GANG 2010 - Workshop #2

Get Growing, GANG: Start The Garden
Sunday, May 15, 1-5 p.m.

Led by Rhonda Baird and Nathan Harman, this workshop will provide an overview of spring garden tasks. The first half of the workshop will be indoors and the second half, hands on in the garden. Let's see how those raised, heavily mulched, lasagna beds we built last year are coming along and build a few more, too. We will cover starting seeds in flats and direct seeding, transplanting starts, using the cold frame, checking for weeds, damage and problems, as well as soil analysis and amendment. Snacks and beverages provided.

Check out Ann's blog for more pictures and descriptions from the workshop.

The next workshop in the 2010 series is "How's it Going? Problem Solving and Redesign;" held Saturday, June 26.

Workshop space is limited. To pre-register, please contact Ann Kreilkamp 812-334-1987or arkcrone@gmail.com. Suggested donation per class: $5 to $15.

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GANG Update - SPEA Project Wrap Up

Check out Ann's blog for an update on the GANG and the culmination of the SPEA spring project.

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GANG and IU SPEA Project - Weekly Blog Update

This spring semester 2010, an Indiana University undergraduate class of 35 students is learning how to design and construct a state-of-the-art compost system for the GANA garden. This class, “E400 Environmental Sustainability,” has been created by Melissa Clark, a lecturer at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Various members of this class have been assigned to write a blog. This week's post(s) follow.
From: Braedon Engle
Date: Thu, Apr 22, 2010 at 10:21 AM


This past Saturday the 17th of April was the garden workshop for the class. We met at the garden in the mid afternoon on a beautiful spring day. The weather was perfect, not to hot with a slight breeze. We were split up into three main work groups. One group constructed the composting systems from the recycled Coca-Cola barrels. We made 3 of the composting systems that will be useful in producing soil for the garden. Another group cleaned areas in yard for new lasagna beds to be constructed. The lasagna beds we made using a combination of layers of wood chips, sawdust, and cardboard. In the coming years the cardboard and other organics will break down and turn into soil. The last group was in charge of weeding the gardens from last year. Overall the day was a great success and we were able to get a lot of work done. I truly am looking forward to eating some produce from the gardens. A special thanks to Coca Cola for the barrels and Bloomingfoods for the cardboard.

Braedon A. Engle

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GANG and IU SPEA Project - Weekly Blog Update

This spring semester 2010, an Indiana University undergraduate class of 35 students is learning how to design and construct a state-of-the-art compost system for the GANA garden. This class, “E400 Environmental Sustainability,” has been created by Melissa Clark, a lecturer at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Various members of this class have been assigned to write a blog. This week's post(s) follow.

From: Marguerite Huber
Date: Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 10:07 PM

"The compost project is underway! The entire class will be out at the GANA Garden this Saturday from 2-5 pm to construct the three compost bins and work in the garden. Otherwise, here are the updates from the groups:

The compost design group has done some research on the specifics of the construction process to make sure everything will be okay for the event this Saturday. They have discussed various construction options, voicing opinions on the relative advantages and disadvantages of each, and gone to local hardware stores to see what materials are available. They have put together a construction diagram outlining the best materials for us to use this Saturday.

The budget group has been working on getting funding for the next financial year from some groups they have contacted. There is a possibility of an offer from Bloomingfoods to purchase some items at cost."

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GANG and IU SPEA Project - Weekly Blog Update

This spring semester 2010, an Indiana University undergraduate class of 35 students is learning how to design and construct a state-of-the-art compost system for the GANA garden. This class, “E400 Environmental Sustainability,” has been created by Melissa Clark, a lecturer at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Various members of this class have been assigned to write a blog. This week's post(s) follow.

From: Brodie Burgess
Subject: Weekly Blog Entry

Hello and welcome to the Blog Group’s update on the Green Acres Neighborhood Association Garden project for Indiana University’s Environmental Sustainability course. As the report draws near, each group is working hard to complete their chapter of the report.

