27 Janurary, 2022
www.sunshinecommunitygardens.org
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In this Issue:
- Farewell to Charlotte Jernigan
- Plant Sale Countdown: Five Weeks Out
- Call for Plant Sale Cashiers
- Garden Tasks for Service Hours
Farewell to Charlotte Jernigan
Please join us for a fond farewell to longtime SCG member Charlotte Jernigan who is moving to Tennessee:
Sunday, January 30,2022, 11:30 - 1pm (light refreshments)
Out-of-doors and masked (This is not an official SCG event)
Charlotte started at Sunshine in 2000 as a volunteer and got her own plot in 2001. She went on to become very involved in Sunshine for over two decades, the place in Austin now dearest to her heart. Charlotte and Ila tried to recall her history - and it was 3 or 4 laptops ago - so please forgive any errors.
As SCG President and Plant Sale Czar in 2004, she negotiated the severance between SCG and Sustainable Food Center, squeaking out a $10,000 nest egg to get Sunshine started on its independence. Truly this was a "blood from a turnip" feat at the time but both organizations have gone on to be very prosperous and successful non-profits without weighing each other down. We became independent in 2005, initially under Greenlights for Non-Profit Success, and later as our own 501c3.
Charlotte was the first to reserve the SCG URL(s) for our website which were eventually parred down to our current URL SunshineCommunityGardens.org.
In 2004, she worked with Rice Span to innovate the Plant Sale model that is still used to this day in which we hire our vegetables grown by an outside nursery. Originally, we used Tecolote Farm and later switched to Gabriel Farms (our current grower.) This is the model that allowed Sunshine to order and sell huge volumes of plants. This model started producing the substantial budget contribution that we depend on year in and year out. Can't wait for the post-pandemic return of the full Plant sale in 2022! Charlotte went on to run the plant sale for 3 or 4 more years...until the 2007 or 2008 sale. For many years after that leadership role, she continued to run the live music aspect of the sale until 2019.
Most recently she was also Zone Coordinator for Zone 6 for 10-years and was a member of the Education Team. She served for several years on the Nominating Committee for the SCG Board Elections as well as leading the, thankfully short-lived, "New Site for Sunshine" Committee that came and went one year when we thought we were vulnerable to losing our acreage on Sunshine Drive.
There might be more but it is long forgotten. Charlotte is moving to Johnson City, TN where she hopes to enjoy the fresh mountain air, and four real seasons, in the famously friendly region of far east Tennessee near the Blue Ridge Mountains about an hour north of Asheville, NC.
Plant Sale Countdown: Six Weeks Out
By Janet Adams
Our annual plant sale is only 5 weeks away!!
All members are expected to volunteer to make the sale a success. Please clean in and around your own plot as well. We want to look our best when we invite the public to Sunshine.
There are workdays scheduled for every Saturday morning in February. There are lots service hours available.
Ways to help now:
- Time to start gathering boxes. These are used by our customers to take
their treasures home.
These are the best types
of boxes for the Plant Sale
These are the less
desirable types of boxes
Please try to get the most desirable types. No packing materials please--it makes the day of the plant sale go so much better and decreases the need to recycle those things we are not able to use.
Put the collected boxes into the green and white greenhouse, the Gardenport. - Volunteers are needed to write labels. You pick them up at the garden with
directions and do them at home. Return them as soon as you're finished for
others to place in the appropriate pot.
Contact Linda Booker at lindaruthbooker@gmail.com - The greenhouse is in need of additional circulation. Does anyone have a stand fan they are not using for the next 6 weeks? Please let me know if you can let the garden borrow it.
Plant descriptions for tomato, pepper, eggplant and tomatillo varieties are on the website. Plan your purchase!
Lots of work has been done already. Herbs were transplanted successfully despite the cold weather. Again, you can look through the doors but please do not enter the greenhouse unless you are on the herb team. We are trying to limit pest introduction as well as regulate temperatures.
SignUp Genius is almost ready to launch. Look for that email soon so you can find a way to help. Please read the descriptions carefully before you volunteer. But do volunteer. This is Sunshine's only fundraiser and it has kept our membership fees steady for many years no matter how dry of a summer we can have.
