2012 Registration

Project Grow has been registering people for 2012 since the last few days of 2011.  This year we spread out the "spring rush" by asking returning gardeners to reapply earlier and by turning around applications as fast as possible. At last count we've received over 300 applications and nearly all are already confirmed.  New applicants can expect to be confirmed the same day their application and payment are complete if their desired site still has open spaces.  If the site is full, Kirk will contact them and see if they can make do with another site.    

For those who can't garden at another site or want to move next year, we are maintaining a wait list for all of Project Grow this year.  People on the wait list will be notified if a cancellation at their desired site opens a space for them.  If that doesn't happen, we will notify them the first day that we start accepting applications for 2013 so they can quickly apply and hopefully get a plot in one of our high-demand sites. 

Special thanks everyone who responded to the e-mail and letter reminders and registered early.  It has made the entire process much easier all around.  Here is hoping that 2012 will be everyone's best gardening year ever!      

Pre-Order for the Plant Sale 

Every year, some gardeners at our plant sale find that their favorite choices have already sold out by the time they can make it to the sale. Last year gardeners for the first time were able to order plants from our plant sale ahead of time to be sure they get what they want.  This option was very popular, so we are doing it again!  The pick-up dates are a week before the sale on Saturday May 5th and Sunday May 6th between the hours of 10am to 1pm at 1518 Shadford. To read all about the plants offered, click on the online list.  For all the details on how to pre-order, please click here. 

Seed Swap with AA350 at Downtown Home and Garden

March 25th 10am-12pm

Project Grow is partnering with Ann Arbor 350 to bring you the second seed swap of the season. We had tons of fun at the first one, and can't wait to see what Ann Arbor 350's members have to share! Everyone is welcome whether you have seeds or not, and if you have any seeds you don't want feel free to bring them along (purchased or collected). 

PG Board Member Launches Rap For Food March 29th!

Project Grow board member Lucas DiGia has launched 

his own project to bring local food and the arts together. Inspired by his experience volunteering in the garden 

with Project Grow, he is starting an organization that 

will focus on promoting concerts and events with 

independent musicians, local food vendors, and non-profit organizations! 

Our first event is March 29th at The Yellow Barn!  Visit www.facebook.com/rapforfood for updates!

Local Food Summit April 2nd! Register now for early bird!

The HomeGrown Local Food Summit provides many opportunities for networking and for learning about the amazing work and the incredible people in our part of the state.  Some of the topics include:

Michigan's Culinary and Agricultural History - Scaling Up Local Food Access - Food Hubs and Food Innovation Zones - Washtenaw Food Policy Council: Understanding and Leveraging Policy for a Healthy, Fair and Sustainable Food System - Getting a Fair Farm Bill - The State of Farm-to-School in Washtenaw County - Community and Neighborhood Organizing

Visit www.localfoodsummit.org to register and learn more!

2012 New Gardener Shindig - April 15th - 11:30am-2:30pm

Project Grow will be hosting a get together shindig for new gardeners on April 15, 2012 from 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM at the Leslie Science Center's Nature House. (1831 Traver Rd, Ann Arbor, MI)

All gardeners are encouraged to attend, but the focus of the event will be on introducing new gardeners to community gardening, organic gardening practices, plus volunteer opportunities with Project Grow.

Come for lunch and meet your site coordinator and fellow gardeners. Learn all you'll need to know to enjoy being a member of Project Grow to it's fullest!

We were a little overwhelmed because last year's shindig was unexpectedly popular with about 60 people attending.  If you expect to attend, please RSVP so we can be prepared!

 Earth Day Celebration at LSNC April 22nd 12pm-4pm

Celebrate the earth with Ann Arbor's annual Earth Day Festival, this year hosted at LSNC and organized by local environmental organizations. Explore and participate in the variety of hands on activities and demonstrations while listening to live earth friendly music.  All are welcomed to come dressed as their favorite plant or animal to join the all species parade. Pre-registration is not required.

Project Grow is proud to be a part of the Earth Day Celebration at The Leslie Science and Nature Center! We will be showing off our gardens, and talking about our new Discovery Garden Project to revitalize them.   

We had an amazing turnout at our first class this past weekend and look forward to the next. We have to inform you though, that we've made some minor location and time changes since you signed up. Please note that this weekend's class on the 10th will be at Community Action Network! 

All of the class information is below. Click Here To Sign Up and feel free to contact us at education@projectgrowgardens.org at any time if you have questions!

