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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESPONSE - RFP - 7216 COMMUNITY GARDEN AT THE FARMContact list of Principals: Cynthia Reffler— Primary Contact 124 Fishback Avenue Fort Collins, CO 80521 creffler@gmail.com 970-490-2962 Carolina Levy 521 N. Whitcomb St. Fort Collins, CO 80521 carolinaslevy@gmail.com 970-412-3318 Adriane Elliott, Kevin Dewlen 215 Park Street, 80521 adriane.elliott@colostate.edu, kdewlen88@gmail.com (970) 218-8305, (970) 219-0677r1 Dee Amick 221 Park St. Fort Collins CO deemckee@hotmail.com 970-472-2362 Christine Dianni 214 Pascal Street Fort Collins, CO 80524 cdianni@gmail.com 970-556-5538 Julie Yates 215 Cajetan Street Fort Collins, CO 80524 julie@jyates.net 907-219-9613 Lauren Morgan 5389 North Hwy 1 Fort Collins, CO 80524 lolomorgan@gmail.com 970-214-8983 LIVING SPICE RACK The herb spiral is a permaculture gardening method that uses nature to its full potential. Gravity allows water to seep through the tiers. The plants at the top get full drainage while the ones at the bottom sit in more moisture. The herbs that need full sun can be grown in sunny spots, while more shade loving plants can be located in shaddier locations. For example, sage likes hot dry locations, so place MORE POTATOES, LESS WORK' Potatoes can be grown in small areas using potato towers. Potatoes are placed in the bottom on a bed of mulch. As the potatoes sprout and grow more mulch is piled on, until the leafy greens are sticking out of the tower. side, whereas parsley will do better lower on the spiral where there is more moisture and a little more shade. Grow Forth! planted herbs that grow well in this climate and need little maintenance. Brush against the plants and delight in the smells! F al more information at M1ttO-//grawlarthgarden.wardpress.ram ua Erns way, more pulatoes are formed from covered stems and more easily harvested than if grown in the ground. Potato towers can be created with a variety of materials, some common ones are old tires, straw/alphalpha bales, and woven branches. Lind mm, mfmm mm al Place corn or other tall hardy BIG GARDEN, plants on the windy side to LITTLE SPACE! provide a windbreak for more delicate greens in the center. Keyhole gardens are designed to greatly increase your garden's potential yield by minimizing the space in which you walk while maximizing the growingarea. smadi � a One aspect of this design is that plants can be positioned Grow Forth! has created four in places that will benefit keyhole theme gardens here others such as placing flowers that showcase variations on in the center to attract insect the principles inherent in the pollinators through the other keyhole design. plants. Find more mformanon at http://graWorthgard. mrc dpresf mm Fmd more mfarmatmo at �i Y hnp://gnrwbnhgarden. wordprera. cam C Find more Information at M1[ty.//groWanngarden.umrdpress.cam .__ Find more mformatiom at Lvu'.//6rowfmt tigarden.wordprees. cam Find more information at Grow Forth! End of Seaon Report Volunteer Hour Summary May June July August Se tembe October Cynthia Reffler 5 24 20 24 20 12 Carolina Levy Addy Elliot Kevin Dewlen Christine Dianni Dee Amick Julie Yates Lauren Morgan Drop -in volunteers Work days hours TOTAL 105 Grow Forth! is a non-profit cooperative of about 20 people whose goal is to grow food on unused local urban land and teach others how to do it. We strive to grow an abundance of produce, flowers, and perennial plants together using organic practices and permaculture techniques and to help others do the same. The majority of our core volunteers live in the Martinez Park neighborhood and have been involved in neighborhood community events as well as patrons to the Lee Martinez Farm. In 2009, Grow Forth! was the recipient of a neighborhood grant that was used for a neighborhood planting at the Farm and barbeque festival. All of our volunteers are extremely knowledgeable and include Addy Elliott, Professor of Soil and Crop Sciences Department, Colorado State University, and Director of Colorado Organic Producers Association, Christine Dianni, Landscape Architect, and Lauren Morgan, professional flower grower and owner of Fair Eliza's. Our other principals include Carolina Levy, a bilingual elementary school teacher, Cynthia Reffler, a sustainable home builder who has been farming since she was 12, and Julie Yates, a lawyer and gardener extraordinaire. We have a passion for organic gardening and sharing what we have learned through our years of experience growing. Our enthusiasm shows whenever someone asks us a question or simply wants to talk gardening. Grow Forth! has been in existence for three years. In our first year we devised a plan which included procuring land from the City of Fort Collins to farm. This space was ideal for our group because it was already part of a working farm and open to the public with a strong public attendance. It is a piece of land that many of us already felt connected to and saw an opportunity to improve. At this time we began a relationship with the Farm and devised a three year plan. Our main objective our first year was to establish a demonstration garden for the "typical" homeowner, establish a children's demonstration garden, and create awareness in the community about the developing learning opportunities at the garden and Farm. That first year we worked hard to improve the soil quality. We developed and planted garden beds, established a rudimentary irrigation system, built fences and other necessary infrastructure. We also created interpretive signs throughout the farm that teach about conserving water, crop rotation, beneficial insects, soil building and compost. We invited school classrooms and other youth organizations to come and contribute and learn. In August we set up a small garden cart with fresh produce and flowers for sale in the farm store where 100% of the proceeds were returned to the Farm. This year we established a nice working relationship with the Farm staff and began establishing relationships with repeat visitors. We also learned about bindweed, raccoons, and hail. Our second year we continued to work to improve the soil but this year we began implementing permaculture methods of no till. We continued to plant garden beds, flowers, herbs, and increase the amount of edible perennial plants. We increased our drip irrigation lines to extend to more garden beds and automated the drip lines. This growing season we battled disease and fungus some of our plants had developed and fought to manage the pressure placed on the plants. At the end of this season Grow Forth! was awarded one of Larimer County Open Lands' Small Grants for Community Partnering. The purpose of the grant was to continue to improve the efficiency of the arable land