St Francis Sustainable Garden: 2013 Summary

Dear All,

Congratulations on a stewardship well done this past garden season, and thank you for your efforts on the following:

THE TOTAL HARVEST OF ALL CROPS IN 2013 WAS 212 POUNDS, up significantly from (2012) last year's 97.9 pounds (due to drought) AND almost twice the harvest from 2011 which was 125 pounds! (see attached color coded chart from Patrick Sherry)

Additionally the Sustainable Garden treasury is solvent and comfortably in the black due to successful fundraising events (i.e., spring seed and plant sales) and donations (a special thanks to Joan Meagher for her outreach and persuasion of our donors). 

2013 Main Events Recap:

• Apr 6-7: Seed Sales after Weekend Masses
• Apr 20:  Compost Haul
• May 18: Garden Bed Preparation
• May 18-19: Seedling and Plant Sales after Weekend Masses
• May 23: Seed Potato Planting with St Francis 5th Graders
• May - Sep: Daily Watering and Weeding, as needed (Special thanks to Fazekas, Jensens, Sherrys, Julie, Joan and Katy)
• May - Sep: Biweekly Delivery of Produce to Perry Nursery School (Special thanks to Jensens and Sherrys)
• Sep 27: Potato Harvest with St Francis 6th Graders
• Oct 12: Fall CleanUp - Time, Talent and Treasure "Meet and Greet"

Additional Highlights

• First harvest of garlic (planted previous Oct) in early spring
• Earliest planting of cool crops of spinach and sugar snap peas
• Initiated Michigan native plant project with donations, sales and plantings
• Revitalized hillside garden bed south of Parish Office for potato and bush bean crops and Michigan native plants
• Removal of ice storm damaged cedar trees allowed expansion of bramble patch (red and black raspberries)
• Obtained City of Ann Arbor compost bin for weekly debris pickup (Thanks to Dave Barera)
• Involved St Francis school children in potato crop planting and harvest (Thanks to Wendy Lemke)
• Explored natural remedies for plant health (e.g., chive solutions for squash plant mildew)
• Donated extra flowering plants to Peace Garden near west front school entrance

Future Improvements

• Replace mesh barrier in main garden due to nesting, not eating bunny invasion
• Replace/reconnect a couple of wood boards of raised beds in main garden
• Set up/test hoop house (new donation of materials from Ace Hardware) next year in main garden
• Clear/convert second hillside garden bed south of parish office for plantings
• Use/plant cleared areas from fallen/removed cedar trees
• Involve St Francis School in Seedling/Plant starts in winter 2014
• Complete more grant applications/initiatives with local businesses and organizations

Thank You

• Donors:  Downtown Home and Garden, Ace Hardware, Meijer's, Turner's, Ann Arbor Native Plants
• Sponsors: Father Jim (and now Father James) and Scott Wright (e.g., communicating time and talent recruits and maintaining the blog: http://sustainable-garden-project.blogspot.com/ )
• Dave Barera and operations staff on equipment storage and retrieval
• Previous and new volunteers who have actively participated in garden activities and events.  Apologies for not specific volunteer citations/thank you on ALL the numerous other and behind the scenes activities.

God bless you, ALL.

In Christ,
Erich Jensen and Rose Sherry
Garden Coordinators
734.771.8511 (Erich's cell)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THANK YOU to everyone who was involved in the harvest project!  The families at Perry Nursery School literally ate it up this year :-)  Everything was snatched up and used.  

Here is a great story about how your garden affects our families:

One afternoon a young mom came to pick up her daughter.  The girl went to the counter and pointed to the rhubarb and asked her mom if they could take some home to eat.  The mom picked it up, turned it over and over and looked very perplexed.  I asked, "Can I help you?"  She said, "What is this?"  I explained what it was and how it could be cooked and used.  She said she did have internet at home and I suggested that she look up some simple recipes and to have fun with it.

Here is why this story touches me.  A mom and daughter learned something new.  The daughter was excited over being able to take something home - something she had never seen before.  The mom gets to be a hero - she didn't just say "no" to her daughter, but explored the possibilities and was willing to try.  I never did find out the results, but that memory will stick with me forever.  Thank you!

Sandy Williams, Development Director at Perry Nursery School of Ann Arbor

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Belated Thank You: St Francis Sustainable Garden: Oct 12 "Meet and Greet" Garden Clean UP

Dear All,

Many thanks to our volunteers, veterans and new, who came to cleanup the gardens on the cool and very sunny Saturday morning about 2 weeks ago.

