Meeting with Gateway Greening

As you can see by the title, I met with Gateway Greening today, and we discussed Motor Lofts getting involved with the garden across the street. Here's the details of that discussion.

1. If you would like to have your own section, we need a few volunteers. Bethany has already expressed her willingness to participate, and Leslie and I would also help out. In order to get a grant and be given our own section, we will need a few more people dedicated to this project. If enough people do not volunteer, then our participation would probably be limited to helping out with the existing gardens already in place. Basically, they're not going to put a bunch of resources into a project that might fall apart if those few people stop participating.
2. If you'd like to participate, you will need to sign a waiver to work on the land. Gateway Greening is leasing the land from a private owner, and he wants to be free from liability on his land.
3. If we do get enough volunteers for a project, those people would need to fill out some paperwork in order to get a grant. Apparently, the paperwork takes a little time to fill out. They want you to make a plan for what you are doing, who will be helping, what days they will be working, etc. They want to see that your commitment is thought out, and put on a calendar.
4. If you would like to see all of this happen, the deadline for applying for the grant is November. Once the grant is approved, resources (dirt, lumber, seeds) would be given to us in the spring.
5. If you'd like to help now, contact me, and I'll put you in touch with Alicia, who is in charge of this garden. She needs people to help water and weed. Alicia also said that she will be clearing out some beds soon, and she could probably get us started on something for fall if we wanted.
6. One final thing - Gateway Greening asked me to ask you to please respect their gardens. Apparently people are letting their dogs poop in that area, and it creates difficulties for them since it's a place where children are present, food is growing, and they have to work and walk.

If you'd like to have more space to grow more than what's on your balcony, contact me, and I'll get you in touch with Alicia.