The Bloomington Neighborhoods and Initiatives group has made some progress in finding city community gardens that are involved in composting. The Renaissance Farm and Permaculture Center uses compost and grows and sells organic products to educate people on the importance of sustainability and encourages them to buy these organic products to reduce waste and save natural resources. SPROUTS (Students Producing Organics Under the Sun) garden, a student organic group at Indiana University is trying to educate people about environmental sustainability through gardening by minimizing and reusing wastes. The Strangers Hill Organic Farm is a farm business specializing in Certified Organic products. They use a lot of compost and donate plant beds to other places- Farmer's market, Bloomingfoods, Hoosier Hills Food Bank etc. The Hoosier Hills Food Bank has a plot which was donated by the Strangers Hill Organic Farm. Hoosier Hills Food Bank gets compost from waste materials that they do not need and also passes crates to farmers at the Farmers Market for farmers to dispose any wastes, unused and unwanted products. In addition, the Bloomington Community Orchard will be planted in Winslow Woods Park. The community is very interested in growing organic fruits and using compost. They haven’t started planting yet and will be having their first meeting on April 12th. It aims at getting people to work together to grow food and the harvest will be available to the whole community.

The budget group is revisiting the groups they have asked support from and are in the process of nailing down the exact amount they need donated. In addition to that, Bloomingfoods has offered some physical donations, such as supplies.

The Compost Design group has received the official pick for the composting bins, the three-barrel system. In addition to this, the group has made some final adjustments for their portion of the final report.

The Newsletter Group is working hard to complete the newsletter, which is nearing completion, they are finishing up sections on GANA, general permaculture, urban gardening techniques, and composting. They will be finishing up the section on the three-barrel system of composting soon.

This concludes the Blog Groups update on the GANA Report progress. You can look forward to another update next week, and pretty soon after we will have the final report edited and done for your reading pleasure.

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GANG and IU SPEA Project - Weekly Blog Update

This spring semester 2010, an Indiana University undergraduate class of 35 students is learning how to design and construct a state-of-the-art compost system for the GANA garden. This class, “E400 Environmental Sustainability,” has been created by Melissa Clark, a lecturer at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Various members of this class have been assigned to write a blog. This week's post(s) follow.

From: Scott Byrne
Date: Fri, Apr 2, 2010 at 12:51 PM
Subject: Weekly Blog Entry

Not to much to report this week. A lot of groups are wrapping up their projects so we should see a lot more happening in the coming weeks. I've copied our blog entry as well as attached it in a word document.

The weathers warming up and a lot of groups are looking forward to seeing the garden in action. With only 5 weeks left in the semester our project and our groups are heating up too. Many of the groups have reported that they are wrapping up their portions of the project and we are looking forward to seeing it come together.

As for some specifics, the budget group has recently been in contact with Bloomingfoods and a lot of environmentally active campus groups to find a source of funding either for this spring or next academic year in the fall. A lot of campus groups have allotted their funding for the year, but would like to help in the future.

In other news, students have been working on contacting other Bloomington neighborhood presidents in order to find out if they have any plans in the works for a community garden. What they’ve found is GANA is a very ambitious and unique project and is something the other groups are now considering if they can find the space and community initiative to pull it off. The closest thing to an additional active garden is McDoel Gardens in the southwest quadrant of Bloomington, which is in the beginning phases of organizing a community garden.

We are also happy to announce that we should have a newsletter soon. It is currently an active rough draft and is being cleaned up before it is released next week. The newsletter will focus on composting methods, benefits and techniques and the GANA garden and the benefits it brings to the community.

-Blog Group

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GANG Workshops - Year 2

GANA and ARC are pleased to announce the 2010 GANG Workshop Series. Details of the workshops follow. See you there!

GANG WORKSHOPS 2010
A Project of the Green Acres Neighborhood Association
And an educational project of the Association of Regnerative Culture
At the Green Acres Neighborhood Garden (GANG), 2601 DeKist St.

Workshop space is limited. To pre-register, please contact Ann Kreilkamp 812-334-1987 or arkcrone@gmail.com. Suggested donation per class: $5 to $15.

