Dear Gardeners.
All Righty Then.
This email is an overview of the year. A summary of the more salient happenings that give a snapshot of our little slice of paradise. There’s a lot that goes on in the gardening season, both obvious and behind the scenes.
First of all, congratulations to the Ripka‘s (plot 47 middle) for bringing a new gardener into the world this past month! Josephine Rose Ripka will be joining her older sister Emma at the garden next year. We can’t wait to meet her!
This was a rock solid year for the garden. Not only did we stay open and have a safe place for people to go outside of their homes, we had a darned good growing season. Kudos to everyone for tending to their plots and making the place so special.
We were also at capacity. We had a large influx of new gardeners, particularly when we began to go into lockdown. With a full membership, we had (and have) a waiting list of residents looking to gain membership.
ADMINISTRATION
As far as administration is concerned, a few excellent garden members moved on from their tenures on the Steering Committee.
Lou Rolla is an original garden member and an original steering committee member. He remains as a gardener. Lou had his hand in all kinds of things including setting up the original plot markers for the garden which was a Herculean effort. Lou also played a pivotal role in our ongoing Groundhog Slim Eradication Project.
Alec Head, original member, Master Gardener, and compost manager extraordinaire will remain a gardener as well. He has overseen our compost area for I can’t remember how long and, because of his efforts, we have had plenty of “Black Gold“ for gardeners to use over the years. His management of this part of our garden was critical. Please note that he, like many others at the garden, suffers from a unique stress disorder born from people throwing non-compostable materials in the compost. Please help Alec stay in good health and honor his work by not throwing your garbage into the compost.
Cris Singer remains with us as a gardener as well. Cris is an original garden member and, like Lisa Fellah, represents the garden beautifully with a plot right up front at one of our gates. Known for her kindness, calm demeanor, thoughtfulness and dazzling display of dahlias, Cris always lent a level headed approach to decision-making for the garden.
Deirdre Price has coordinated many parties for the garden over the years. Nobody does it better than Deirdre. Deirdre was our website manager as well, having built and run the website for years. Her contributions will surely be missed.
POSITIVES
The vast majority of people put in their work hours and kept their plots and paths relatively weed free. Consequently, the garden looked in great shape throughout the year. Work hours and weeding are non-negotiable (with exceptions clearly stated in the contract) and are usually the cause for rescinding a garden membership. Fortunately, we had very few of those this year.
Our compost site was drastically improved this year by moving the compost off the exterior fence and building an internal fenced-in compost boundary.
Approximately 800 linear feet of stainless steel, fine mesh fencing was added as part of our ongoing Groundhog Slim Eradication Project. This is a never ending war. Battles are won and battles are lost. This one looks like a winner. While there was a groundhog sighting within the confines of our fence, that was early in the season. An investigation by our security services and trapping team (S2T2), Steve Chin and Andrew Coleman, revealed that the groundhog was already living in the compost. Collectively, we did not suffer nearly the damage from Groundhog Slim that we have in the past.
That does not mean we did not suffer a breach or two. After the installation of the fencing, Groundhog Slim went for the new achilles. He burrowed under the fence gate over by the wood chips. Though he went undetected, this counterpunch resulted in the installation of a concrete slab under that gate with a French drain leading away from it. That should do the trick… For now.
Groundhog Slim is one of several living things that try to get into our garden from the outside. Another never ending battle is with the weeds along our periphery. A significant number of our gardeners participated in a project this year called the Iron Guardeners. Members signed up for 20 foot sections of fence and kept them relatively weed free and wood chipped so that we did not have the White Walker (Game of Thrones reference) weed invasion. Those gardeners know who they are. Your efforts did not go unnoticed.
Many gardeners went above and beyond what they are contractually obligated to do. We didn’t have to chase them for work hours, they didn’t complain and they offered to do more. There are many members who keep pouring themselves into this place and their efforts make our experience a whole lot better. That list is long. You know who you are.
Grow A Row, by all measures, was a smashing success. The amount of time it took for Amy Unikewicz to coordinate all that and see it through was fantastic. I know Amy had a small army helping her. I’d like to note that Amy also is our tools manager. She takes all of our tools home for the winter and brings them back every spring. Again, there are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes. That’s one of them. Thanks Amy and Amy‘s team.
The 7th Annual Westport Community Gardens bocce tournament was olympic this year. I’m thinking of making participation in the tournament a requirement for all garden members from now on. Just kidding!
We had 21 competitors this year. Favorites went down early and long shots went deep in the tournament. People laughed, people cried. In the end it came down to neophyte Orly Angerthal versus our most wise gardener (and possibly Most Improved) Jeffrey Wieser. If you had your money on Orly, it would’ve been like betting on Amazon in the old days when they were still a bookstore. It was an epic battle between two really, really good sports. Of special note is that Orly is the first woman to walk away with the championship. You go girl! In defeat, Jeff walked away a winner with the bottle of hooch that Orly had her eye on.
In the common space, the plum tree was removed as it had a black fungus. A new crabapple was planted there and should make for a beautiful display in the spring along with the other two. Who would’ve thought that the root system of that plum tree would extend far and wide. It was a beast to remove. Thank you to Joe Wiles and Pat Deucy for taking on the task of removing the tree. Marjorie Donalds helped me slay the tentacles of that root system.
The common space also has seen the growth of our climbing roses over the arbor as well as the growth of our Knockout Roses and Saint John's Wort. Nick Mancini‘s grapes did well this year but the fungus that attacks them prevented a full crop of grapes from rewarding us.
The other common space, the shady area behind plots one and two, saw the growth of the Elderberry shrubs and the Chokeberry bushes. The fruits and flowers were enjoyed by the birds and the bees.
Our milkweed garden, managed by Melissa Roberts and our wildflower garden, managed by Toni Simonetti, continue to thrive. Being a monarch butterfly way-station and a part of the pollinator pathway is a real badge of honor.
CHALLENGES (Oy!)
Groundhog Slim, getting people to do their work hours, getting people to read and adhere to the contract, getting people to treat the compost site like a compost site, getting people to shut off the hoses, getting people to lock up when they’re the last ones out. That’s all!
HONORABLE MENTION
A note regarding a new gardener who exemplified all that is right about the garden. Julie O’Grady (plot 39) built her own 10 x 40 plot this year and showed us all a bit about how to do it right. In addition to creating a paradise within a paradise, her positive spirit and generous nature was noted by those who came into contact with her. Julie gave away more plants then nursery this year. Thank you Julie!
There were many acts of kindness and giving between gardeners. That’s what helps make this place a community.
I am sure I left out a million things and people I should mention in this email and I am sorry for that.
If you are on social media and you are so inclined, our Facebook page is run by Elise Meyer and our Instagram site is run by Marjorie Donalds. Both are wonderfully done. Our website will soon have our year in pictures as a new page.
I will end with a list of our Steering Committee members. These volunteers put a lot of time and effort into keeping this place in good stead. And what a place it is!! Dollar for dollar, square foot by square foot, I think this is the best game in town.
Wishing you the warmest of holidays, the safest of holidays and the happiest of holidays.
Don’t forget to get your contracts back to us shortly after they’re sent out in January!
Lou
STEERING COMMITTEE
MIke Beebe - Work Jobs
Andrew Coleman - Treasurer (and third row hose manager)
Laureen Haynes - Work Hours
Sally Kleinman - Weed Police
Amy Luett - TBD
Rob Moorman - Locks and Wood Chips
Laura Riguzzi - Membership
Jeff Schorer - Fencing
Toni Simonetti - Membership
Peter Swift - Compost
Lou Weinberg - Chairman