John Schommer, Rose, Patrick and John Sherry, Erich and Ann Marie Jensen, Joan Meagher, Nora, Frank Jr, Julie, and Frank III Fazekas cleared and composted all annual vegetable plants from the garden beds, turned over the soil by shovel to mix in straw and bean plants (i.e., good source of nitrogen), and inventoried all the materials in the storage bin.  (see attached photos).

Erich Jensen returned this past week to empty the rain barrel, bundle the vegetable stakes, gather the 100 foot heavy duty hose (donated by Meijer's), store the watering cans in the bin, stack the tomato cages and generally gather all these materials in the garden for pickup and storage by the St Francis maintenance crew.

The Sustainable Garden ministry activities for most of the volunteers will take a winter break, and hopefully we will see/meet you in the early spring (i.e., email/call in March).  In the meantime, the garden and fund raising coordinators, Erich, Rose and Joan will continue our behind the scenes organization and plans for the 2014 garden and outreach/fundraising with community.  If  you would like help with any of these efforts, please let me know.

(P.S.,  Joan has just informed us that Ace Hardware will donate materials to build a hoop house for one or more of our garden beds). 

It is always great to hear the "good news" in more than one way.

In Christ,
Erich Jensen and Rose Sherry
Garden Coordinators
734.771.8511 (Erich's cell)

St Francis Sustainable Garden: Oct 12 "Meet and Greet" Garden Clean UP

Greetings to Current Garden Crew:

Welcome to New "Time and Talent" Recruits:

Thank you very much for your past and future efforts with the St Francis Sustainable Gardens.

Our next event will be a combination "meet and greets with treats" and "fall clean-up" day for Saturday, October 12 (NOT a home Football game Saturday) at 9:00 am.

We will welcome the new time and talent recruits for a quick garden tour and then proceed with fall cleanup of the gardens.  Fall cleanup should be only 60 - 90 minutes or less depending on the number of volunteers.

As usual this activity will involve removing and composting the existing "annual" plants and turning over the beds (Please bring a large shovel and/or pruning shears, if you have these tools available).

If leaves have fallen, we will also mulch and add to the plant beds.

Lastly, we hope to empty the rain barrel and clean out, inventory, and repackage the storage chest of materials and equipment.

Once again, many thanks to the 2012 - 2013 volunteers.   The harvest was bountiful throughout the summer (Patrick Sherry is currently tabulating the final numbers) basically finishing with 36 pounds of red and Yukon gold potatoes from the potato dig with the St Francis six-graders who helped last Friday.(see example photos including "hugging carrots").

Dress for work and weather!

In Christ,
Erich Jensen and Rose Sherry
Garden Coordinators
734.771.8511 (Erich's cell)

Picture is worth a Thousand Words: Garden Harvest: August 5:

This picture highlights the result of your hard work!

Many thanks,  Erich and Rose

                       

Garden updates

Garden updates - August 5

Hello, The garden harvest seems to be in full swing.  Today, the following was harvested and delivered to Perry Nursery School:

• 6 containers of tomatoes (roma and cherry)
• 2 cukes
• Yellow Squash
• 4 onions
• 4 containers of pole beans
• Dill, Thyme, and Chives

 
Everything was well watered today.  Yellow and brown leaves and other debris were removed.  Dill plants and one tomato plant restaked.   Note:  The tomato plants are heavy with fruit, and the added weight is causing the cages to tilt, so take care.
 
All potato plants have been mounded with additional top soil.  (Thank you Erich and Joan).
 
Also:  HAS ANYONE SEEN THE SECOND PAIR OF PRUNING SHEARS?  HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO LOCATE FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS.
 
The beds are weed free....thank you to the many hands for removing these plants!
 
Regards,
Erich

Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 

Hello, Patrick has written a very nice summary.
 
Ann Marie and I met Rose this morning, and assisted (a little) with the pole bean supports.
 
Other activities included substantial cleanup including:

• Deadheading daisies and comfrey, and some, but not all of the day lilies on the perimeter
• Completing the peas harvest and removing most of the dried peas vines
• Removing dead rhubarb leaves
• Harvesting, packaging and delivering cherry tomatoes, onions, yellow squash, zucchini, lemon thyme, oregano, and dill for Perry Nursery school
• Transporting city compost bin for Tuesday a.m. pickup
• Watering compost bins and most of main garden with rainwater only
• Noting good healthy fruit on cucumber vines and tomato plants

 
Because of Vacation Bible School, watering and weeding was not done for the potato and native plant garden.
 
Thank you to everyone for your continued hard work, in particular, the weeds are always at a minimum.
 
In Christ,
Erich Jensen
 
P.S.  The cedar tree stumps have been ground up and/or removed.  The black and red raspberry bushes are thriving, and we should have a very nice bramble patch (and harvest of berries) next year.
 