[April 17: Compost design system Construction: Melissa Clark’s SPEA class: others are welcome to observe and/or participate.]

Less is More: Pruning For Fruit
Sunday, April 18, 2-4 p.m.
This workshop, led by Nathan Harman, will be a strolling explanation and demonstration of techniques for keeping backyard fruit trees healthy and productive. We will work on assorted ages, sizes, and types of fruit trees within a one block walk of the GANG site, including apples, peaches and pears as well as bush and cane fruit. Pruning is by far the most important factor in the health and production of a fruit tree, after soil and climate, and is an essential task every year. We will not prune in the rain, so the rain date is Sunday the 25th.

Get Growing, GANG: Start The Garden
Sunday, May 15, 1-5 p.m.
Led by Rhonda Baird and Nathan Harman, this workshop will provide an overview of spring garden tasks. The first half of the workshop will be indoors and the second half, hands on in the garden. Let's see how those raised, heavily mulched, lasagna beds we built last year are coming along and build a few more, too. We will cover starting seeds in flats and direct seeding, transplanting starts, using the cold frame, checking for weeds, damage and problems, as well as soil analysis and amendment. Snacks and beverages provided.

How's It Going? Problem Solving and Re-design
Saturday, June 26, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This workshop, led by Rhonda Baird, will ask the all-important questions "Is this working?" and "How can it work better?" We will use permaculture thinking to re-evaluate the design and function of various elements of the GANG site. We may make small physical changes and work in the garden, but this design workshop is intended as a thought pattern exercise that can be applied to any landscape. This is an all-day workshop so BYO lunch. Snacks and beverages provided.

Summer Begets Fall: Planting the Fall Garden
Sunday, August 1, 1-5 p.m.
Just as summer crops are planted in spring, fall crops are planted in summer. This workshop will focus both on caring for the garden in the high heat of summer and on planting the foods that will be harvested through the coming cool. This is the hay-day of the garden and we will hopefully have yields galore. But, the weeds and insects and drying sun are also trying to make their way, so mulch, shade cloth, row cover and other techniques will be employed as we keep the summer crops vibrant and give our fall crops a running start. Snacks and beverages provided.

So... Much... Food! Storing the Harvest
Sunday, August 29, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In the midst of summer, it's easy to think the zucchini and tomato flow will never quit. But cease they shall, and that's when we turn to the cupboard full of the years stored sunlight in the form of canned, dried, frozen and fermented garden foods. This workshop will teach a variety of preservation methods useful to the home gardener. We will spend an hour with slides and handouts and then harvest, process and sample. Learn how to reduce food costs while increasing nutrition and flavor through the winter. BYO lunch.

Putting the Garden to Bed and Celebration
Sunday, November 7, 2-5 p.m., then celebrate
Though there are still winter-hardy plants in the ground, this is the time to clean up and compost any garden wastes, mulch well, tidy up, and put season-extending hoop-houses and cold frames over more tender greens. Learn what plants require what degree of care in this risky weather and just how far into winter they can go. We will also spend time putting our tools to bed, cleaning, sharpening, oiling and storing to be sure they last as long and work as well as possible. It's difficult to get excited about spending less time in the garden and that's why we'll enjoy our second annual harvest potluck dinner and celebration afterwards!

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Variance Request

Hello All,

I have just recently purchased the two houses at 2210 & 2214 E. 7th Street. They are currently each a two bedroom rental house. There are four separate city lots.

I have spoke with City Planner Rachel Johnson about the two houses and she has suggested that an email be sent out to the Green Acres Neighborhood Association stating what my plans are and to solicit any comments that the neighborhood has regarding those plans.

Basically the plan is this: There are four individuals lots that run East/West at the SW corner of 7th and Roosevelt. The lots are very small, 25' x 125' each. The two houses, 2210 & 2214 E. 7th Street, straddle the two middle lots(which is an nonconforming use). What I want to do is to reduce the number of lots from four to two by running a new lot line North/South down the middle. This would put each house on its own separate lot and therefore making them more conventional.

