Special note: Swing by the DPW building on North Fulton to see the Village of Homer’s new Community Garden. We are now accepting sign ups for the 20 raised garden beds – with the understanding that we still have some details to work out. Please contact eanorris@syr.edu with any inquiries or call the village office at 749-3322.
Compost Workshop – Saturday, 11th of September at 9:30 am – we’ll talk about what can go into a compost and various composting methods. See you there!
Meanwhile, here’s our August 2010 update for Homer Community Gardeners!
Grand Opening!
Please join us for our Grand Opening!
Please see our welcome and our ad hoc gardening guide.
All gardeners must sign and return this Contract and Waiver.
P.S. pretty soon, we’ll reorganize this page so that you can quickly find what you need to know: announcements, progress notes, etc…patience!
Update as of May 22, 2010:
Our May 13th meeting helped us turn the corner from planning to doing. Donations are rolling in for our lumber, fill, and building supplies. We are so grateful and will extend appropriate thank you’s asap, including to the village for all its help. We are hoping to set a building date for the Friday before Memorial Day and welcome Homer people to join us in the effort. We have confirmed that our method of raised beds with a geotextile barrier is appropriate for the site’s conditions. We should soon be posting our contracts and rules and Board members. Until then, please contact me if you wish to take part in building or to sign up for a garden bed (eanorris@syr.edu).
Update as of April 29, 2010:
1. Water hook up shouldn’t be a problem
2. We’re back to the idea of building about 20 raised beds of various heights, 8′x4′, with wood. Rough cut locust or white oak would be really good. We will need about 126 2″x8″ x8′ boards for the sides and braces.
3. We can use village leaf mulch galore to build the lower layer of our beds. We could use a donation of clean fill and we might have to purchase (or beg) topsoil. We think the raised beds will take a total of 27 cubic yards of mixed compost, leaf mulch, composted manure, and top soil to fill.
4. The entire garden area (to start with) will be 50′x40′ and will be covered with about 25 cubic yards (two really big dump truck loads) of good fill, covered by 12 cubic yards of village wood chips for pathways.
5. We’ll need to schedule several work days to build beds and fill them. We’ll have to build a row of beds, then fill them before building the next bed. We’ll need to recruit a work crew. Volunteers earn a bed to garden in!at mmeans: it is tie to start
6. That means….it’s time for us to nail down the best prices for local wood and look around for the best deals (or donations) of fill and top soil! Talk it up!
Update as of 4/16/10. We met 4/15: Soil tests came back good except for high lead – low enough to build a play ground but too high to garden on. This means that we need to cover the area we’re using and build raised beds. The Village might have some fill material to layer on top of heavy landscaping fabric (to block any upward mixing of soil). On top of this, we can build raised beds, perhaps with pavers or gravel inbetween.
Question 1: how to build the beds economically. If we built 4′x8′ beds with cedar, it would cost at least $75 per bed….so we are looking for other options. What about seconds from recycled decking products? What about reusing old building materials? What about the galvalized metal bed sides that are available from garden supply companies?
Question 2: how to fill the beds. We have lots of leaves and old manure; we need coarse sand or clean soil to mix. Ideas?
At our next meeting - scheduled for April 29, 6:30 – we’ll discuss further ways that we might be able to get affordable materials as well as ways we might ask local organizations to sponsor beds. As soon as we get the design and materials in place, we’ll have to get specific about who is going to do all the building work!
UPDATE as of 4/1/10: no april fools, we have our soil test results back and need to discuss strategies. We’re meeting next on Thursday, April 15, 2010, 6:30 pm at the Town Hall board room.
Homer Village Garden,
Update as of 3/20/10
1. Our second Organizational meeting was Thursday, March 18, 2010, 6:30pm in the Board Room of the Town Hall.
2. We decided to schedule the NEXT MEETING after we have soil test results: projected by the 2nd week of April. We’ll post the meeting on ‘Events.’
3. History of land use: appears to have had a residence in the 1870s. Then in 1928 GLS (forerunner of Agway) built a 30×30 storage shed next to tracks. Could have loaded and stored lumber, coal, fertilizers like nitrate and bat guano…. (still before the time of heavy agricultural chemicals). Since then, the area has probably had loads of fill put on it.
4. Digging around reveals lots of old fill with grass and gravel on top both near the tracks and N. Fulton. Regardless of possible contaminants, we will have to build our growing medium on top. It looks like the best area to develop first is a large rectangle, about 40’x75’ parallel to the street.
5. Soil samples are being sent in 3/22 to Cornell for a ‘total elemental analysis.’
6. We have access to lots of the village leaf mulch and a barn of old manure, which we are looking into ways to transport and store. We need to luck into some good top soil if possible – Ears open!
7. Raised beds: best plan is to use lumber with no dangerous chemical treatment: larch perhaps, or safely treated wood. We will investigate local sources and report next meeting, using an estimate of lumber based on 4X16 or 4×20 foot beds, at a variety of heights, 8”, 16”, and 24.” We also will need to research several beds made for extra easy access from a wheel chair, or stool, and a bed designed for sitting on the sides while working the bed.
8.We’ll need to figure out the details of water access from the DPW building.
9. Again, we still don’t know if we’ll be planting this year or next. We are encountering much enthusiasm in the village for using the garden. We ought to consult local experts in design to help with the layout, and we will need the help of a handy local organization or two to build beds and fill them.
10.REPEAT! All village residents are welcome to garden here, but we will reach out especially to those who are seeking what we can offer: sunny space, raised beds for easy access, the company of experienced gardeners, the opportunity to exchange garden know-how, intergenerational activity, and good green Homer fun!
Homer Village Garden,
Update as of 3/4/10
Here’s a ‘garden variety’ summary of first organizational meeting, 3/4/10
1. NEXT meeting is Thursday, March 18, 2010, 6:30pm in the Board Room of the Town Hall. All interested village residents are welcome to take part.
2. The area being considered for a community garden is on N. Fulton, between the DPW building and the old round Agway storage huts. It is roughly ‘U’ shaped, about 100’ x 120’ space with a 40’x40’ parking area cut out of the side.
3. Soil quality is first. We’re looking into testing it and researching previous land use before making any definite plans about best structures, gardening techniques, soil amendments and so forth.
4. The garden should include some sort of raised beds because they are easy to reach, they raise the soil level above possibly unsuitable growing ground below, and they warm up earlier in the growing season. We need to research low cost and environmentally thoughtful building materials.
5. The village leaf mulch will be a good source of compost; and the garden should build its own active compost piles. A hose can be run from the DPW building for water – and rain barrels could probably be placed to collect roof water off the storage huts….very green! Fencing to deter critters might be needed.
6. The garden can have a variety of uses including growing edibles and flowers, sharing abilities and renewing garden know-how, encouraging neighborliness, and appreciating the goodness of our natural resources in Homer.
7. Copies of an Ithaca community garden report are available at the village office for use as a start-up model.
8. Just as it takes a few years to build up the soil, it likely will take a few years to build up the ‘community’ of gardeners too. We don’t know if we will be planting in 2010 or 2011, but we will actively look for people or groups to help us get a successful garden started. Perhaps local organizations, school groups, or families can ‘adopt a bed’ for the first year – to seed the program, so to speak!
9. All village residents are welcome to garden here, but we will reach out especially to those who perhaps are seeking what we can offer: sunny space, raised beds for easy access, the company of experienced gardeners, the opportunity to exchange garden know-how, intergenerational activity, and good green Homer fun!