Date: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 
Hi everyone, this is Patrick!

On Friday, we harvested over a pound of peas. That finishes the pea season. In order to keep nitrogen in the soil, which is one reason to plant peas, the peas must be removed by clipping the stem at the bottom, instead of pulling the root up. The root eventually decays and makes the soil nitrogen-rich. I saw 1 cherry tomato red-orange and almost ripe and a few not far behind. If you see pear tomatoes, they never get red, they are ripe when they are yellow. The cucumbers are supposed to get 8" - 10" long, which we harvested 7 on Friday already, including one from Matthew. We harvested a few peppers, including a bright red chill red one. 

Mom spotted two baby bunnies in the garden. The first was found near Luke and the other jumped out of the nest she found among the tomato plants. We also temporarily fixed the pole bean supports. They were starting to tip over and come apart. 

I also looked back at the notes on Monday and noticed that pole beans were harvested. I was wondering if you harvested pole beans or if you harvested beans from Paul. The ones that are ripe in Paul right now are the ones near the short white fence. The ones that are near the white fence I am saving for seed. We also found a yellow squash in John too. There should be a couple more yellow and a zucchini ready to pick by Monday.

Mom is planning to stop by the Garden Monday morning after dropping us off for VBS. She's planning on working on strengthening the pole bean supports and help with the peas. 

Thank you,  Patrick

St Francis Sustainable Garden Update

Dear All,   Ann Marie and I, Erich, went to the garden today [July 1, 2013].

Activities:

• Harvested peas and recorded; two small containers and one small cuke and delivered to Perry.
• Did NOT water any of the gardens (rain barrel is overflowing; imagine that)
• Weeded main and potato gardens
• Trimmed more branches and invasive trees along row of cedar/arborvitae trees
• Opened up and stirred compost bins to get rained on
• Filled city compost bin and hauled to street
• Trimmed back several clump of yarrow in perimeter
• Trimmed comfrey in perimeter and composted across 3 bins
• Trimmed daisies inside fence and outside (fallen on other plants like dill, marigolds, iris, etc
• Cleaned up dead/yellowed leaves of rhubarb plants
• Repositioned tomato branches within cages

Regards,
Erich

From: Erich Jensen - Mon, Jul 15, 2013.
Subject: Belated Spring Summary of St Francis Sustainable Garden Activities

Dear All, Belated and continued thanks to our volunteers (and the church management) for a great start to the 2013 garden season!  The spring has been wet and warm and the gardens including the new potato and native plant beds are thriving as well as the main garden and its adjacent beds of rhubarb and brambles (raspberries and black raspberries).  Here is a brief recap of the activities (with attached photos) to date:

20 Apr 2013:  Compost Day

Bob and Joan Meagher borrowed their friends pick up truck again and were met by Frank Fazekas and Ron Yonkoski at the Ann Arbor Compost Center on this early Saturday morning.  Delivering the compost to St Francis within an hour, they were joined by Erich and Ann Marie Jensen and Rose and Patrick Sherry who helped haul and shovel most of it onto the newly cleared existing bed just south of the parish offices.  Some compost was piled and stored near the compost bins for use along the main sustainable garden perimeter.  It was a clear, crisp, and collegial morning, and many thanks to all, in particular, for Meaghers for the truck, and Erich for the extra wheelbarrow from a neighbor.  Dave Barera supplied a current city water bill, so the load of compost was free.

18 May 2013: Potato - Michigan Native Plant Bed Preparation Day

On another beautiful sunny and warmer Saturday morning, Erich and Ann Marie Jensen, Julie White, Frank Fazekas, Joan Meagher and Katy Derezinski removed all weeds and spread and tilled the compost from 20 April  into this recovered bed.

18-19 May 2013 Plant and Seedling Sale

After the Saturday mass and Sunday 8:45 and 10:30 masses, Patrick and Rose Sherry, Erich and Ann Marie Jensen, Joan Meagher and Katy Derezinski displayed  and sold many plants including tomato, pepper, herb, native Michigan plants and more from volunteers home gardens, the sustainable garden and donations from former garden volunteers (e.g., Tracy Nagy) and local merchants (e.g., 5 flats from Turner's nursery and a variety of native plants from Ann Arbor Native Plants) outside the PAC main doors.   Vegetable seeds (from Downtown Home and Garden), wildflower seeds (from Ann Arbor Native Plants) and seed balls (from Perry Nursery School) leftover from the seed sale in April were also sold.  Sales and enthusiasm from parish members exceeded expectation and recorded a new high of nearly $225.  All remaining native plants were planted in the new Michigan native plant bed prepared on May 18.

