's a great upper body workout, too. The area around and underneath the two raised beds could especially use some mulch as that makes it easier for gardeners who use wheelchairs to maneuver around their beds.

Any pest problems cropping up, such as woodchucks or tomato blight? Email the garden coordinators at pygarden@yahoo.com.

Have pictures you want to share? Post them on our Facebook page at facebook.com/pennyancommunitygarden
While you're on our Facebook, subscribe to our Events feed to be reminded of fun stuff coming up at the garden, like storytimes, a Little Free Library, and our annual Harvest Celebration.

Happy gardening,

Your Penn Yan Community Garden Coordinators,

Cheryl, Tom, and Sarah

A thought for the week, from Aldo Leopold: "In June, as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day. No man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them."

Member Update for August 12, 2015

Hello gardeners, how's everything growing as August kicks into high gear?

Here's a quick reminder on some upcoming events:

Annual Potluck Meeting of the Membership
Saturday, August 15
12 Noon
Milly's Pantry (The Pinwheel Market) on Main St., Penn Yan
On the agenda: social time with potluck food (please bring a dish to pass) followed by elections to leadership positions. We will also be planning the 2015 Fall Cleanup.

Brief descriptions of available PYCG leadership positions:

Secretary: 

The secretary takes notes at meetings; composes and sends Member Updates; maintains the website, Facebook, and Twitter; maintains records of membership; and maintains other records and documents as needed. The secretary has a key to the Post Office box and is responsible for physical documentation of the garden. The secretary should be reasonably comfortable with technology including Blogger, webmail, Excel, Twitter, and Facebook.

 

The new secretary will be mentored by the previous secretary.

Garden Coordinator: 

·        - Answers emails and phone calls from members and FoodLink. 

·        - Coordinate garden bed assignments with members, maintain white board and Excel spread sheet with member names, phone numbers and email address. 

·         -Communicate with board members regarding garden issues

·        - Attend garden meetings and coordinate garden events (spring garden opening meeting, FoodLink, spring and fall cleanup).

·        -Purchase and monitor water supply

  - Purchase and monitor soil and mulch requirements

The new coordinator will be mentored by the previous coordinator.


Storytime at the Community Garden
Friday, August 28
9:30am
Penn Yan Public Library brings storytime to the Community Garden! This storytime is for all ages and will include stories, songs, and lots of movement. Bring lawn chairs or a blanket to sit on. There are no rain dates and this storytime will be canceled in case of inclement weather. Call the library at 315-536-6114 if you are wondering if this storytime is canceled.

Do you have any news to share with your fellow gardeners? Send it on over to pygarden@yahoo.com

Happy gardening!

Member Update for July 23, 2014

Hello Gardeners!

How's everything growing in your plot? Seems like it's been a great year for peppers, peas, and onions, and we know of one member who has already harvested five pounds of potatoes. There are a lot of flowers this year and that is fun to see, too. And how great is that nice expanded compost station. Nice work, compost work crew!

We had a question about which beds are vacant and need to be tended. The short answer is 10, 25, and 47 (47 has a thistle infestation at the moment and has been treated, hopefully that will take care of those thistles) (10 and 25 are both chronically wet and will most likely be relocated in the future). Also, the perennial/water garden (the large bed of flowers to the left of the Community Garden sign as you approach the garden, on the edge of the property) always needs weeding. Any volunteers to help with that task are appreciated, and the work can be done whenever you have a chance. Weeding and mulching between garden beds always needs to be done, too.

We also need volunteers to help put the two raised beds into their permanent positions, mulch around them, and then fill them with soil. The use of these two beds will be donated to the Arc of Yates for the remainder of the 2014 growing season. If you're interested in helping out with this important project to increase the accessibility of our garden, please reply to this email to let the board members know. We'd like to get this task completed as soon as possible, but we need your help to do it!



Do you like to go to garage or yard sales in the summertime? The next time you see a sturdy old-fashioned metal watering can for a reasonable price, consider buying it and donating it to the garden. Unfortunately our existing plastic ones don't stand up quite so well to the use of many, many gardeners.

You may have seen the signs around the garden about the upcoming meeting. Here is a reminder: The 2014 Annual Membership Meeting for the Penn Yan Community Garden will be Saturday, August 16 from 12 noon to 2pm at Milly's Pantry on Main Street in Penn Yan. At the meeting, elections will be held for the President and Treasurer board positions. This meeting will be a casual potluck (featuring fresh garden produce--what will you make from your garden?) and social hour, followed by a voting for the positions that are available on our Board of Directors. Please RSVP by email to pygarden@yahoo.com, or call Cheryl Flynn at 315-719-2390.

Lastly, if you have more fresh produce than you know what to do with, or if you know you won't be able to get to the garden to harvest your veggies, please let us and your fellow gardeners know. It's a shame to see fresh, healthy food go to waste, especially in our community, where too many people don't know where their next meal will come from. Together, we can salvage food from your bed that might otherwise go to waste.

As always, if you have any questions (or answers!) about the Community Garden, or any news items you'd like to be shared in the next Member Update, email pygarden@yahoo.com

Happy Growing!

Building Days at the Garden

Building Days at the Garden

Thank you to the volunteers who helped with our first Building Day. We spent Saturday morning erecting our garden sign and improving our curb appeal.

See more photos of our Building Days at the Garden.

Building Days at the Garden - Starts June 16

Calling all volunteers, we need your help! We've received our building permit and are ready to begin construction. 

Our start date will be Saturday June 16, 2012 and we'll continue until done. Here is the Building Days schedule:

Saturdays 9:00AM - Noon

Sundays 1:00PM - 4:00PM

Thursdays 4:00PM - 7:00PM

We'll be installing fencing, setting up our water system, and constructing raised beds. For more info, please contact pygarden@yahoo.com

Planting the Rain Garden

Planting the Rain Garden

We had a great time planting the rain garden yesterday! A hard-working crew of Master Gardeners pitched in, and we finished the entire 100 ft. bed in record time. 

Here's a photo album of Thursday's planting from start to finish.

A big thank you goes to Kathleen Badger for all her hard work planning and executing this beautiful garden, and to Chris and Lisa McNinch for using their equipment to till the soil! 

Awesome work!

Rain Garden Planting Day

Calling all volunteers! Master Gardener Kathleen Badger is planting a rain garden at the Pleasant Ave. garden site, and we need your help. 


Come to the community garden on Wednesday 5/30 and Thursday 5/31 in the afternoon to help us till, mix in compost, plant perennials, and mulch. 


Contact pygarden@yahoo.com for more info.

Clean Up Day

Cutting saplings

Saturday was a beautiful day for working in the garden. A small group of volunteers spent the morning picking up litter and clearing some larger saplings to make way for the brush hog.

Garden Clean Up Day Photos

Garden Clean Up Day

When: Saturday May 5 at 9:00AM 
Where: Pleasant Ave. Garden Site

Please join us to pick up litter and clear saplings in preparation for brush hogging the land. Everyone is welcome!  Please wear long pants and sturdy shoes, and bring a large trash bag. 

Rain date will be Saturday May 12 at 9:00AM.