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Whiteaker Community Council Newsletter March 2010 Your Neighborhood Association
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ABOUT THE SKATE PARK SURVEY
Please keep an eye out—We are putting together a survey
regarding the regional skate park planned for the Whiteaker
Neighborhood. We want you, our neighbors, to be heard. When it
comes out, please fill it out as best you can and return it to the
sites listed on the survey.
Currently there are plans to build a world class, regional skate
park with the potential to bring people from California and
throughout the northwest to our neighborhood.
We are concerned that the
current design places it where the existing playground and restrooms are
located. Although building a new playground is part of the master plan for the
park, having it under cover is not. Further, the additional funds needed to add a replacement playground are not in the current
project budget.
Similarly, replacing the existing restrooms is a goal of the
City but not currently included in the project budget.
The current restrooms
include kitchen facilities used
for feeding low income Whiteaker residents. The kitchen facilities are not planned to be included
as part of new restrooms.
The following websites provide additional information about the skate park.
City of Eugene: http://www.eugene-or.gov/ccskatepark. Skaters for Eugene
Skate Park: http://www.skateeugene.org/.
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Community Garden Locations AltonBaker |
Garden for Life
Thank you, by Josiah Sheehan, Community garden Coordinator. Community Gardens Program Coordinator Parks and Open Spaces Division Chris Gerard 541-682-4800 |
Eugene Community Gardens
You are invited to the first City of Eugene, Community Gardens sponsored
Educational Gardening Workshop of the season:
Saturday, March 6 from 2 to 4:00 pm at Alton Baker Community Garden
Spring Greenhouse Growing: Early Season Growing Techniques
Ted Purdy, FOOD for Lane County Youth Farm Coordinator
If you have seen the FOOD for Lane County Youth Farm you know why I asked Ted to share his expertise!
We will start right at 2:00 and be finished by 4:00pm. The workshop is free but pre-registration is required as seating at this site is limited. If you don't have a greenhouse, don't let that stop you from attending. Ted is willing and able to talk about non-greenhouse spring growing techniques.
For more information or to register contact Lorna Baldwin at 682-4845 or lorna.j.baldwin@ci.eugene.or.us
Whiteaker Community Garden
At
the end of North Polk St., before you run into the bike trail and Maurie Jacobs
Park, you find yourself alongside a wonderful community garden. Glancing up at
the hand carved archway sign you see the name Whiteaker Garden. Inside the gate
is Eugene’s largest community garden, housing 90+ rentable allotments.
Individual plots are as different as our living rooms, reflecting a broad range
of gardening styles, methods and interests.
This season exciting new improvements have been implemented by the City of Eugene Parks and Open Spaces program. Some of these include the addition of almost 24 new plots, construction and improvement of new gate entrances, installation of a communal gathering area and a second tool shed. The Whiteaker garden is a thriving environment where you can grow wonderful organic fruits and vegetables (or flowers if you choose) and meet many new friends and neighbors. Not to mention an unbeatable location resting near the banks of the Willamette River, where it is not uncommon to see osprey, ducks, geese or heron along with an endless stream of energetic people enjoying the park.
By Stephen Mildrexler, previous Whiteaker Garden manager Volunteer.
For more information
Skinner City Farm
You may have noticed
some changes happening over the past few years at the plot of land on the north
side of Cheshire between Lawrence and Washington streets. From a disused portion
of Skinner Butte Park to a full fledged Community Garden in just a few short
years, Skinner City farm is a model of cooperation between individuals,
nonprofit organizations
and
the City of Eugene.
Some changes that have been happening behind the scenes are going to further enhance the site and the community in general. One project that is taking shape is the design and planning for construction of a barn on the site that will potentially contain a shared use kitchen and cannery for gardeners, the general public, Social Enterprise organizations and local micro businesses. The planning for this project is proceeding with the help of Design Bridge, a program of the University of Oregon that connects Architectural students with the organizations in the community that might not otherwise be able to afford professional design services. We will have more information available about this project as it continues.
See
www.efn.org/~scf for more news.
Skinner City Farm has also started a new volunteer initiative called “Will Work for Vegetables”, (ൠ) . This crew of volunteers will help with projects around the Farm. We are looking for serious volunteers who are willing to make a commitment to serve and we will be interviewing interested parties beginning immediately. Volunteers will become eligible for a share of the produce that comes from the SCF garden plot.
