March 2023 Membership Meeting Agenda

March 2023 Membership Meeting

Wednesday, March 15th – Virtual

Introductions (Claire and Dana)

Welcome to the Hollenback Garden 2023 Season!
Ice breaker: Your name, a little about you and (1) thing you’d like to grow this year.

Steering Committee for 2023 season

Covid-19 and the Garden (Claire and Dana)

Hollenback will be open as usual in 2023; we will monitor any Covid-related developments and make changes to our open status accordingly.
Gate stays open when members are in the garden.

Membership Committee (Liz):

Membership requirements are: Dues & 3 Meetings/ 3 Workdays/ 4 Open Hour sessions
- Memberships can be in pairs

Membership will pass out bylaws to be signed at second meeting (April); by signing, you agree to abide by Hollenback Garden regulations
Garden is open Saturday and Sunday, 10am-6pm; gardeners complete open hours during these blocks or during other blocks of time. Open hours get recorded in binder in the toilet.
- Expect an email for more details about open hour signup

There are additional opportunities to earn credits through workshops and sharing – there are details about how to do this in bylaws
Plant your plot by June 15th, or forfeit it
New members and being an apprentice
- Shared herb garden
- Children’s garden
- If you’re new, email: hollenbackcommunitygarden@gmail.com with your email address, phone number, name, and if you plan to share a membership your partner’s name and contact info.

We tentatively expect to have eight plots to distribute on Saturday, March 18 at 11:00 a.m. Please come that morning if you are on the waitlist or if you have a plot and want to switch!
Those who do not receive a plot this year will retain their number on the waitlist for next year, and will have priority over 2023 apprentices for plot distribution in 2024.

Operations Committee Update (Adrienne and Ernesto):

Email Hollenback email with project ideas
Early season goals include: cleaning up from winter, spring city water hookup, hooking up rainwater harvester, replacing beds
Compost Committee
- Has to be turned. Need to find interested folks to coordinate. Let Ernesto know if interested!
Water Committee:
- Simple — keep water barrels filled and put mosquito things in there. Let Ernesto or Yoni know if interested!
Trash–M, W, F (take out Sun., T, Th–trash + recycling)
- Take out on night before
- Please take out if you see it full or fill it or if you grill or add food
Plot maintenance (eg things overgrowing; surrounding pots)
- Please be mindful of things overgrowing and blocking walking ways and access to others’ plots.
Compost! Ours doesn’t get to heat that city compost used to so please no meat or animal products or paper. Please review the plaque above the compost and cover with a handful of greens and browns. Primarily, cover up the food to keep critters at bay.
Seedlings: GrowNYC order to come! We’ll send an email when they arrive. Also an order coming from GreenThumb.

Treasurer (Helen):

Treasury related questions/Paypal issues: hcgbk.treasurer@gmail.com. Do not email Helen directly.

Pay your dues, on a sliding scale from $10-50, by June 15th. Use paypal: @HCGBK, or use paypal.me/HCGBK. Venmo is not an option.
Email garden related purchase requests directly to Dana and Claire for approval (send to Hollenback email above) prior to making any purchases. Once approved and purchased, send reimbursement materials to Sasha.
Items that exceed $250 require community vote. Once approved and purchased, send reimbursement materials to Helen.

BQLT Updates (Anastasia and Cristina):

What is BQLT? www.bqlt.org
- Brooklyn Queens Land Trust: 35 community gardens as members
- Liability insurance, nonprofit status, city water, maintenance support
- Protected land

Water will be turned on during last week of March/early April (likely by first week in April)
Save the Date for the BQLT Annual Membership Meeting: Saturday April 15th –all are invited to vote on Board Members!
BQLT Point People: Domica Roberts (BQLT) and Alonso Cordoba (our “Ambassador”)
Emails full of info from BQLT to come!
Key dates for BQLT – upcoming events
- 3/25 Seed Sowing Workshop with Brooklyn Grange Farm–Sunset Park
- 3/31 Virtual DOH Rat Academy for Gardeners
- 4/1 GreenThumb’s 39th Annual GrowTogether Conference
- Next General Gardener Meeting: Saturday, May 6th 2023, Garden location [TBD]

Events Committee Update (Alicia and Kerri)

Fundraising Ideas: Plant Giveaway/Sale (grow our own seedlings and/or purchase from Go NYC plant sale), Sidewalk Sale during Workdays, DIY Workshop Ideas
Please start propagating house plants! People love them!!! 😀
Our first newsletter will start going out in April. Any news and events you’d like to be included for this month or any in the future, please send to Hollenbackcommunitygarden@gmail.com, Attn: Alicia in the subject line.
On social media – tag @hollenbackcommunitygarden for any pics you would like featured. We’ll do our best to stay on top of reposting!

Email Protocols (Dana and Claire)

Listserv purpose; Liz is the point person.
Only use listserv email for announcements and events that relate to gardening; ex: BQLT updates, events happening w/ Green Thumb, educational opportunities with BBG, watering requests, sharing gathering info with garden. Please do not reply all.
It’s NOT MODERATED so use sparingly.
Proposals, ideas, concerns, questions–send directly to Claire and Dana (send to Hollenback email: hollenbackcommunitygarden@gmail.com) who will share with SC and respond accordingly.

Season schedule:

Hollenback Community Garden