March 24th Seed Potatoes and Sweet Potato Slips - 2pm-4pm 

The Leslie Science and Nature Center 

1831 Traver Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 

March 31st Organic Pest Management - 10am-12pm 

The Ecology Center 

339 E. Liberty, Suite 300. Ann Arbor, MI

April 14th Tomatoes and Peppers - 10am-12pm

The Leslie Science and Nature Center

1831 Traver Rd, Ann Arbor, MI

Education Committee Is Seeking Ideas for Classes and More Committee Members

The Education Committee has been meeting for several weeks, to put together a list of classes that we believe will be of interest to our members and friends.   

For some years now we have started off the season with our foundational series on organic gardening, taught by Royer Held, expert gardener and long-time friend of Project Grow.  We also have a number of exciting, new classes, some of which are described above and some of which are still in the works.   

The latter includes classes on growing mushrooms, setting up your own vermiculture bins, composting, creating your own aquaponic garden, etc.  Keep checking our website for details of these classes!  While the list is long, we hope that you could make it even longer by sending in your ideas for interesting classes, names of instructors able to teach them (if possible), and contact information for us to follow up.   

We are also looking for volunteers who are interested in the work of the committee and who wish to join us, as we sip our cups of coffee, eat tasty treats and devise fantastic classes for the Project Grow community.  Send your ideas and names, if you wish to join the committee, to education@projectgrowgardens.org.  You will be glad you did!  And so will our extended family of gardening students and hard-working committee members!

So Susan called newly elected Third Ward Council Member, Nelson Meade. "She and her neighbors wanted to start a 'victory garden,'" Nelson wrote in a 2002 article about Project Grow's then 30th anniversary.* They wanted his help in locating a good spot. "I suspect that Susan used the term because 'The Victory Garden' was a popular gardening program on PBS, focusing on community gardens in the US and Europe," Nelson wrote.

Working with city staff, Susan located a spot on Stone School Road, near Ellsworth. The owner was willing to let her garden an acre until the land was sold for development. Susan realized it was more than enough for just her neighbors, so she leafleted a newly completed subsidized low-income housing project and invited residents to join them.

"It was named Arbor Park, and it is now known as University Townhouses," Nelson wrote. "Many families responded to the invitation. Altogether, . . . 43 families gardened together at the Stone School site, about half from Burns Park and half from Arbor Park. The gardeners had a successful year."

That success inspired Susan to launch a program for the whole city. So in 1972, calling her project "Grow," she began her crusade to get community gardens throughout Ann Arbor. "It was to be more than simply gardening," Nelson wrote. "The joining together in a single effort of affluent Burns Park residents and the low-income and more diverse residents of Arbor Park was a model that should be replicated."

And so, what was to become Project Grow Community Gardens, took root in 1972 through the efforts of an inspired neighbor with a great vision, a city council member, a local business person, and would-be gardeners from diverse walks of life.

Gardening Together

by Team Newsletter Volunteers

This column is designed to help newer gardeners with planting dates and gardening tips. We will start updating our Facebook page with these tips as the year progresses. We hope to support gardeners from seed starting throughout the harvest, with the aim of educating and sharing the great adventure in urban gardening.

If you've been following Project Grow on Facebook, then you will recall seeing photos of Kirk's first onion sprouts and first flowering crocus. He planted the onions on February 10 and they had already popped up by February 15. Check out our Facebook page to see the photos.  

Ellen only got around to planting onion seeds on February 17. She planted a few seeds in 2" plastic pots which she stored in the oven with the light on. The first seedlings appeared on the 22^nd. The pots that had city compost were the first to produce. The organic commercially purchased potting soil had yet to yield any green by March 5th. 

Consistent, warm temperatures are best for sprouting. Deiatra Eudy, one of our new board members, discovered that putting your just-planted seeds in the oven with the light on keeps the seeds at the optimum temperature. You just have to be sure not to forget and turn on the heat for baking without removing the pots!  When the seeds sprout, take them out of the oven and place under fluorescent lights.  Room temperature is usually fine once the seeds germinate.   

The traditional day to plant peas is St. Patrick's Day. Another tip is to check to see what's already sprouting on its own. For example, Inge Ferguson says that her cilantro is already coming up. So it's safe to scatter some seed any time now.  Cilantro likes cooler weather, so planting it now will give you a more productive period and delay bolting.   

We'd love to hear your seed-starting tips and any results of experiments you have had with different potting mediums. 

We'll keep you posted on Facebook for when to plant the seeds for our next garden favorites.  If you have questions or favorite plants to rave about, let us know on Facebook. We´ll share what we have space for in this spot in the newsletter. Happy gardening!