Greetings and Welcome!

Thank you for checking out our blog or connecting with us about your interest in having a community garden plot. We are busy working up a plan for updated agreements and policies for this year's gardening season, re-designing our website and project and program blogs; and getting ready for a wonderful gardening season!

For the time being, you may contact us at the following mailing address: tccommunitygardens@gmail.com and we will send out an announcement to remind everyone of our Community Garden sign-up date, which will happen on April 16th, in collaboration with a day of Permaculture Design Project Presentations. Generally this is a first-come, first-served process, with gardeners in good-standing "grand-mothered" in from year to year.

We are concerned that this year for the first time, we have more folks on our waiting list than we may be able accommodate in a garden plot at the Barns property site. We wish to remind folks that we do have small raised bed plots at the Cook's House Community Garden, and that we can help guide you in beginning your own community garden in your neighborhood, or front yard as well. The more "yardening" the better!

In addition to other programming, we are designing a Urban Farming Collective, a project of Little Artshram, with the support of Traverse City's Mayor Chris Bzdok. The Urban Farming Collective will be a networking and support system to help grow more community gardens in Traverse City. More information about the Urban Farming Collective, and ways to get involved will be shared at the upcoming event on April 16th.

Please check our website for details about the Permaculture Design Project and Community Garden Day, Saturday April 16th, at: www.littleartshram.org

We will do our best to keep you informed of community gardening happenings as Spring approaches!

Sincerely,

Little Artshram
and the Urban Farming Collective

www.littleartshram.org

Winter planning for the Community Gardens....

What does PERMACULTURE have to do with Community Gardening? Contact us and find out about the upcoming Permaculture Design Course(PDC), you may wish to join us for a winter planning and study!

The PDC will include student design projects that include our Community Gardens, the Youth-Market Garden CSA, a Forest and Perennial Vegetable Garden at our Historic Barns Park site....AND, our efforts to spread community gardens around the Traverse City area....beginning with a tiny Community Garden on Front St.

May 22nd Skill-Share and Community Garden Celebration!

This is a family-friendly event and there will be something for everyone to learn and to participate in....

from building a garden, growing food in your front or, backyard, a Plant Swap and Seedling Sale,

to fine-tuning your Nature Awareness skills, we are offering simple ways to become more self-reliant

and earth-friendly in this day-long Skill-share and Community Garden Celebration.

WHERE: The Little Artshram Community Gardens at the Historic Barns Park

near the Munson Woods and The Village of Grand Traverse Commons in Traverse City

TIME: 10am until 7pm

Skill-Share Workshops: 10-3 pm, hourly

Community Garden Work-share projects: on-going, and 3-5 pm

Community Garden Potluck and Near the Barn Dance, 5-7 pm

This is an all-day affair! SO, bring a sack lunch and something to

drink, and a dish to share for the evening potluck.

ALSO, this is a ZERO-Trash event. Pack it in, Pack it out!

COST: $5.00 suggested donation per workshop, (Kids, free) thanks!

Check out the final Skill-Share schedule and summer gardening news on our blog at: www.littleartshram.org

We have a few garden plots available, contact our volunteer coordinators: tccommunitygardens@gmail.com

HARVEST FESTIVAL 2009!

Hey to all our "HAND-MADE" friends: knitters, spinners, sewers,
weavers, crotchet-ers, and Afgan Angels.....we are having a wonderful
community gathering to celebrate the harvest at our Community Gardens
and another summer of Art-Farm programming on the Barns Property. We
would like to organize a circle of "hand-made" artists who would like
to demonstrate and teach-by-doing as one of the on-going activities
for folks to join in on. Would you or anyone that you know like to
join in on this first Hand-made Crafter's Skill-Share as a mentor/
demonstrator? Contact pe...@littleartshram.org

MORE GENERAL INFORMATION, FYI....

We are scrambling to find volunteers and organizational help to do
this scheduled event this year. We feel it is a seed we planted (this
is the Third Annual...) and we have a responsibility to tend it....It
has been a busy fall, with lots' of other wonderful festivals and
gatherings----but we gotta celebrate our 4.3 acres and our incoming
well/irrigation system!

Annual Little Artshram & Community Gardens HARVEST FESTIVAL

September 2009

Greetings!

It's Harvest time! A time to heap all that we have planted and
harvested throughout the growing season on the center of our table and
be thankful for our fruitfulness! If you are interested in becoming a
sponsor, please connect with Jenny McKellar for details.