For
information on how to get involved please contact Skinner City Farm at 344-8322
or email us at
scf@efn.org . Thank you, Jan Vandertine, Garden Manager.
March Gardening Calendar
Oregon State University Extension Service encourages sustainable gardening practices. Always identify and monitor problems before acting. First consider cultural controls; then physical, biological, and chemical controls (which include insecticidal soaps, horticultural oils, botanical insecticides, organic and synthetic pesticides). Always consider the least toxic approach first.
All recommendations in this calendar are not necessarily applicable to all areas of Oregon. For more information, contact your local office of the OSU Extension Service.
* Western Oregon: If soil is dry enough, begin vegetable garden soil preparation and plant cool- season crops (peas, lettuce, cabbage, onions, kale, chard).
* Central Oregon: Plant seed flats of cole crops (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts).
* Central Oregon: Plant chard.
* Divide hosta, daylilies, and mums.
* Plan and plant an edible landscape or flower bed.
* If you lack in-ground gardening space, plan a container garden: grow radishes, carrots, lettuce, and tomatoes (during the warm season).
* Fertilize evergreen shrubs and trees.
* Monitor landscape plants for problems. Do not treat unless a problem is identified.
* If necessary, treat crowns of raspberry plants with registered insecticides to control raspberry cane borer.
* Western Oregon: Plant berry crops (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, and other berry-producing crop plants). See OSU Extension publications for varieties.
* Western Oregon: Fertilize caneberries (broadcast or band a complete fertilizer or manure).
* Prune gooseberries and currants; fertilize with manure or a complete fertilizer.
* Spray trees and shrubs for webworms and leafrollers, if present.
* Western Oregon: Take geraniums, begonias, and fuchsias from storage. Water and fertilize. Cut back if necessary. Move outdoors next month.
* Fertilize rhododendrons, camellias, azaleas with acid-type fertilizer.
* Spray to control leaf and twig fungus diseases in sycamore, hawthorn, and willow trees.
* Use stored scion wood to graft fruit and ornamental trees.
* Treat lawns for European crane fly if damage has been diagnosed.
* Spread compost over garden and landscape areas.
* Western Oregon: Best time of year to thatch and renovate lawns.
* Plan the vegetable garden carefully for spring, summer, and fall vegetables that can be eaten fresh or preserved.
* Learn to identify the predatory insects that can help to keep aphids and other pests under control.
* Protect new plant growth from slugs. Use bait or traps.
* Western Oregon: Prune spring-flowering shrubs after blossoms fade.
* Trim or shear heather when bloom period is finished.
* Start tuberous begonias indoors.
* Plant insectary plants to attract beneficial insects to the garden.
* Do not compost grass clippings from lawns where weed-and-feed products or herbicides have been used.
for more gardening info you can go to the Oregon State University Extension Office site http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/
All pictures used here are from the Communities Garden Photo Gallery by Photobug @;
http://www.pbase.com/fotabug/082407ecg
and you can email the editor at eekley@efn.org
more newsletter
Since 1978 the
City of Eugene Gardens Program has provided opportunities for local
residents to grow vegetables, fruit and flowers in a community setting.
By signing up for a plot at one of the six local garden sites,
individuals and/or groups can gain access to a fenced garden plot and
the water, composting material and tools needed to produce a successful
garden. Currently there are 303 garden plots including the standard 500
square foot individual plots, the 1000 square foot organizational plots
and several ADA accessible raised beds. In order to meet the growing demand for Eugene's community gardens, garden plots will be awarded via a lottery system for each growing season. In order to qualify for the lottery, completed application forms accompanied by the registration fee ($60 for an individual plot; $120 for an organizational plot) must be submitted to 1820 Roosevelt Blvd. Eugene, Oregon 97402 and received by the third Monday in March. Those applicants who are not successful in obtaining a community garden plot will have their registration fee refunded. Plots will be assigned by lottery on the fourth Monday in March. Registration will continue until all plots are filled. Interested gardeners whose ticket was drawn
were assigned to a plot in one of their top three choices, based on
their stated preference. If there were no available plots in the gardens
their names are added to a wait list for any plots that become available
later.