Concord Village EarthLab

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!

As I mentioned, I put together some ideas to propose how some of us might be able to use the garden in the coming weeks. Please see material in ital. How do these main points look?  What is missing?

Please add comments or send feedback to cvearthlab@gmail.com .  Also, let us know if you are interested in being considered for the short list of gardeners who may have access to the raised beds this spring.  It would require doing at least 20 minutes, 2-3 times a week, of essential garden duties such as watering.

Thanks for your input!  -Denise

Many authoritative groups, such as New York Restoration Project and Purdue University have shared professional guidance on operating a community garden while pandemic restrictions are in place. We hope to use some of these guidelines to operate CVEarthlab Garden on a small scale this spring.

We propose allowing 12 garden members limited access, with these strict rules.

1. Only healthy people ,without symptoms, without known virus exposure, can use the garden.
2. No more than 3 people are permitted to be in the garden space at one time.
3. Staggered access to general area: No more than 8 masked people are allowed in the immediate garden area (including play area, walkway near parking lot) at one time. This will make demonstrations and supervised activities possible.
4. When there are people from more than one household working in the garden, all gardeners will wear face masks.
5. 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 com will keep backup supply on site)
6. No children under 4-years-old are permitted in the garden. With 1-to-1 supervision, in certain situations, children 4+ can water and weed using tools/watering cans that they bring back and forth from home. (They cannot use the hose or any shared tools). Parents or other garden members will move flats of flowers and herbs outside the garden area for brief watering sessions with young children.
7. At no time will there be more than 9 people present for activity (even when respecting social distancing and wearing a face mask)

Thanks for the inquiries about this!

First, please know that the garden committee core members are working on a proposal for management and the BOD to try get more CVEarthlab members limited access to the garden for essential daily tasks such as watering and monitoring for animal activity or other problems.  We need to make sure we have thoughful plans and safe systems in place for sanitizing shared tools, the hose, padlocks, etc, before we ask for this privilege. (The play area, where the garden is located, remains closed.)

Hardening Off Seedlings Before Transplant in May and June

While seedlings started at the indoor workshop won’t be ready for transplant before May, you can start thinking about stepping up your baby plants to bigger containers (if needed) and a hardening off plan, which involves gradually exposing the seedlings to outdoor conditions over a 7-10 day period.  (Please see these previous posts regarding hardening off.  https://cvearthlab.com/2016/05/18/preparing-tomatoes-plants-for-transplanting/ ; https://cvearthlab.com/2019/05/21/garden-qa-session-wed-6-7pm/ ) While it is tempting to take shortcuts, the tedious hardening off process is a very important one.  Essentially, you will “toughen up” plants so that by the time you transplant them, they will be strong enough to survive outdoor life.

Incoming Flowers and Herb Starts

It is not official, but we are hoping to be able to pick up our order from the GrowNYC plant sale for community gardens on May 1.  If this happens, we will also need to coordinate a supervised system to care for and transplant the 100+ herbs and flowers that arrive on that date.

Making Community Gardening Work With Social Distancing, Other Restrictions 

Traditionally, we hold outdoor sessions on Wednesdays evenings in May to help new gardeners learn to care for and transplant plants; thanks for your patience while we sort out an alternative. (See last year’s schedule here)  I suspect we may be able to do something like this but in staggered, very small groups, after we establish and implement all of the new safety precautions that will be required.

If you’d like to work on the proposal for modified community gardening at CV, with special precautions for safety and social distancing during the pandemic, here are some resources:

• NY Restoration Project
• Purdue U Guide to Community Gardening During Pandemic 
• Greenthumb Access to Community Garden While Parks Are Closed Due to COVID-19

Many thanks!  -Denise

This weekend I prepped the cold frame raised bed, which was filled with winter cover crops of vetch, legumes, and clover.  After I tilled the soil, I planted a couple rows each of arugula, buttercrisp, and crispy greens.  Thanks to Sandy for supplying the seeds! -Denise