23 May 2013 Seed Potato Planting with Mrs Verhines 5th graders

On a beautiful cool Friday morning one of the 5th grade classes joined Rose and Patrick Sherry, Erich and Ann Marie Jensen and Steve Lavender, chair of the Sustainability Committee to plant 2 types of seed potatoes donated by Ann Arbor Home and Garden.  After an introduction and background information on the purpose of the Sustainability garden and how to plant potatoes the students enthusiastically planted many seed potatoes.   In the fall these same students will return to harvest and deliver the potatoes to Perry Nursery School.  This activity was recently featured in an article written by Steve Lavender in the Sunday Forum.  Companion planting of lemon thyme and bush beans was accomplished, and all plants are thriving in the new beds

April- July 2013: Other Activities

The weeding and watering schedule was established and the team of volunteers visit the garden almost daily, as follows: Mondays, Erich and Ann Marie Jensen, Tuesdays, Julie White, Wednesdays, Julie and Frank Fazekas, Thursdays, Katy Derezinski, Fridays, Rose and Patrick Sherry, and Saturdays, Joan Meagher.  Because of the abundant spring rains, the garden has thrived, and mostly only required vigorous weeding by the volunteers.  Crops of rhubarb, spinach, sugar snap peas, garlic and now beans and cucumbers have been harvested and delivered fairly routinely to appreciative Perry Nursery School by the Jensens on Mondays and the Sherrys on Fridays.

 

• Dave Barera was able to obtain a city compost bin which has been used regularly for excessive vegetative debris and is located near the other three stationary black compost bins.  Note: City empties this bin on Tuesday mornings.
• Several cedar/arborvitae trees (destroyed in a March snow/ice storm) were removed along the fence line and have provided more space for rhubarb, red and black raspberries which are thriving and spreading for future crops and produce harvest.
• Father Bosco has the rectory patio full of tomato and pepper plant pots from the May plant sale.
• Joan Meagher successfully obtained donations from Meijer's, Downtown Home and Garden, Turners, and Ann Arbor Native Plants which also included a new 100 foot heavy duty hose, garden gloves, pruners, watering wand, stakes, and a rake. 
• Funds from seed and seeding/plant sales allowed purchases of new colorful tomato cages and straw mulch.
• Lastly, the main garden has been routinely visited by a bunny or two as a refuge (we think), as crops seem to have been merely flattened not eaten.  Holes in fence are getting plugged and anti rabbit organic natural deterrant spray has been used, too.

Sincerely and thankfully submitted,
Erich Jensen
Co-coordinator of Sustainable Garden

Potato Planting Project ... June 16, 2013, Forum Sustainability Corner

June 16, 2013, Forum Sustainability Corner:

(Written by Stephen Lavender)

Sustainable gardens require a sustainable supply of gardeners. Fostering a growing awareness of sustainability's importance, the St. Francis School community has embraced the parish's gardening program. The 5th grade students of Ms. Kim Verhines' class recently participated in the St. Francis Sustainable Garden's potato planting project. 

With background and instruction provided by Sustainable Garden coordinators Erich Jensen and Rose Sherry, the 5th graders spent an outdoor class session learning the basics of gardening and the specifics of planting potatoes. Working in groups of two, the students received sprouted potato sections and planted them in the garden's prepared soil.    

All gardeners know that planting is only one of many early steps in a long growing season. Individuals and families from the parish have volunteered to water and weed our sustainable gardens throughout the summer. In the fall a mature potato crop will be greeted by an equally mature group of gardeners. The 5th graders who planted in the spring will return as 6th graders this fall to experience and enjoy the harvesting of their sustainably grown produce. 

Erich captured the thoughts of our community when he commented that "sowing seeds in the garden hopefully means sowing seeds of sustainability in young minds for lifetime commitment." Wendy Lemke from St. Francis School and Patrick Sherry have also been instrumental in supporting and organizing the potato project. We thank them for their efforts and look forward to an abundant harvest this fall for distribution to Perry Nursery School families!

Garden Update

Garden Update for Friday May 31, 2013. 

Written by Rose Sherry

Hello everyone,

The Good Lord is helping to water the garden this week. 
The spinach and rhubarb have been getting harvested and delivered already (thanks Erich and Ann Marie!!)
The potatoes have been planted in Paul along with some melons this year. We will be companion planting some bush beans in Paul in the near future. We are waiting until the potatoes come up some so that hopefully they will keep the bunnies away from the beans.

