Mitchell Park West Neighbors

On Saturday, Feb 14, at the Neighborhood Association meeting, it was approved to move forward with the idea of starting a 'Community Garden at Mitchell Park' for the Neighborhood Grant Application. The idea needs to be fleshed out. To start with, we need some idea of how many residents will be interested in gardening at this facility, we already have some fairly substantial interest in participating. All residents of MPWNA are welcome. Forming a committee and electing a Chair is the primary focus of the meeting. The committee will be responsible for detailing the operations of the garden, gathering continous input from the residents and completing the application to the City for the grant. The Grant application is due Mid-May. The typical grant funding from the City has been raised to $15,000. There will also be one 'Super Grant' of up to $50,000 awarded by the City. A Super Grant application will also be determined by the committee. If you have a serious or casual interest in this endeavor, please come to this first organizational meeting. We will get some expert input from organizers from other community gardens in the metro area in subsequent meetings. We will keep this first meeting brief, 1 hour max!  Please start leaving messages here asap! I look forward to seeing you soon. I will provide coffee for the meeting. thx- Mark

At this time there are no neighborhood boundaries for participation. MPWNA understands that Mitchell Park is a shared amenity for Mitchell Park East and Maple-Ash. The committee will be developing the operational characteristics of the garden. As such it is entirely open at this time how it will work, so.....we need all the best ideas from everyone!

Several questions that need to be answered before we ask the City to fund this idea:

1. Where in the park will this garden go? Right now I see no unused space that could be used and it would require a large area to be suitable for multiple users, each growing produce for their own consumption.

2. How would this garden relate to the one on Ash that Bob Friend runs for Maple Ash? Also, this MANA garden gives a good idea of the necessary mninimum size (see question 1, above).

3. How would we keep vagrants and others out of it and prevent the theft of the produce? A high fence won't do it, even a wrought iron one.

4. How do we avoid the eventual specectacle of a weed strewn, unkempt patch if today's eager participants lose interest over time?

5. What is the advantage of a community garden in the park over individual ones in each resident's back yard? I would think only appartment dwellers without access to a yard would be attracted to it, and we don't have too many of those in this neighborhood,

A COMMUNITY GARDEN FOR MITCHELL PARK WEST NA.

NEIGHBORHOOD GRANT PROPOSAL

BOARD AND ASSOCIATION MEETING 1-24-09

Contact: Mark Lymer, 719 West Tenth Street, 480-242-3467

THIS IS A SYNOPSIS OF THE PRESENTATION THAT WAS APPROVED TO MOVE FORWARD AT THE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION MEETING FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD GRANT.

 POTENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR THE GARDEN:

- 8' CHAIN LINK FENCE

- PAIR 4' WIDE GATES, WITH LOCK

- ONE 4' MAN GATE, WITH LOCK

- 8 TOOL CHESTS (BRING YOUR OWN TOOLS), WITH LOCKS

- 2 HOSE BIBBS, PROVIDED AND INSTALLED BY THE CITY

- 2 MANUAL COMPOST TURNERS, WITH LOCKS

- EXCAVATE SOIL, CITY

- NEW SOIL, INSTALLED

- HOT HOUSE

- ONE YEAR WATER SUPPLY, PURCHASED FROM CITY

- 8 REFERENCE BOOKS

PROJECT NARRATIVE

- EXISTING ADEQUATE INTEREST TO PURSUE. INTEREST MAY INCREASE OVER TIME.

- SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOODS CAN BE INCLUDED.

- THERE WILL BE A COMMITTEE TO DEVELOP THE ‘RULES OF THE GARDEN'.

- THERE ARE SEVERAL ‘MASTER GARDENERS' LIVING IN THE AREA.

- THE GARDEN WILL BE  ‘TURN KEY' , READY TO START GROWING.

- MANY RESOURCES AND HISTORY OF COMM. GARDENS

- CORONADO NEIGHBORHOOD IN PHX RECENTLY STARTED ONE. WE CAN USE THEIR EXPERIENCE.

- PROPOSED COMMERCIAL ‘FARMER'S MARKET' AT ASH AND UNIV. IN PLANNING APPROVAL PROCESS NOW

-GARDEN SERVES AS ANOTHER COMMUNITY ACTIVITY FOR RESIDENTS TO MEET AND SHARE IDEAS AT AN INFORMAL GATHERING PLACE.

-IF THE GARDEN FAILS, IT WOULD BE VERY EASY TO RESTORE THE GRASS.