Help Us Plant the First Edible Forest Garden in the Wildwood Neighborhood

All Neighbors from All Neighborhoods Invited to Join Wildwood in this Workshop

The Wildwood Neighborhood Association joins with Terra Commons www.terracommons.us  to establish an Edible Forest Garden in Marianne Guerin and Miguel Perez-Gibson’s yard at 2418 Otis on September 19-21.

You are invited to help plant fruit and nut trees and berry bushes then sheet mulch the lawn by putting down cardboard and wood chips to remove the grass. Edible Forest Gardens consist of three main layers, with fruit and nut trees as the upper canopy, berries and other edible bushes as the middle layer and perennial vegetables and fruits as the ground cover.


The FREE workshop includes:

  • Design and layout of trees and shrubs in an edible forest garden
  • Planting trees and shrubs and inoculating oyster mushrooms
  • Sheet Mulching lawn

We will be there from 10 AM until 4 PM each day with potluck lunches.  Feel free to come for both full days, half days or just stop by when you can. This hands on workshop will show what you too could do in your own yard. We hope that neighborhood planning could lead to a number of forest gardens on Otis and throughout the neighborhod – this is just the beginning. Let Michael Kelly [email protected] know of your interest.

DONATIONS NEEDED and WELCOME:

  • WOODCHIPS:  Maple, alder, willow, etc.  NO CEDAR. Call Marianne at 357-7576 about delivery.
  • MONEY to help Terra Commons put on the workshop. Mail to Terra Commons, 3725 36th Loop NW, Olympia, WA 98502.

For more information contact:
Marianne Guerin [email protected] 357-7576
Michael Kelly  [email protected] 339-3329

REMINDER: ENA Annual Picnic – August 9th, 2008

Saturday, August 9 the Eastside Neighborhood Association (ENA) will join  in the Annual Neighborhood Picnic at Lions Park.

The Annual Neighborhood Picnic is an Eastside tradition for sharing conversation, games, and refreshments. The ENA will be at the park from 11 am to 2 pm. The members of the board want to take this opportunity to
invite everyone to come and have some fun and learn about the issues facing our neighborhood.


The ENA will provide burgers made from local, organic ground beef, hotdogs, veggies burgers, condiments and buns, along with some beverages. The picnic will be a potluck – please bring food to share if you
can. Help with food planning for the event is welcome, as are donations, volunteers (we need help staffing the BBQ!) and support.

If you have any questions about food or activities at the event, please don’t hesitate to contact Whitney Bowerman at [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you on August 9!

New Bridge Community Church Food Drive

The summer months are some of the slowest months for donations to food banks.  To help meet this need, children’s ministry at New Bridge Community Church will be sponsoring a food drive for the months of July and August.  The donations will benefit the Thurston County Food Bank and the Union Gospel Mission.  Please bring nonperishable items (canned meat and cereals are in high demand) to church and place them in the designated bins found around our facility. There is a box in the administrative office located on the 8th St side (map).  Office hours are Tuesday – Friday 9:00 to 5:00 p.m.  Feel free to drop off your items during the week or on Sunday.  Thank you for helping those who need a little extra help in our community.

July ENA Board Meeting Minutes (Draft)

Draft minutes for the July 17th Board meeting, taken by Carol Wilson


ENA BOARD MEETING       Thursday July 17th, 2008 

12 members present.

 

  • Ann Mataczynski
  • Luke Bowerman
  • Jessica Archer
  • Casey Allan
  • Chad Akins
  • Carol Wilson
  • Nathan Allan
  • Elaine Nelson
  • Whitney Bowerman
  • Tim McCloud
  • Stuart Reed
  • Sam Schroeder
  • Terri Zander 

Luke called the meeting to order 7:10  the minutes from the June board meeting were read and approved.

Mark Bergeson sent in a treasurer’s report.  There is currently $2,100.00 in our bank account.

The neighborhood picnic will be on Sat. August 9th     11:00—2:00

Terri Zander will bring some information on Bike Tech, some games

There will be a patrol car making the rounds of the park.

Eddie Willingham will provide us with a blow up slide or some similar type inflatable toy We will also check and see if he can loan us his sound system

Whitney will purchase and assemble the beef burgers.

Stewart will make the veggie burgers.

Sam will provide the iced coffee

Nathan and Casey will make the Costco run and purchase buns, hot dogs, condiments, soda, any paper products we may need.

Terri Zander will be in charge of the microphone and make any necessary announcements.

Whitney will put up signs around the neighborhood about the picnic and Jessica will help. Terri will put up 4 signs around the park

Whitney will set up a schedule for people manning the BBQs Elaine, Jessica, Chad and Luke all volunteered to cook.  Luke will bring a BBQ and it would be nice if we could get someone else to bring one.

Jessica will bring her corn hole game and anyone who has any other group games is urged to bring them.

There is some confusion in the current boundaries of the neighborhood association. The written description doesn’t match the actual map. Luke will look into getting the written description and the map to match.  He will also look into what the intention of the boundaries were.

Terri expressed some concerns about neighborhood safety issues.  There have been a lot of car prowls in the neighborhood lately. Luke will continue to post the information on our website. Perhaps we could have someone come and talk to us at the next neighborhood general meeting. The main emphasis seems to be know your neighbors and report anything that doesn’t look right. Perhaps the neighborhood association could take the lead in informing people of how to have a small group block party or garage sale. This would involve just a few houses and would be a great way to get to know your immediate neighbors. It was agreed that we would put the basics in the newsletter and more information on the website. Terri also suggested that we call the police on any kind of issue so they know what is going on in our neighborhood.

