The Dandelion Ranch: Is Spring Here? Community Involvement Needed!!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Is Spring Here? Community Involvement Needed!!

Take Hold of the Garden!

COMMUNITY MEETING
Wednesday, March 21
7:00-8:30 pm
At Kirsten and Joshua's house
2119 Calle Tecolote (off Arroyo Chamiso, south of St. Michael's).
Parking is limited. Please carpool or bike if you can

With the Equinox on Monday, we are entering Spring! The seed flats are sprouting and it is time for us to nurture the garden.

Come find out where we stand as a community garden and contribute to the decisions that will form our future. This an important meeting. We have a beautiful 30' yurt space in which to gather (thank you Louisa!) for a focused meeting and Kirsten Szykitka has volunteered to facilitate a fruitful discussion. Please join us!

Directions:
From St Michael's, going South, take a Right on Arroyo Chamiso Road.
Go to Tecolote and take a Left

(click on image for larger view)

from Elizabeth Christine
a fellow rancher

Dear Dandelion Ranchers,

As we have enjoyed the harvests, good company and teachings so freely given by our beloved founders of Dandelion Ranch, finding ways we can give back is what will sustain the garden and the community we are growing into. Though magic abounds, the garden arose and is starting a new year due to generous contributions of time and money from those who had the dream. All of us who have been drawn to partake in this dream must now become the resource that maintains its life. A beautiful garden has been gifted. Many hands and hearts are needed to do all that is required to keep it alive.

Those of us who are aware of how rapidly things are changing in this world, including our food system, sense the timeliness of a community garden coming into our midst. It is crucial that we make increased local resilience a high priority... NOW... while our well stocked grocery stores are still in place. Now is the time to exert the effort to establish gardens throughout Santa Fe and build a solid sense of community around us. Our carbon dependency, which all commercial farming and retailing of food relies on, may not last forever. One way or another, we are transitioning into a new paradigm!
This paradigm is begging us to practice new ways of being in community. Collaboration is the ticket and Dandelion Ranch is a perfect opportunity to develop this skill through reclaiming and tending the commons, working together, sharing decisions, caring for and educating the children.

Dandelion Ranch was initiated by people who are inspired to develop themselves and the community through the garden. For the past nine months, they have diligently built a solid and fertile foundation. A sweet community has gathered, beautiful soil has been developed, and many new areas of cultivation are now ready for adoption by those of us who are called to grow our souls through this joint effort.

Poki recently initiated Gaia Gardens, a larger communal garden in town, and a lot of his time and energy will be redirected to this new endeavor. The rest of us need to step forward to co-steward the jewel that Dandelion Ranch is... and journey together into the new paradigm. What could be better!!

with love,
Elizabeth

WAYS TO PARTICIPATE

Regular work party attendance. There is always work to be done and we need people who are willing to show up every Wednesday and/or Saturday. This is where continuity is built and when we get to be with each other in the garden.

People to take responsibility for one sub-area of the garden. Poki and Juaquin are available to answer questions and point us in the right direction, but they are greatly relieved each time someone commits to being mindful of one aspect of the garden. This mindfulness includes such things as planning, planting, watering, securing needed supplies, building and picking up donated materials... all the things they have been doing for us (thank you!).

Making a monthly monetary contribution is another way to sustain our garden and community. The garden incurs very real expenses that have been footed for us. (Thanks again, Dan, Giselle, Poki and Juaquin!). We are setting an initial goal of having 10 people who are committed to giving $15 dollars a month to cover the water bill and other basic expenses.

The creation of a garden fund is another way to sustain our garden and community. Money, like compost nourishes the growth of our garden. If you would like to make a larger contribution, it is more than welcomed (you can donate here) If you are a creative fundraiser, or are called to become one... even for a moment... please come forward! The community spirit is strengthened with such ventures. We are currently set to raise the money needed to put in a much needed irrigation system. Come to the meeting on Wed. March 21 to learn more about what this will entail.

Contributing materials needed by the garden is another way to become a resource. We are going to be posting a list of needed supplies for everyone to be aware of. Materials can come from your back yard, the store, a lucky yard sale, sending an email to your list asking if friends have useful things they would like cleared from their property, or spotting what is needed somewhere along your travels and asking for a donation from strangers who have what is needed lying around. This area is where our hunter-gatherer instincts comes back to life! Poki is exceptionally good at this... watch how he works to get your gathering instinct stimulated.

You are a resource. Ask someone at the garden, imagine, or intuit what resources you have to give to sustain this beautiful gift that has manifest in our midst.

A special thanks to:
Michele, Giselle, Tia and Mishra who have been collecting compost for months already!!