Speaking of bunnies:

Patrick stopped by the garden before Mass this morning and found a bunny burrowing between the peas in Matthew. He maneuvered around to coax it out to see where it would go to get through the fence. It went through the sides of the bottom of the gate. I thought that those looked kind of large. After Mass he went back again and it had returned. The second time he tried to it jumped over the lower fencing through the posts between Matthew and Luke.

When I got to the garden I saw two bunnies near the rectory patio.

So we put the white bucket in front of the gate opening and a watering can in front of the other gate opening. Don't know if they can jump over the lower fencing anyway. 

So we need to keep our eyes open for these critters while we determine how best to keep them from the main garden.

Good news:

We Harvested spinach and rhubarb...It took me a couple of tries to get it right. 

I put the rhubarb leaves in the city bin. Erich can we put them in our compost bins??

Patrick transplanted a couple of potatoes that sprouted in Luke and John into Paul and added some more sprouts.

The entire bed should be watered. You'll notice there are black hoses there. Those are soaker hoses (incase you didn't know) and we are planning on setting those up soon that that it will be easier to water Paul. More on that soon.

We will be at Mass on Monday to sub for someone and are planning on bringing straw for the beds and fixing the bean poles. I think that they will be fine until Monday, although they are sprouting as well as the squash. :-) We will also bring more Journal pages. We can also address what we want to do with the hoses for Paul.

That's it for now.

Rose

Garden gate Update Mon, 3 Jun 2013.

Written by Rose Sherry

Hello all,

A quick update on our bunny invasion. We came to the garden this morning to find that something (we thinking the bunnies) had chewed through the plastic netting attached to the bottom of the gate. As an interim solution, we have installed the short white plastic edging in the gate entrance to see if this keeps them out of the bottom of the gate and thus the garden. 

You will have to step over this short edging to enter the garden until we can engineer a solution that can be moved. So far we don't think that the bunnies are eating any of the crops but it appears that they have burrowed a hold in the Matthew bed. Please be on the lookout for any suspicious activity of this nature and report back to us if you see anything.

We will be adding straw this week as mulch to the beds and hopefully hooking up the soaker hoses in Paul. There are melons planted in Paul so don't worry about weeding there yet until they come up. They should probably look like the squash plants that are coming up in John. 

Ann Marie pulled all the spinach in Matthew since it was starting to bolt. Also in Matthew, Patrick has planted cucumbers among the peas (they will use the same supports). 

On the west side there is an egg plant growing, it is marked with a craft stick. He will be planting melons on the East and South sides where the spinach was before.

There is parsley growing near the asparagus, we would like to just let that grow since we didn't get to grow seedlings this year.

In Luke, there were beets planted between the onions and peppers, they are coming up now. It also looks like there are nasturtium plants growing among the peppers in Luke, we'd like to let them grow. I'll take pictures tomorrow when we are there so that you can identify them.

That's it for now. If you have any questions please ask.

Rose

Seedling/Plant Sale: May 18-19, 2013

Feed Hungry Neighbors, and new this year:

Support Michigan Native Plants Initiatives.

St. Francis Sustainable Garden Projects

       Annual Seedling/Plant Sale:  May 18-19, 2013.  Sale proceeds are used to fund supplies for 2 on site gardens.  One garden provides fresh organic produce and herbs to Perry Nursery School Families, a program for children of low-income single parents.  

An additional brand new initiative is our Michigan Native Plant Garden,

part of our Sustainability Project.

Donations and volunteers are also welcome.   Come learn about gardening!  Interested? Please contact Erich Jensen at: erichjensen@msn.com or (734) 771-8511.

We did it!: Compost Day Apr 20: St Francis of Assisi Sustainable Gardens Projects

We did it!: Compost Day Apr 20: St Francis of Assisi Sustainable Gardens Projects

Many thanks to 8 diehard volunteers (see attached photo taken by Ann Marie) who braved the cold (and even a little snow on the ground) and shoveled rain soaked compost (remember the weather from the previous 3 days) on a beautiful sunny morning.
 
Volunteers with shovels in hand included:

• Rose and Patrick Sherry
• Erich and Ann Marie Jensen

 
and the really heavy lifters who met at 8 am at the compost center:

• Bob and Joan Meagher (who borrowed/brought a pick up truck AND wheelbarrow)
• Frank Fazekas
• Ron Yonkoski

We filled the new potato and native plant "Paul*" bed (128" x 64") with compost (see photo) and piled the remainder near the compost bins and rhubarb bed for further distribution to the perimeter of the main sustainable garden. 
* Named for St Paul
 
See you soon:
 
May 18 morning:  Garden preparation including tilling of the compost into the bed and the perimeter and seedling and seed planting.  
 
