It's Garden Sign-up time

New contracts are on the site. Garden contracts are coming in fast so if you're interested get yours in soon.

A few brief answers to your most frequently asked questions:

Work days are not yet scheduled we'll need to wait until weather and work plays out a little more. There will be other opportunities if you cannot make them when they are announced.

If you send in a contract and the funds and receive confirmation that there is a plot available for you then you have a plot, there's no lottery. The lottery is for selecting your specific plot location. I would rather not use the lottery system, as last year everyone was just so accomadating and friendly the gardeners were just able to pick there plot after the work day. However, if it appears this open fairness won't work we will fall back on a lottery, or we may do a combination. People who have worked before or on that work day will choose their plots in a fair open way and others will be chosen based on that lottery system. Please remember I'm not a professional garden coordinator . . . is there a job like this? . . . I will try to do my best to be as fair and as accomodating to everyone as is reasonably possible.

Bluff Garden

As many of you know, we were approved by the City Council, THANK YOU! to add a second Community Garden location. Sargent's Nursery will be donating much of the initial soil prep. However, there will still be a lot to do, installing fence posts and fencing, etc. The work day will be scheduled as we get closer to the opening of the garden as it is so weather dependent. If you will not be able to make the work day when it is scheduled I just ask that you contact me, the garden coordinator and we'll discuss some other garden work that can be done throughout the season at another time. Having said that, the work days are great opportunities to meet other gardeners and the work needs to be done to open the garden to planting, so I strongly encourage everyone who can make it to be there. We will have a work day at the Spring Creek garden as well, we'll raise the fence, and hopefully install a better watering system (keep those fingers crossed, everyone). I will try to plan the work days on seperate days and I encourage you to come to the one at the garden you will be gardening at to meet your neighbors but either one would be fine, as I said, the work simply needs to be done.

Sorry for the long bit of news, but I think everyone has been wondering about this.

Garden Planning

I hope everyone has the planting bug and is thinking about their layouts and seeds. Here are some resources for you or some things to keep in mind.

The following is a short list of some resources for seed starts, you are not required to grow heirloom or heritage or organic seeds, however, these resources may provide some of this for those interested.

Hilsgen Family Farm is a local grower who sells heirloom and open pollinated varieties of tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and herbs $2.00/6-pack. To purchase contact Cindy at 715-448-2050.

Seed Savers in Decorah, Iowa may be an internet resource for heritage seeds http://www.seedsavers.org

If you have funds or materials to contribute please contact the garden coordinator (see contact info below).

For information on how to donate your extra garden produce to the "Plant a Row for the Hungry" program and the Red Wing Food Shelf, please see our PAR flier.

Welcome to Red Wing Community Garden

Our second event of the season is a gardening class taught by Master gardeners Amy Olson and Kathy Hinzmann. They will be discussing starting seeds indoors and companion planting with herbs.

We'll meet in the basement of the RW Public Library, enter on 3rd Street, from 6:30-7:30 on Tuesday, March 3rd.

There will also be garden contracts available and other garden information.