They could then be sold separately and have owner occupied potential and prevent other housing from being built on the two lots that are empty. The above picuture illustrates what I hope gives good representation of what I have described.

The reason I have to go to Zoning Variance is because if they are reduced from four to two lots, the square footage of the two lots will be less than the minimum lot size currently allowed under the UDO.

We request that comments be sent by March 26th, 2010 to both Rachel and myself at:

johnson@bloomington.in.gov and tgallagh52@gmail.com


Thank you,

Tom Gallagher


--
Tom Gallagher
812 333-5252
812 333-5228 FAX
tgallagh52@gmail.com

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GANG and IU SPEA Partnership Project - Weekly Blog Update

This spring semester 2010, an Indiana University undergraduate class of 35 students is learning how to design and construct a state-of-the-art compost system for the GANA garden. This class, “E400 Environmental Sustainability,” has been created by Melissa Clark, a lecturer at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Various members of this class have been assigned to write a blog. This week's post(s) follow.


Not too much to report this week as the warmer weather and visions of next weeks spring break had most of the class distracted. I was able to check up on city ordinances group, and they are still researching our options. I am going to be sending a reminder to the other groups that after we return from spring break that they need to get my group their weekly updates in a timely manner. Hopefully after spring break everyones minds will be clear and as the weather continues to improve they project will began to make strides. I am really excited about working with the other groups and making this project great. Hope everyone has a great week, and check back in two weeks.
Braedon A. Engle
Blog Group 7

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GANG and IU SPEA Partnership Project

GANG Partnership Project: Compost Design and Construction

In order to further the educational and community building missions of the year-old Green Acres Neighborhood Garden, we are creating partnerships of various kinds. This spring semester 2010, an Indiana University undergraduate class of 35 students is learning how to design and construct a state-of-the-art compost system for the GANA garden. This class, “E400 Environmental Sustainability,” has been created by Melissa Clark, a lecturer at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Melissa is also a member of the Bloomington Commission of Sustainability and the Environmental Resource Advisory Council for Parks and Recreaction. Various members of this class have been assigned to write a blog. Here are the first and second posts. — Ann K.

3/02/10 Brodie Hopkins writes:

Here is the first blog. No doubt it is atrocious, but I have never written a blog and I got very little information from the groups.

This is the first attempt at a blog regarding the G.A.N.G. community garden and the E-400 Environmental Sustainability class’s project. The class is divided into groups that will focus on various aspects of the community garden, such as the building of a compost bin, fundraising, as well as a case study. Each week this blog will update the readers on the progress of these groups. While it is early in the project, the class is working hard, researching and planning. The compost group is researching design options, as well as investigating local prices of the supplies needed to construct a compost bin. The fundraising group is drafting up fundraising ideas and finding local businesses that are willing to support the community garden. The case study group will be studying community gardens in a major city in the United States and trying to apply the successes to Bloomington, while avoiding the struggles. At this time, I’d like to end the first blog, please join us next week for updates on the progress each group is making.

3/5/10 Chelsie Hopkins writes:

IU's E400 class is hard at work putting together their plans for the Green Acres Neighborhood Garden this week. So far, we have only received one of the completed plans from the group that is focusing on city ordinance issues.

Their plan maps out different things they would like to accomplish with G.A.N.G such as: prohibiting the sales of any retail items on the garden site, restricting hours of operation to 5 am-11 pm daily, having on-site storage container restrictions, vegetation limits, livestock limits, limitations on the size of garden, etc. They are currently waiting for an update form the city of Bloomington to give them more information on restrictions they need to be aware of.

Stay posted as it is still early in the planning process of this project and we will have more information regarding the garden to come in the following weeks.

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Use Variance Petition for GANG and CHC

Tom Capshew, a soon-to-be Green Acres neighbor, together with Ann Kreilkamp, as owner, have filed a Petition for Use Variance with the City of Bloomington to allow for the use of the yard at 2601 E. Dekist St. to be used as the Green Acres Neighborhood Garden (GANG) and the house at the same address to be used as a Center for Healing and Community (CHC). The Petition will be heard by the Plan Commission on August 31 and the Board of Zoning Appeals on September 24, 2009. If you have specific questions or concerns, you are welcome to call Tom Capshew at 812.219.6734.