May 18-19 masses: Seedling/Plant Sale
 
Wanted: The usual suspects/volunteers.

Thank you and Needs

Dear St Francis Sustainable Garden Volunteers:

Is it still Spring?  I think so, although it is hard to tell today. 

Events (Updates)

• Apr 5 (Fri) @ 10 am for ~ 1.5 hours on cool, clear, bright morning: 
• Thank you to our volunteers: Susan Allen, Erich and Ann Marie Jensen, Rose, Patrick and John (photographer) Sherry and Julie White (see attached picture) and vendors: Downtown Home and Garden (DHG) and Ann Arbor Native Plants (AANP) for:
• Clearing all leaf and winter debris from the perimeter of the rectory sustainable garden as well as edging, weeding and expanding the perimeter by several inches.  Note:  More herbs and selective native plants (i.e., perennials will be planted here).
• Turning and raking out the soil in the NW bed of the rectory sustainable garden and planting cool crops of sugar snap peas and spinach including setting up the trellis for the peas.  Note:  DHG donated the seeds and 4 x 6 foot metal stakes for the bed>
• Clearing all debris from one of the hill side garden (east of parking lot near pine trees) and turning over the soil for May planting of potatoes and native Michigan plants.  Note: DHG donated several pounds of red and Yukon gold seed potatoes (as well as onion sets) and AANP will be donating 4 plants each of 8 different Michigan native plants.
• Filling 3 compost bins with the cleared organic debris and watering them.
• Setting up rain barrel.
• Hauling several 6 foot winter damaged branches from cedar trees for disposal/recycling.
• Garlic, planted in October, is making an appearance, but the asparagus is not (yet).

• Apr 6 (Sa) & Apr 7 (Su) at 5pm, 8:45 am &/or 10:30 am: Vegetable, Herb and Michigan Native Plant Seed Sale at PAC on cool, cloudy and windy days (see attached picture).
• Thank you to our volunteers: Rose and Patrick Sherry, Erich and Ann Marie Jensen, Joan Meagher, and Kati Derezinski and vendors: DHG and AANP  Note:  Special thanks to Rose, Patrick (seed counter) and John (package artist) Sherry and Erich Jensen for packaging seeds and setting up the sale table and recordkeeping system.
• Seed Sale was success with ~$90  in sales (about 75 seed and Canna bulbs [donated by Joan Meagher] at $1 each) and donations. Note: DHG donated snap peas, bush beans, pole beans and spinach seeds.  Lettuce and AANP wildflower seed mix was purchased.  Dill and cilantro seeds had been harvested and packaged from St Francis garden.  Burpee had donated a variety of seed packets.
• All seed types sold at the masses with highest selling seeds being wildflowers mix and highest selling mass(es) were post 10:30 and pre 12:15 mass.  Note:  Will probably not sell after Sat 5 pm mass next year, but will still sell seedlings at this mass in May. 

Future Events

• Apr 20 (Sa): Join Joan Meagher ~ 8 am to truck compost from City of Ann Arbor Compost Center and haul to St Francis garden beds.  Bring shovel(s).  Possible 2 trips with pick-up truck.  Rain date: Apr 27
• http://www.a2gov.org/government/publicservices/fieldoperations/solidwasteunit/Compost/Pages/PurchaseCompostandMulch.aspx (for directions)
• Note: Need additional volunteers at garden around 9 am to receive compost.  Majority of compost will be added to potato and native plant bed, and remaining compost will be added to perimeter of rectory garden and side garden (rhubarb and raspberry) near the compost bins
• May 18 (Sa) at 9am: Meet at St Francis sustainable gardens to prepare remaining garden beds including another MI native plant bed, turn over compost bins, dig up herbs for plant sale, and plant seeds/seedlings. Bring shovels.  
• May 18 (Sa) & May 19 (Su) after 5pm, 8:45 am &/or 10:30 am masses: Vegetable, Herb and Michigan Native Plant Seedling Sale at PAC. Rain or shine.  
• Do you have extra garden plants or perennials that need thinning.   Please consider donating and/or bringing extra plants in pots for the Seedling Sale

Other Information (updates)

