Monday, March 17, 2008

Minutes, March 17th

Agenda March 17th


GREENWEEK TABLING:
Tuesday 11:00-1:30
11:00 Gillian, Rafe, Caytee can be there
Caytee can be there the whole time
Gillian: somewhere around 12:30-onwards



Richard’s crazy potato or sweet potato growing technique:
garbage can, drills holes
fills with cut sprouted potatoes and soil
puts on a dolly and moves around to sunny spots!
(the potato cart! – visibility on campus)

1) ERC coffeehouse on the 19th – who’s going?

-Caytee is going anyway
write a song
Rafe will be there too to help talk
Leah djembe? email


2) seeds and planting

should be planting in green house right away
Richard has some seeds: lettuce, etc.
Gillian also has some through Concordia Greenhouse
Plan: seed on Thursday
Gillian: ordering more seeds this week at Concordia, coming in (?) weeks

Gillian’s times at Concordia:
Wed and Fri at 3:15 (this friday???), some Sundays


-date to go shop at Ile Perrot?
Windmill Point Farm, 70 acre permaculture

can order online and/or go to farm
long weekend – trip to farm!
-people with cars?
-Rafe: email/call the farm, can we visit/shop for seeds over weekend?


-Richard’s rules protocol for the Mac Greenhouse, plans for planting there

Gillian and Julia: ask Richard about soil, can we get it from him, and if not what else can we use? anything


-Downtown greenhouse?

only 2 flats, can seed any time, high ‘security’ for bio pest control,
should plant something “cool” there!
need to bring own soil and fertilizer
need to buy own pots or plug trays

-Other seed sources?


3) Cold Frame improvement and maintenance – materials needed and dates?

Monday March 24th (Easter) : 11 AM cold frame maintenance/garden work (insulate, paint, fix up, shovel)
if field trip: 9 AM (tentative)
BRING YOUR INSULATORS!
before weekend: bring enough material for another cold frame back to MUGS so we can make another one
Brendan and Leah: find out about the code

Nighttime insulation: blankets
St. Henri kids: Salvation Army?
others: look for anything that would be a good insulator
Rafe: do you have a staple gun? might (For other insulation, bubble wrap etc.)

-check out Square Foot Garden “sunbox” cold frame design, is it feasible for more cold frames?

-thermometers?
Gillian will scavenge around for thermos at Con greenhouse, including soil thermometer
Brendan will ask around, Gillian will ask around about equipment

4) Budget
Maddie: unlikely to get QPIRG stipend, 35-40 Applicants
other sources?
Leah: has a file/experience with applying for $$

new items:
-gas for field trips!
-summer stipend
-wooden planks and/or tiles (can be homemade, from concrete or broken tiles?)_
-flats, pots, and plugtrays

WE NEED TO ACTUALLY SUBMIT BUDGET
we have the list, and can ballpark prices, just need to submit
Set Deadline:
Submit budget to Green Fee by Thursday!
-get paper work from Alex
-or start over

Minutes, March 10

Agenda:

1) Solin Hall March 19th/Green Week

March 19th 7pm ERC WEDNESDAY at New Rez. hosted by environmental rez council. 5 minute presentation. Rafe, caytee,…anyone and everyone. good opportunity to promote for summer.

green week – next week. tuesday or wednesday, table at crossroads next to geurilla composting, fun and interactive that has to do with what we do: what veg are you? give them whatever veg they are as a reward. maddie is getting the quiz.

2) Plant info and garden plan
* Gillian rasp and straw: straws are going up the fire escape.
* perennials need to be run by Shannon
* square foot garden: book suggested by caroline, also lent 3 seed catalogues.
* seems to be that people want local seeds rather than ordered from around Canada.
* Make a list of exact things we want to plant and exactly where they are coming from and where they are going in the garden.
* Sub committees for plant design? – need list of timeline: caytee. layout: ginny
THURSDAY 5:30 GEO lounge to do physical plan.
* size of plot is 24x24 minus a 12x12 chunk. 24 feet of railing to be used as trellice. cold frames are in the low sun spot but spot could change. being planted here are early harvest.
* meeting with Concordia greenhouse to discuss seeds and amount of space necessary.
* growing in pots. also potential cheap stuff from collective garden center….(from agri class)
* Rafe has emailed the old people who planted in the garden for plan suggestions.


3) What needs to be seeded indoors (to tell the Stewart bio greenhouse?)
Gill and rafe will figure out.

4) Budget
Seeds
grow bags
trowels
containers
paint
dowels
trellices
hinges
brackets
stakes
coldframe material
fertilizer
hammock
wheelbarrow
thermometers

stuff we have already bought
Tim: $50 on building supplies

could get soil from vermacompost owners around the city and R4.

5) Cold Frame Maintenance and Improvement (and Repair)
rafe should use broom in the future. as not to break anymore.
cold frame duty? slot rafe in any morning. leah will make a schedule.

6) Organizational Structure
-collective?
rafe’s vision: its important to remember that the MSE garden is only one of many projects to come. the idea of having a vague mission statement of stuents around downtown growing vegges however they can, people can do different projects at all times…

this summer we want to keep a rigourous log so that people in the future can use it. office in the mse can be a resource. learning from other people’s downtown gardens, if we want to be more outreach we should learn from other outreach programs ie tim Murphy.

Gillian is planning to get Tim Murphy to come next monday meeting