Link to the petition: http://docs.google.com/View?id=d3k9sk9_52fzhpzxfs
Link to floor plans: http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=d3k9sk9_53dhsn6hgq

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GANA wins small and simple grant!

Good news! I just found out today that Bloomington's Small and Simple grant program will help us buy tools for the Green Acres Neighborhood Garden (GANG).

If you have attended the monthly GANG workshops, it may appear that tools just (ahem) grow on trees. In reality, instructor Keith Johnson has lugged wheelbarrows, shovels and myriad other tools to class from his urban homestead each time. Problem is, we need the tools much more than once a month, and we'll need them season after season to come.

That's why Ann has committed to building a tool shed at the GANG site by August 1. The City is chipping in for the tools themselves, and GANA will secure and maintain them. So as we approach harvest time, we'll have the carts, shovels, forks, shears, and other tools needed to prep and maintain the garden through Fall and Winter.

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Sign toppers approved!

We did it! Our small and simple grant proposal for sign-toppers was funded. Now we need to select a final color scheme. To do that, please vote for your favorite in the poll on the right-hand column of this page. The picture above sketches our color options. Once we decide, our sign vendor will clean up the lines and fonts.

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Thoughts on Signs

By Kevin S. Polk

When GANA holds neighborhood events, signs go up at the neighborhood's most trafficked intersections and entrances. For temporary signs, visibility matters most. But as we consider mounting permanent signs, two new purposes emerge.

First, permanent signs help define a place. They give a name and an image to that commuter short-cut that many parts of our neighborhood have become. Coupled with event announcements, the signs say Green Acres is not just a path, but a destination with a life of its own.

Second, when they provide more than just a quick read from the road, signs create common ground. Signs that incorporate art, plantings, benches and bulletin boards give neighbors a place to gather and things to talk about.


The map above shows four types of locations in Green Acres:

• Major entrances that carry most of the traffic into and out of Green Acres.
• All other street entrances.
• The corners that define the neighborhood's boundaries.
• Some junctions where much of the neighborhood foot and car traffic passes, or where gatherings are held.
  

Clearly, not every location can serve the purposes of visibility, definition and common ground equally well. Signs at the gathering junctions, for example, would not define the neighborhood as well as signs on the corner boundaries. We also want to avoid placing so many signs as to create an eyesore. So we're looking for a few good locations of at least two different types.

GANA's Sign Proposal Committee plans to visit neighbors who live near some of the colored dots on the map. We'll be asking whether you're interested in having a permanent sign near your property, and if so, what "look" suits you.

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Neighborhood Improvement Grant

Here's the Letter of Intent we have submitted to Bloomington's Neighborhood Improvement Grant Program:

GANA currently uses temporary signs to announce monthly meetings and neighborhood events such as plant shares and parades. However, the signs are now heavily weathered due to frequent use. To establish a better sense of place (Neighborhood Plan, Objective 1.2), GANA proposes to replace these signs with permanent installations bearing the GANA logo, the words GREEN ACRES, and weatherproof, transparent slots to display meeting and event announcements. To support our goal of being an exemplary “green” neighborhood, the new signs would use durable natural building materials such as cob and recycled wood. These lend themselves to volunteer labor and diverse design (see drawings, ATTACHED).

Sketches by Nathan Harmon

We would start with simple but permanent signs at several prominent intersections and neighborhood entrances. Eight signs may require $3,200 of donated labor and $3,200 in matching funds for materials, professional services and equipment rental. Next, we would upgrade selected signs with structures and landscaping. Two sheltered cob benches with paving may require a total of $6,200 in donated labor and $7,600 in matching funds. GANA would recruit volunteers and donations from past and present neighbors, neighborhood churches and service organizations, and the local Permaculture guild.

Watch this space for pictures and further background on this project!

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