Concord Village EarthLab

I will be out in the garden today, Sunday, from about 10:15am to 12:15pm

Seedling Inventory : If you have seedlings that you started in March, we need to know ASAP.  Please bring them down to show us today or send an email to cvearthlab@gmail.com.   Space to transplant limited, and we need to make decisions about what is going where.

Watering Demo: If you are on the “select” gardener list and want to see exactly what you need to do, starting this week, please stop by Sunday am.   If you aren’t on this official list, and want to do any gardening, you will need to CVGarden-planning-layout-distance training 4-23-20 and submit it to the office.

Important Note: All Spring/Summer 2020 gardeners must agree to strict regulations and understand the play area is not to be used for picnics or play while the amenity is temporarily closed.  Thank you for your cooperation and understanding of this necessity; it has added extra administrative work for the office, the supers, the core committee gardeners and all the volunteers.  We are lucky that we’ve been able to garden at all, given the NY Pause and  pandemic precautions aimed to keep everyone safe.

Many thanks!  -Denise

Come to the garden to learn more about gardening during pandemic, hardening off tomatoes and other seedlings started in March, and sign a waiver if you can commit to watering duties 1-2 times a week. Thanks!

Grownup garden members have an opportunity to garden (in a limited capacity) in May and June.  Learn more at an info session Saturday morning at 10am. (RSVP to cvearthlab@gmail.com).

Here is more information about the opportunity to garden (in a limited capacity) in May and June.  Learn more at an info session at 6pm tonite OR 10am Sat. (RSVPs to cvearthlab@gmail.com will really help us manage numbers).

Overview for CVEarthlab Members Interested in Gardening During Pandemic

A small number of volunteers will have access to the garden for watering duties and transplanting.  Note that these volunteers (who sign a waiver from CV) will enjoy access to the fenced-in outdoor space while gardening (no kids under age 4 in the garden proper).  We will need people to commit to watering and checking the garden in the mornings 1-2 days a week.

Volunteer Gardeners Needed!

We also need some volunteers to steward tomatoes that Sandy started.  This means bringing them home to sit on your window sill, watering them and then hardening them off, and transplanting in early June.

More details about modified gardening are below.  If you are interested, we will give you a hard copy of the waiver.  Thank you!  -Denise, Sandy, Shari + Judith, Core Garden Committee Members

How We Will Garden Safely and Responsibly

Despite the critical need for social distancing and sheltering in place, many authoritative groups have shared professional guidance on operating a community garden during the pandemic.* We hope to use some of these guidelines to operate CVEarthlab Garden on a small scale this spring, from roughly May 1^st to early June.

We propose allowing @10 garden members to have access to the garden on a limited basis.  They will respect these strict rules.

1. Only healthy people, without symptoms, and without known virus exposure, can enter the raised bed garden inside the children’s play area.
2. Frequently used surfaces and shared tools (pad lock, hose, shed handle) will be cleaned and sanitized before and after individual use. (Gardeners will bring their own sanitizer; garden committee will keep backup supply on site.)
3. No more than 3 people are permitted to be in the raised bed garden space at one time. 
4.  If training sessions are needed (to show techniques for watering, transplanting or hardening off plants) we will hold multiple training demos to allow for staggered access. Please see attached map for an example of how 7-8 people could congregate around the general garden area (including the mulched walking area near the parking lot) while maintaining 6 feet of social distance between each other.  Each red spot represents one person, map is not to scale and the larger rectangular beds are 6′ in length for reference.
   5.    No more than 8 people are allowed in the general garden area at one time. This type of training demonstration or supervised activity would be necessary only 2-3 times, maximum, during the month of May.
5. All gardeners will wear face masks.
6. No children under 4-years-old are permitted in the raised bed garden inside the play area. However, with 1-to-1 supervision, children 4+ can water using their own watering cans (that they bring back and forth from home) in the public, open area.  (Children cannot use the hose or any shared tools.) Parents or other garden members must move flowers and herbs outside the garden area for brief watering sessions with young children.
7. Gardeners understand that if there are violations of these rules, change in circumstances or public health recommendations, garden access may end immediately

*GARDENING: A Guide to Community Gardening During Coronavirus Pandemic, April 7, 2020 (Purdue University)

* NYRP COVID-19 INFORMATION: Policy on New York Restoration Project Garden Access, April 1, 2020 (NY Restoration Project)

CVGarden-planning-layout-distance training 4-23-20

Gather round the garden Thursday at 6pm to get more information about how we will be able to use the garden space in the coming weeks.  We will cover: hardening off plants, transplanting, watering duties and more.  Most importantly, we will explain the strict guidelines for gardening while respecting social distance and safety regulations.

To that end, we will break into groups or stagger discussions if needed to avoid bunching or congregation of 6+ people.

Hope to see you Thursday at 6pm!  If you cannot make it, we are planning to do something similar on Saturday.  Thank you!

We’re holding a seedling care q&a Thursday at 6pm. Bring questions about hardening off tomatoes and garden access this month.

More information to come!