As for our planning in regards to the pandemic, we ask that volunteers do all they can to protect themselves and others from exposure to the virus.
If you have questions contact me at jartdaht@gmail.com or 512-808-7994 or find me at the garden.
Volunteer Opportunity: Cashiers at the Plant Sale
by Susan Wallar
We are seeking volunteers to be cashiers at the plant sale. Volunteers can work as little or as much as they like. Cashiers are needed at the following days and times:
- Friday evening (March 5th) - 5:00-7:00
- Saturday (March 6th) - 8:30-3:30
- Sunday morning (March 7th) - TBD
Cashiers typically work a minimum of 2 hour shifts with some staying all day on Saturday, with a break or two. It's a great way to fulfill your spring service hours requirement and it's a lot of fun.
There is a big need for cashiers processing credit cards. We use the Square app and you would need to download the app on your own device and create an account. From there it's pretty easy. I will schedule a short meeting Friday evening before the sale and will also meet in advance for those that will process credit cards to make sure you are set up and ready to go. We will supply the card reader.
We are working to make the event as COVID safe as possible but you need to determine your level of comfort being around people before signing up. We will be providing masks for all cashiers.
Please contact Susan Wallar at Swallar@gmail.com for more information or to sign up. Thank you.
Garden Tasks
20 January, 2022
Thank you to those who have participated in our last 7 work days, the next workday will be Saturday, February 5 from 09:00-12:00.
We've accomplished quite a bit but there is always more. I believe our next priority task will be beginning to clean up for The Plant Sale. This will be the first of 4 Saturdays in a row the we will be working in preparation For the Plant Sale in March. Contact Janet Adams (jardaht@gmail.com) for details.
We are running into a problem with hose connections. Please do not connect hoses with aluminum fixtures to our brass faucets. These two metal alloys will chemically bond, effectively welding them to each other. If you have them connected now, be aware that if there are problems with the faucet, your hose may have to be cut in order to get it off. Aluminum hose hardware is generally silver in color. If unsure, ask your vendor or read any literature that comes with the hose.
Priority (Tasks specifically needed):
- Maintaining common paths and common areas. If you have plants extending into common paths, trim them. The common paths are designed to allow the biggest wheelbarrows that we own to traverse them unimpeded.
- Mowing and maintaining perimeter fence line inside and out.
- Sunshine Community Garden was fined a few weeks ago for the dumpster being
over filled. Please help us to avoid this by following a few simple
guidelines.
- Fill the dumpster from the back (under the hinges) to the front. If you put stuff in the front, it tends to stay there.
- If you think the dumpster is full, contact me (Steve Camp, I'm there a lot) or Randy Thompson. We can usually compact stuff to make more space.
- Follow the rules regarding what goes into the dumpster and what does not, there's signage close by.
- If the dumpster actually does get full before pick up day, I'm working on finding a spot where we can store a reasonable overage, to be loaded after the dumpster is emptied.
- If you're done with your project, please close the lids.
TSVBI:
- Weeding paths in TSBVI garden and wood chip areas on west side. (This is normally needed. Try to get out roots. Be sure to smooth out paths after weeding to facilitate TSBVI students moving around garden).
- Picking up trash in compost area and along fence lines.
- Cleaning street curb gutters of dirt and debris build up. (At places in the curb gutter along Sunshine Dr. and 49th St., soil and debris has built up and grass beginning to grow. Scrape off with shovel and put in wheelbarrow. If debris is gravel can be put in low places in parking lot. Otherwise, put in dumpster.)
Regular:
- Mowing (Please check area around trailer and greenhouses.
- Maintaining common paths. (Gardeners are required to maintain a 2' strip of common paths adjacent to their plot.)
- Mowing and cleaning up overgrown/messy places in common areas.
Note: TSBVI hour tasks can also count as regular hours.
Your Zone Coordinator may have more tasks than are listed here. Contact them if you feel that you have run out of things to do.
Slow Down..You're on Garden Time! Enjoy!
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