at the Farm and install a comprehensive irrigation system. City Councilman David Roy toured the garden and was very pleased to see gardening forces at work in our community. Our future goals include continuing to grow an amazing amount and variety of food at the Farm indefinitely. We also have a vision to expand our outreach by running workshops at the Farm that teach people how to start seeds, preserve food, etc. This spring we collaborated with The Growing Project, 501(c) 3. They will provide Grow Forth! with financial support while we begin the process of establishing our own 501(c) 3. We believe this relationship will be a mutually beneficial and will help increase awareness about the garden at the farm and will provide a pool of volunteers to pull from. Grow Forth! has created a space where people can feel connected to the land, the soil and the food they eat. Also, through our teachings and signage, we connect the public to the creatures inhabiting the space. People love it and are actually quite joyful walking the paths winding through the garden. We see hundreds of visitors, adults and children, and our volunteers field questions every day we are there working. References: Ginny Sawyer 405 North Whitcomb Street Fort Collins, CO 80521 970-224-6046 gsawyer@fcgov.com Ted Shepard 530 Sycamore Street Fort Collins, CO 80521 970-221-6750 tshepard@fcgov.com Kristina Cash 1226 West Prospect Avenue Fort Collins, CO 80521 970-217-84786 Kristina@sustainablelivingass ociation.org Grow Forth! The Farm at Martinez Park Proposal Proposal #: 7216 Community Garden at The Farm Our Main Objectives for the Farm at Martinez Park 2011: 1. Maintain and improve the Children's Community Demonstration Garden: Our objective will be to provide a hand's-on interactive gardening experience specifically designed for youth. The garden will be visually appealing as well as edible for children to eat fresh from their pick. An example of this is the "Pizza Garden" where children can harvest all ingredients that they would be familiar with in making a pizza. Though our design will be oriented to youth, our intention is for the garden to facilitate child and adult education opportunities. 2. Maintain a demonstration Garden for the `Typical" Homeowner: Within this garden we will highlight the most efficient and resource conscious gardening methods for Fort Collins homeowners to use in their own homes. We will plant our favorite varieties of vegetables that grow abundantly in the Fort Collins climate. 3. Grow Crops: Grow Forth! Will grow row crops of many common garden vegetables, such as, tomatoes, peppers, beans, etc. We will emphasize companion planting and succession planting of short season crops like, carrots, greens, etc. Please see our planting plan attached. 4. Faciliate Self -Instruction: The gardens will be self -instructive, in that a citizen can come to the garden, read our interpretive signs, and understand what Grow Forth! does, and the basic concepts of the garden. Please see attached sign examples. Our signs teach about conserving water, crop rotation, beneficial insects, soil building and compost. Our future signs will include succession planting, lasagna gardening, permaculture, worm composting, and companion planting Plan of Action: Our first steps will be to assess and build soil quality, plant garden beds, execute a weed control plan, expand the irrigation system, and build other necessary infrastructure such as a bean pole teepee. We will also develop interpretive signs, and help create awareness in the community about the learning opportunities at the garden and Farm. Who Will Grow the Food? The Grow Forth! Team, specifically this will be community and neighbors of the Farm, and several other interested Grow Forth! volunteers. All of the growers will have an orientation day with The Farm, where they learn about The Farm, etiquette, rules and parameters, and get a good sense of The Farm. These volunteers will be integral in all aspects of developing and maintaining the Grow Forth! gardens as well as harvesting and distributing produce. Volunteers are what make this organization work. The founding members, 6 of us total, share the responsibility of managing the volunteers. We have quarterly planning meetings and then work together throughout the year planting, weeding and harvesting. Maintenance Schedule: Maintenance starts in March and ends in November every year. Our volunteers commit to one work day per week during the growing season. These days have historically been Wednesdays and Saturdays. We also have volunteer "work days" where we invite people and organizations to help out at the Farm for one intensive work day. We host these about 3-4 times per growing season. In the past we have had EDAW, the greater Martinez Park community, and various youth organizations participating in the "work days." How will we pay for all of this? Grow Forth! has won a grant through the Larimer County Open Lands' Small Grants for Community Partnering program. Grow Forth! will use the award to install an efficient irrigation system (surface installation only), pay for seeds and seed starting materials, and create more signs. The total award is just under$2000. What will we do with the food? We will have a weekly harvest day. The core volunteers will be compensated with the food we grow, the surplus will be sold at the Farm to generate seed money for future years, and if there is further surplus it will be donated to the Food Bank. Other Objectives: 1. Always learn from past experiences: Lessons learned from the past two years at the Farm, volunteer organizing, and educational efforts will be addressed to enhance the Children's Garden and the Homeowner's Garden, etc. 2. Increase the number of visitors at The Farm via garden tours • Workshop Development: We have partnered with The Growing Project and Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Association, to develop mini -workshops and tours focused on sustainable gardening topics. • Tour De Farms: We will apply to be a stop on the annual Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Association's "Tour De Farms." This existing bicycle tour encourages Fort Collins residents to learn from other gardeners the many ways to garden in our climate and soil. 3. Begin adding edible shrubs and cane fruit to The Farm to demonstrate permaculture principles and varieties of edible landscape perennials that grow successfully in Fort Collins. Grow Forth! will consult with local plant historian (Scott Skogerboe) to create interpretive signs for the newly planted shrubs and cane fruit so homeowners can learn about Fort Collins history, pruning, maintaining and harvesting perennials. Grow Forth! Collective Garden Grow Forth! 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