At the top of our "heap of harvest" is celebrating our official new-
old home-place on the Historic Barns Property. And here we are, as we
approach the end of our eighth year of service in the Traverse City
community. We are grateful for the shared space on the barns property
with the City and Rec Authority, SEEDS and the Botanic Gardens, and a
celebration is in order!

JOIN US, as we Heap the Harvest on the table! HARVEST FESTIVAL
a benefit
for the whole family and community!

at Little Artshram's Art-Farm and Community Gardens on the Historic
Barns property,
Traverse City, MI

Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009

12-5 PM

$5 per person, $20 family, Donations accepted, Bay Bucks accepted.
(No-
one will be turned away for lack of funds)

* Music and merrymaking with Blackwater Valley Songs
* Community Potluck–bring your own tableware, chairs and blankets
* Hand-made Crafters Skill-Share, learn about spinning, weaving,
knitting, crotcheting….
* Youth Market Farmers Market and a Vegetable & Seed Swap/Sale
* Art-Farm Treasure Hunt!
* Face painting!
* This is a Zero-trash event, which means ONLY–compost buckets
will be provided

Funds raised will go towards the Art-Farm & Community Garden Programs,
and help underwrite the Children and Family portion of the Great Lakes
Bioneers Conference.

We thank our SPONSORS, so far: Cedar City Market, SEEDS, The Botanic
Gardens of Northwest Michigan, Rolling Centuries Farms, Oryana Natural
Foods, Edible Grand Traverse Magazine, and all the great crafters,
musicians, farmers,and volunteers who are generously giving their time
and talent…

For further information:
www.littleartshram.org
231-510-3491

Volunteer Coordinator: Emily Huntoon, 517-914-6255

emily.hunt...@gmail.com

Sponsorship Coordinator: Jenny Mckellar, 231-944-4622

jenar...@hotmail.com

Treasure Huntress & Skill-Share Coordinator: Penny Krebiehl,
231-510-3491

pe...@littleartshram.org

May Community Gardens Update

Great news! Monday, May 4th, Little Artshram officially signed a management agreement for the Barns Property along with our management partners, SEEDS and the Botanic Gardens Society of Northwest Michigan. (Little a along with SEEDS and BGS are collectively the Barns Use Group-BUG!)

The Barns Property and the old farm, of the former State Mental Hospital is now our official home-place for the Community Gardens and Art-Farm programs! Little Artshram will be occupying approximately four acres along with an old garage building which we plan to transform into our Art-Farm Workshop and Community Learning Center. For details about the Art-Farm summer camps and the Youth Market Garden, please visit the Little Artshram blog, http://www.littleartshram.org/blog/, or contact Penny Krebiehl, penny@littleartshram.org

A few other updates:

-As there are now future plans for development and cultivation in areas outside the current fenced garden, it would be great if gardeners could refrain from driving past the garage building and into the garden area, unless necessary (i.e. for water hauling or tilling).

-Little Artshram has been working along with SEEDS on a well for the property, and last month we had a test well successfully drilled! We are now working on getting quotes and securing funds to put a well and irrigation in place. For the time being, there is water in the rain catchment tank and in the blue barrels, partake as needed!

Spring is coming . . .

If you haven't had a chance to visit the gardens lately, it's worth taking a walk around and looking!

Things are melting and there are patches of green on last year's kale and herbs. Woo-hoo!

When to plant?

Some crops thrive in cool weather, while others only grow well when it’s warmer. So how do you know when to plant what? The key factor that should guide your decisions is your average last spring frost date.

Most cool season crops, like cabbage, broccoli, lettuce and many others, can tolerate a light frost and will grow best when sown a couple weeks before your last spring frost. Some, like peas and spinach, are so cold-hardy they can even be planted “as soon as the ground can be worked,” as many seed packets say. But warm season crops like squash, cucumber, and basil will be killed by frost if your seeds come up too soon. Ditto for warm season transplants such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplants — if you don’t wait until danger of frost has passed before you set them out, a late frost will kill them.

For Traverse City, there is a 50% chance of frost after May 29th. To play it safe, wait until June 14th, after which there is only a 10% chance of frost. Of course, it's always a good idea to pay attention to the weather patterns at the time as well.

Here’s a summary of which crops to plant early, and which ones not to plant until after your last spring frost date:

Very early spring (as soon as the ground can be worked)

• Onions
• peas
• spinach

Early spring

• lettuce
• beets
• carrots
• radishes
• dill
• cilantro
• cabbage
• broccoli
• celery
• kale
• potatoes

After last frost date

• beans
• corn
• melons
• cucumbers
• squash
• tomatoes
• peppers
• pumpkins
• eggplant
• basil

(Information from Mother Earth News and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service)