The garden project—Luke got a copy of the contract between the city and GRUBB which has a garden at Sunrise Park. We thought maybe the same thing would be possible at Madison Scenic Park. It was also decided that we have confused the city with all the different people who have talked to them about our garden project. Luke will contact the city and let them know that we are still in support of the garden project and when plans are begun for Madison Scenic Park we want to be involved in the process. He will contact GRUBB and see if they want to partner with us. Luke will contact David Hanna and let him know he will serve as the contact person and a garden is our preferred use of the park. He will report back to us at the picnic.

Terri let us know that build a bike is  looking for a new home and needs to move by the end of summer. Any one have any ideas?

Some concern was expressed about all board members being sure that anything they say or send out should be approved by the board first. Make sure they you aren’t appearing to be representing the ENA if you don’t have the board’s approval.

A Walking Train project is being started at Madison it is a way to get kids to school and home again safely with out using vehicles

The meeting was adjourned  at 8:30.

Respectfully submitted,    Carol Wilson Secretary.

 

June board meeting minutes

Draft minutes for the June Board meeting, taken by Elaine Nelson


  1. discussion of minutes and Google Groups lists. may look into setting up an open discussion group, with someone other than Luke moderating. Approved.
  2. Isthmus rezone. Luke has been receiving emails from various groups around town: some asking us to share info, some asking for an ENA position. in particular, one from several former planning commission members, sending a letter, wanting our endorsement. (anti the rezone) discussion of particular impacts, including fountain park, images available from the city. does the ENA want to take a position? discussion of whether it’s outside of our group’s scope. Sam suggested maybe having an article in the newsletter. for that venue, will be too late for any decision-making. consensus: “it’s not letterhead material.”
  3. garden project. Stuart: not anything to report, still hasn’t heard back from David Hanna after making some calls, sending some letters; still trying to figure out what the city’s POV is. Stuart will send copies of the letters to Luke (whole board?) and Luke will follow up. Stuart will not have the same time availability, has not been able to get ahold of anyone at GRUB. also, the developer has no plans to develop the 13th Ave property in the near future, so that group doesn’t have the urgency that they did a year ago. Chad said that Michael Kelly at Terra Commons is interested in helping. Nathan thinks that the next step should be to talk to GRUB about their park project, and get the 13th Ave group going, otherwise: no point in doing it? Chad thought there was enough interest, put up a fence & sign, and Terra Commons really wants a project. Difference between enough people who would use it and enough people to make it happen. Tim knows Blue (?) at GRUB, thinks that this is an important need for the community. Stuart talked a bit with someone at GRUB about the Sunrise garden, but didn’t talk about the aspects addressed in the letter from the city. Tim will talk to Blue about the history & process. Chad will talk to Michael, feel out what they want, experience working with the city. Some discussion of relationship with the city, that they want our willingness to participate in the formal planning process.
  4. picnic. August 9. Will New Bridge be involved to the same extent? Haven’t heard as much from them. Last year we bought beverages, burgers, dogs & buns. Eddie had inflatable toy; Carol’s son did activities. People broughts sides & desserts. Had too much food, couldn’t give it all away. We’re doing well financially, can do the same again. Higher quality meat? Cost is a serious factor. Quality salads? How many people? 40 or 50 would be a reasonable number. Tim would be willing to help with games & activities, if he doesn’t have his kid by then. Fire department will show up with fun stuff for kids. Luke has been talking to the police; apparently we have a neighborhood beat cop, will see if we can have someone come to the picnic or a general meeting. Sam can bring iced coffee & iced tea. Stuart would like to sign up for prep for making our own food. Can we go more sustainable or better quality? Chad will check whether Stewart’s Meats does premade patties. Will do same as last year, but look for better sources. Stuart will make the gardenburgers, about 2 dozen, will get reimbursed. Whitney will look into other meat options. Tim will ask SF Bakery people about buns (5-6 dozen). Will be asking for either donations or reduced cost.
  5. traffic. Luke has been talking to Randy W. about the crosswalk at Madison. Trying to find out what’s going on. Will bring back in July.
  6. sandwich board signs. southwest neighborhood got grant from city for something like that, but not reusable. nice professional sign about $300 ea. Luke is working on a homemade sign prototype, with a space for a notice under plexiglass.  Sam has a vinyl-cutter at work, might be able to score a couple of things of our logo, probably cheap or free. Luke can send him a copy of the logo (Illustrator) and approximate size. Luke showed the image prototype. Elaine & Chad may have some hinges to help. Oly Salvage always has good inexpensive plywood, (other store) has cheap paint. May be organizing a work party in the future.
  7. we got STEPS grant again, Christine Watts is running it again. Probably continuing prior year projects. City is also talking about organizing “walking bus” with new employee coordinating pedestrian/bike transportation issues.
  8. newsletter. articles due July 7. picnic, meet your neighbor, Kerry at the city wants to write. ads: the usual, plus Elaine will see about TwinStar, possibly picnic donors. ithusmus article? no, blog post. how to sign up for the Google Group, make a big deal about it. Elaine mentioned typo. Focus on ads, Elaine will put info on the website about newsletter ads. Luke will write a “president’s column.” Chad asked about inviting cartoonists.
  9. Stuart brought up the PSE sale, utility commission recommended not selling, will there be local electric PUD?
  10. Tim mentioned a google group on local organic gardening, “help my broccoli is looking like this what do I do?” as a resource for the neighborhood, people going to each other gardens. Will write article? Random discussion of the city composting program.
  11. Luke: city police now have daily activity summary on their website. They also do vacation checks, come by to see if your house is okay.
  12. Tim: some local sources for hoses/nozzles are now safe, but many contain lead, for safer vegetable gardening.

Next meeting, July 17, Swantown Inn, 7 pm.