Notes from Dandelion Ranch Meeting May 7, 2012

 Present: Giselle, Dan, Kirsten, Poki, Bella, Carmen

(Names of those commenting are in parentheses)

General discussion of how work is proceeding

~ A suggestion to revisit the list of Areas of Responsibility, to see how to make it work. (Bella)

~How is our structure permitting folks to ‘not commit”? (Poki)

~Poki & Bella know the pulse the best; the things that need to get done. We need a ‘welcomer’ (Poki)

~Mission is still nebulous. Why are folks attracted to DLR? Food, NO. Teaching YES. Community YES. Not me but find other teachers & organize. Work out mission statement accordingly. (Poki) There followed a discussion about how much we already have to offer as a group in terms of knowledge and classes. The idea was put forward to ask everyone what they might be able to offer as a “class” in the garden….

Action: Send an email to all DLR people asking what skills they can offer as classes?

~Montessori farm school ‘real time’ learning vs. “class at 4pm” approach (i.e. “real-time doing” is a better teacher than “taking notes at an official class”) (Bella)

~Don’t loose sight that lots of people are committed here (Giselle)

~But we need group work presence (Poki)

Action: We need a to-do list for whoever is the last to leave the garden for the day.

~Suggested: 4 Saturdays, someone different signs up to shadow w Poki  (Giselle)

~Decision: Tuesday – Saturday, the garden will be open to all established folks. We will cut ‘public’ welcoming time to Saturdays 3-6 only, at least for now (Giselle) Everyone agreed this would help w Poki-transition.

COMMUNICATION

~Communicate to members: We need more juice from the community: time & $$. Suggested $10 monthly (Carmen) Bloggers may be the best for this task.

~Also set up phone tree to make communication easier, for meetings etc (Kirsten)

Blog 1x week (Giselle) possibly Wednesday to show last weeks pics and list next Saturdays’ tasks planned.

FINANCES

~ Donations can soon go to NM Community Foundation directly under Dandelion Ranch (As opposed to Nautilus Project which includes Gaia Gardens as well. Poki will make an announcement when this has been done.) Once this is done, members can give Poki receipts which he files with the Foundation, then the Foundation gives checks directly to the person(s) who spent $.  (Money must be spent first to be reimbursed.)  A statement can be used as a receipt, i.e. “5000 gallons water for $40” is good enough.

~ Petty cash: Should there be petty cash established and who would hold it? Poki thinks all monies should go into NMCF because it shows our success & support. Some said that a small petty cash may make sense anyway.

~ A huge “thank you” to Michael Meade who donated a hefty $150, out of the blue last week! And “thank you” also to Bella, who contributed a generous sum of $300 recently!

~Kirsten spent the $ she was holding (~$40) for irrigation. (Thank you! We have been working the irrigation in the vegetable garden).

~ Re: $.  We spend w/o notion of being repaid. (Bella & Carmen)

~ Knows there is no $ but would welcome payback in the future. (Poki)

~ A couple of proposed options to pay Poki back: 1) 25% or other % of income from memberships or other fundraising, or 2) any money raised that’s over a certain amount that DLR needs each month to function. (Kirsten)

Amounts spent up until now and that need to be paid back should be calculated so that the group knows what it’s aiming to repay….

• Poki spent ~$600 in 2011 & $212 in 2012. (Poki & Bella agreed that $200 of her donation went toward paying Poki back)

• Juaquin spent ~$300 in 2011.

• Giselle & Dan should figure out their spending.

Other discussions:

~ We should post physical calendar: Giselle will look for one.

~ We should officially re-invite Juaquin (Poki)

~Poki can donate starts: broccoli, kohlrabi & cauliflower (Poki) (Giselle doesn’t particularly want cauli)

~Poki will ask Larry to help DLR w plumbing estimate, consult & possibly some work too.

~ Dan to call Kether, for plumbing help, as above.

~ Needed plumbing: Tap into water line (below freezing point) to run pipes back to garden & outdoor kitchen, frost-free hydrant, irrigation timer and zones to connect w this pipe and also a meter to separate out garden water use. (Paul, irrigator/landscaper/friend will donate time to do irrigation interface and buy parts at cost. Thanks Paul!).

~ We also want electricity to back buildings, or at least a breaker box with plugs near the tool shed.

~Dan to send Kirsten language from Wood Gormley legal department about use of everyone’s contact information (not passing along emails or phone numbers for any other use…)

~ Irrigation is a priority, especially in beds #3 & 9 : Giselle will try to do by Sat. (done w #3, 9 and more, with the spaghetti we had. Only need 400 feet more to finish all veggie beds!)

Next meeting will be 5/28/12

Future topics include:

Membership? How much? For what?

Blog should entice with what is happening &/or what is being taught (once list has been gathered from community).

~ Mission Stmt

~ Fundraisers

~ Review debts & assets

~ revisit Areas of Responsibility (try to add folks)

Turning Compost

Baby chard

Baby bind weed!!!

Collard Greens still going from last year...

Removing bind weed

Planting cabbage 

cleaning beds and transplanting lettuce

watering a Mullein plant