Growing Community through Gardening

January 4, 2010 Meeting notes
Gayle suggested that we have a regular schedule for the meetings. The first Monday of the month was accepted as our future meeting schedule at 7 pm. The next meeting will be on February 1st, at the Chafin Light real estate office.
We discussed and agreed to accept Gerry’s proposal “Growing Community through Gardening” as our mission statement.
Updates from various members were then discussed. Gerry discussed the locations that are possible in Basalt, with an emphasis on the Homestead Drive location. A petition in favor of having CG there is being circulated among the neighbors close to the location. It is possible that this could be the first garden to get established. Gerry said he would try and get on the TOB agenda ASAP, which could be either 12th or 19th of January, to bring the ideas in front of the Town Council. The members will try to attend the meeting if it fits into their schedule. Gayle suggested a size of 10X15 or 10X20 feet for the individual plots and measurements will be taken to see how many plots can be accommodated on site.
Fran discussed her meeting with the Blue Lake HOA which was very encouraging. Two of the board raised lots of concerns, but on the whole the board seemed in favor of the CG idea, some indicating they would like to participate. A discussion followed on insurance and whether it would be necessary or not. Another discussion ensued on the organization of the CG. Gayle indicated, and we all agreed, that we would be the resource to get the gardens going, but then would turn each garden over to the gardeners who would have a manager. Michael brought up the need for some gardens to have tool storage sheds. Fences and DOW funding of same were also discussed.
Michael related that the Ski Corp has a lot near the High School that they are thinking of putting in large green houses to grow food for their restaurants. He thought that a possibility might exist for a garden also on the space and was enthusiastic about the High School students using both for education. Michael is going to establish a blog for the MVCGC.
Patty distributed a list of web sites for resources. She will be adding to it in the future as it is a work in progress. Patty will keep us posted as to the upcoming planning process meeting schedule for Crown Mtn Park so that our interest group can participate. Laura discussed her land, which is 50 acres, and indicated that she always imagined a CG on it. A sheet was distributed with an example of community garden guidelines.
Being gardeners, we all got into a discussion of bindweed and control.