• New Initiative: Michigan Native Plant Sustainable Garden:  Part of the unused bed across the parking lot on the hill south of the Parish Office will become the home for some native Michigan perennials to serve as source and education on the importance of these plants with our parishioners.  We hope this garden will provide plantings for other parts of the parish property, altar decorations, and/or education initiatives for the parish school children.  We hope to include these plants in future seed and seedling sales with local nursery donations already being requested.
• New Initiative:  Increased Potato Production Project:  The other part of this unused bed is for increasing seed potato (e.g., red and Yukon gold plantings) This vegetable crop is being moved from the main rectory garden.  Some additional companion and/or vegetable plants (not eaten by rabbits) are being considered.  Lastly, we are looking to include some St Francis school children in the planting (and then subsequent fall harvest) of the potatoes.
• Donations: Although Joan Meagher and Erich Jensen have been diligently soliciting vendors for donations of plants, seeds and other garden supplies, we are specifically in need of the following items:
• Leaf rake
• Bow rake
• 100 foot of hoses (to reach from parish office building to potato and native plant bed)
• Hand saw
• 5 gallon bucket
• P.S.  We will also recognize donations in future Forums.
• Names for the Garden Beds
• For the rectory garden with its 4 beds outlining a cross: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
• For the potato and native plant bed: Paul
• For the another native plant bed near the potato and native plant bed: Francis
• For the side garden (e.g., rhubarb): Peter

Other upcoming volunteer needs

• A donation of 3 blueberry bushes and 3 huckleberry bushes awaits us compliments of Mary Ann's Michigan Trees and Shrubs, 28092 M 40 Hwy, Paw Paw, MI 49079
• Are you able or do you know anyone headed west to or past Paw, Paw MI in the next 4-6 weeks to pick up these plants, if so, please call Rose, Erich or Joan?
• Please save your clear plastic vegetable and fruit containers for garden harvest deliveries to Perry Nursery School.  Drop off at Scott Wright's parish office or Erich Jensen's house (near church on Crestland Street).  Please call first.
• Please consider or share a day of the week (~1 hour commitment) from Jun to Sep to water and weed the gardens as well as turn the compost bins. 
• Fazekas family has volunteered for Wednesdays.  Thank you, Frank, Julie and Frank III

Thank you for reading this long message, and thank you, for past and in advance volunteer time and/or donations. 

Please let us know, if you are no longer able to volunteer, so you are not bothered with future emails.

In Christ,
Erich Jensen
Garden Coordinator
734.771.8511

Rose Sherry
Garden Coordinator
734.657.0197

Joan Meagher
Fundraising Coordinator
734.546.6221

Scott Wright
Director, Parish Service and Justice
734.821.2121

Successful St Francis Seed Sale Apr 6 - 7

Dear All,

 
I certainly think so! even though weather was cool, cloudy, and windy!
 

1. Many thanks to:
1. The Sherry Family (Rose and Patrick) for covering the Saturday 5 pm mass
2. Erich and Ann Marie Jensen and Katy Derezinski for covering the Sunday 8:45 am mass
3. Joan Meagher (and Erich and Ann Marie) covering the Sunday 10:30 mass (and early arrivals to 12:15 pm mass).  Added note:  Family Religious Education, a big crowd, was in the PAC during this time, too.
4. Scott Wright for publicity in the Forum and priests end-of-mass announcements
2. Sales were at $88.00!
1. $7.00 at 5pm
2. $30.00 at 8:45am
3. $51.00 at 10:30am until 12:15pm
3. Sales breakdowns include:
1. $42 for crop seeds
2. $30 for flower seeds/bulbs
3. $16 for donations
4. Bestsellers
1. Wildflowers (15)
2. Spinach (11)
3. Lettuce (10)
4. Seed Balls (9)
5. Note: All seeds had sales!
5. Other notes/questions
1. Table setup outside PAC door seems to be a good spot!
2. Individual requests for heirloom tomato seedlings and lavender (i.e., consider for seedling sale)?
3. Seed sale tally sheets by mass very useful (Thank you, Rose)!
4. Selling all items for $1 simplified sales totals and giving change!
5. Individual request for kale (i.e., consider for future seed sale)?
6. Planting tips and content sheets (i.e., canna and wildflower) helpful giveaway!
7. Consider having a few small paper bags for larger purchases and canna bulbs?
8. Inclusion of flower seeds/bulbs encouraging? Seed balls for 2014? More native plant seeds?

 

Easter Blessings,

Erich Jensen

St Francis Sustainable Garden Co-coordinator

734.771.8511

New Initiatives - St. Francis Sustainable Garden Projects

Feed Hungry Neighbors, and new this year:

Support Michigan Native Plants Initiatives.

St. Francis Sustainable Garden Projects

       Annual Seed Sale:  Saturday April 6^th and Sunday April 7^th, 2013, after 5pm, 8:45 and 10:30 am Masses (find our table near the PAC entrance).  We sell organic seeds from the garden or other local sources.    (Annual Seedling/Plant Sale:  May 18-19, 2013)  Sale proceeds are used to fund supplies for 2 on site gardens.  One garden provides fresh organic produce and herbs to Perry Nursery School Families, a program for children of low-income single parents.  

