This letter will go out to all gardeners who reserved a plot at Bandi Shaum:<\/p>\n
Dear Gardener,<\/p>\n
Welcome!\u00a0 Even though spring seems far away, you\u2019re probably already receiving your garden and seed catalogues in the mail and thinking about what you\u2019d like to plant in your garden this year.\u00a0 Meanwhile, we\u2019ve been hard at work getting Bandi Shaum ready for the 2013 planting season.\u00a0 The big news is that we\u2019ve received a grant from The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation (http:\/\/www.ftpf.org\/), which will provide free fruit and nut trees, fruit bushes, and fruit vines for Bandi Shaum!\u00a0 FTPF is an international organization that plants orchards all over the world, so this is quite a coup for us.\u00a0 We\u2019ll keep you posted, via the blog (https:\/\/bandishaum.wordpress.com\/), on details concerning this exciting grant.<\/p>\n
Also during the off-season, the work on the shed continues; we expect it to be finished by Planting Day. We have nothing new to report on the water line, but the City assures us that it will be in place by growing season.<\/p>\n
Just like last year, Grow Pittsburgh will be conducting informational sessions to help us get ready to garden successfully.\u00a0 The first session, \u201cGardening 101\u201d will be about organic gardening basics, and is open to both current and potential Bandi Shaum gardeners. It will take place on March 18th<\/b> at 6 pm at Brashear.\u00a0 Keep an eye on the Bandi Shaum blog for information on the other gardening sessions.\u00a0 Grow Pittsburgh will once again be providing us with free flower and vegetable seeds and seedlings on Planting Day, May 18th<\/b>,starting at 9 a.m.\u00a0 Get there early for the best selection!<\/p>\n
On April 13th<\/b>, join us at the garden for Clean Up Day<\/b> to help spread the mulch on the pathways and prepare the garden for growing season. This year, we will use the large jersey barrier storage space on the left for composting and the one on the right for mulch storage.\u00a0 No weeds or insect-infested materials should be deposited here. Instead, they should be deposited behind the jersey barriers.\u00a0 Last year, so many people deposited unusable materials in the composting bin (large pieces, weeds, etc.), that we were unable to compost our own materials.\u00a0 Since Bandi Shaum is designed to be self-sustaining, it is important that we each follow the composting guidelines.\u00a0 Learn more at the \u201cComposting Basics\u201d garden session at Brashear on May 6th<\/b>, 6 pm.<\/p>\n
Enclosed with this letter are the Southside Community Garden Guidelines for 2013.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The most important change is the new volunteer policy.\u00a0 As you can imagine, it takes a great deal of community effort to bring a community garden into existence and to help it to thrive.\u00a0 The Steering Committee has devoted countless hours to the creation and maintenance of Bandi Shaum.\u00a0 Since this is our last year under the stewardship of Grow Pittsburgh, which has been a huge help to us, we need to move toward becoming self-sustaining.\u00a0 With that in mind, we instituted a new policy: gardeners who do no volunteer for one of the garden jobs listed on the next page will be assigned to a position.\u00a0 So be sure to sign up quickly for the volunteer position of your choice!<\/p>\n
Happy Gardening!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This letter will go out to all gardeners who reserved a plot at Bandi Shaum:<\/p>\n
Dear Gardener,<\/p>\n
Welcome!\u00a0 Even though spring seems far away, you\u2019re probably already receiving your garden and seed catalogues in the mail and thinking about what you\u2019d like to plant in your garden this year.\u00a0 Meanwhile, \u2026<\/p>\n