An additional brand new initiative is our Michigan Native Plant Garden,

part of our Sustainability Project.

Donations and volunteers are also welcome.   Come learn about gardening!  Interested? Please contact Erich Jensen at: erichjensen@msn.com or (734) 771-8511.

St Francis of Assisi Sustainable Gardens Projects: Information and Notice to Volunteers

Dear Garden Volunteers,

Happy Spring (I think!)!

We welcome your good thoughts and prayers for gardening with us at St Francis of Assisi. Although it's cold today, we have longer daylight hours! and have tentatively planned this garden season events and now need your help. 

So please mark your calendars AND give us a call or email response to one or more of the following activities and dates:

Events ... Our Sustainable Garden Project Sign-up Form Here!

• Apr 5 (Fri) @ 10 am for ~ 1 hour:  Meet Erich and Rose to prepare one bed in the rectory sustainable garden to plant cool crops (e.g., spinach, peas).

• Apr 6 (Sa) & Apr 7 (Su) at 5pm, 8:45 am &/or 10:30 am: Vegetable, Herb and Michigan Native Plant Seed Sale at PAC. Check out Forum tomorrow (Palm Sunday) for information or perhaps Easter Sunday, too.  Rain or shine.

• Apr 20 (Sa): Join Joan Meagher ~ 8 am to truck compost from City of Ann Arbor Compost Center and haul to St Francis garden beds.  Bring shovel(s).  Possible 2 trips with pick-up truck.  Rain date: Apr 27
• http://www.a2gov.org/government/publicservices/fieldoperations/solidwasteunit/Compost/Pages/PurchaseCompostandMulch.aspx (for directions)

Our Sustainable Garden Project Sign-up Form Here!

• May 18 (Sa) 9am: Meet at St Francis sustainable gardens to prepare remaining garden beds, setup rain barrel, turn over compost bins, dig up herbs for plant sale, and possibly, plant seeds/seedlings. Bring shovels.  NOTE: Bring seedlings (or consider other plant donations) for garden planting and/or Seedling Sale (see next item)

• May 18 (Sa) 5pm & May 19 (Su) at 5pm, 8:45 am &/or 10:30 am: Vegetable, Herb and Michigan Native Plant Seedling Sale at PAC. Rain or shine.

Other Information

• New Initiative: Michigan Native Plant Sustainable Garden:  An unused bed across the parking lot on the hill south of the Parish Office will become the home for some native Michigan perennials to serve as source and education on the importance of these plants with our parishioners.  We hope this garden will provide plantings for other parts of the parish property, altar decorations, and/or education initiatives for the parish school children.  We hope to include these plants in future seed and seedling sales with local nursery donations already being requested.
• New Initiative: Potato Project:  This garden is in the planning stages with Andrew Comai, a parishioner, to involve parish and community partners to grow more potatoes and share part of their harvest with Perry Nursery School and Food Gatherers.  Another unused bed (as described previously) may be used to grow more potatoes on the church property, too.  Stay tuned.
• Donations: Joan Meagher and Erich Jensen have been diligently soliciting vendors for donations of plants, seeds and other garden supplies including but not limited to local nurseries (e.g., Lodi Farms), hardware stores (e.g., Ace Hardware), and native plant/wildflower suppliers (e.g., The Native Plant Nursery LLC) and associations (e.g., members of Wildflower Association of Michigan).  A grant has also been written by Joan and submitted to Meijer's.

Other upcoming volunteer needs

• A donation of 3 blueberry bushes and 3 huckleberry bushes awaits us compliments of Mary Ann's Michigan Trees and Shrubs, 28092 M 40 Hwy, Paw Paw, MI 49079Are you able or do you know anyone headed west to or past Paw, Paw MI in the next 6 weeks to pick up these plants, please call Rose, Erich or Joan?
• Please save your clear plastic vegetable and fruit containers for garden harvest deliveries to Perry Nursery School.  Drop off at Scott Wright's parish office or Erich Jensen's house (near church on Crestland Street).  Please call first.
• Please consider or share a day of the week (~1 hour commitment) from Jun to Sep to water and weed the gardens as well as turn the compost bins. 

Thank you for reading this long message, and thank you, in advance, for your volunteer time and/or donations.      Our Sustainable Garden Project Sign-up Form Here!

In Christ,     Erich Jensen, Garden Coordinator   734.771.8511

Rose Sherry, Garden Coordinator  734.657.0197

Joan Meagher, Fundraising Coordinator    734.546.6221

Scott Wright, Director, Parish Service and Justice   734.821.2121