Proposal from the Old Louisville Community Garden for Phase 3 (a Picnic Table and 6 Benches) from co-chairs,

Karen Mullen (karen_mullen@bellsouth.net) and Jean Christensen (jmchri@gmail.com) Background 2014 will mark the first full year of the Old Louisville Community Garden (OLCG) at Brook St, whose mission it is to create a public space for people and organizations to further environmental, social, and personal benefits of cooperative community gardening and to focus on creative opportunities for learning, community development, and sustainable stewardship. The garden began as an idea in the early spring of 2013 with Dan Borschs offer of 1221 S. Brook at the site of a community garden in mid-March, 2013. Soon after that, Plans for the garden were drawn up (see the attached map). (early April, 2013) Old Louisville Neighborhood Council established a standing committee on community gardens to move it forward (April 23, 2013) Facebook website was created at facebook.com. (Search for Old Louisville Community Garden at Brook St. (mid-May, 2013) A large donation from the Ralph Knollenberg III Foundation, donations from area residents & some Old Louisville neighborhood associations, in-kind donations & discounts from area businesses and Metro Parks, and a grant from CM James enabled the OLCG to go forward with the first two phases of the plan: Phase 1: Put in a water line, laid landscape fabric, constructed 12 raised beds and put them in place, built a storage box, spread wood chips, put up a sign in front, built the water tank foundations, and purchased locks and tools, put water tanks on their foundations. Phase 2: Laid more foundation cloth, constructed 14 raised beds and put them in place, spread more wood chips, set blackberry bushes, landscaped a perennial garden in front, built one large compost bin in back, and purchased a bike rack. Only two tasks of Phase 2 remain: installing the bike rack and planting a series of border plants along the southern edge, when weather permits. In accord with the OLCGs mission: 20 gardeners raised tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, squash, beans, peas, rosemary, parsley, calendula, snapdragons, and zinnias from August through October, 2013. Gardeners came from all areas of Old Louisville: S. Brook St, S. 1st St, S, 2nd St, S. 6th St, W. Burnett, and St. James Court. Among them was a member of a group of disabled persons, who encouraged his fellow members to garden at OLCG as well. A garden club formed at Englehard Elementary under the tutelage of teacher Amanda Thompson. She brought students to set out winter crops in the clubs 3 beds in October, 2013. Applications for 2014 have already started to come in from all areas of OL and the growing season will start again in mid-March. The bed fee will be $25.00, which will cover maintenance costs for the year. The garden has become intricately involved in enhancing life in this area of Old Louisville. Residents along S. Brook St have noticed many changes: Metro Parks visits more often and takes a greater interest in the upkeep of Toonerville Trolley Park. Visitors to OLCG let the transients in the park know that there are more eyes around, and consequently, the number of hangers-around has diminished. Gardeners at OLCG keep the gutters and sidewalks in the front of the garden clean. Owner of the DuPont Manual condominiums (corner of S. Brook & Oak) will be installing a system to collect water from the buildings roof to irrigate the green space around the building. Plans are in the works at Metro Parks to move and upgrade the childrens playground to an area just north of the garden. Cherry trees have gone in along the perimeter of the Old Louisville Dog Run, just east of the garden, and will be extended along the rear of Toonerville Trolley Park to Oak St.

For 2014, we have gardeners from far west as 6th and east as Floyd, as far north at Treyton Oak Towers on Oak and as far south as Hill. East-West streets include Park and Burnett, Ouerbacker and Belgravia Cts. 3 beds will be cultivated by the children from Englehard School. 2014 gardeners will be a colorful mixture of beginning and experienced gardeners: home owners; apartment, condominium, and carriagehouse dwellers; mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, singles, partners, roommates, and school children. An opening this spring will celebrate the garden and its accomplishments.

Yet to be Accomplished: A. A need not originally anticipated is for the set of small steps into the front of the garden to be replaced. They are crumbling and the top step is missing. There also needs to be a short sidewalk at the top of the stairs leading into the garden. This will allow gardeners and visitors an easy access into the garden. As it is now, people are not sure where to enter, sometimes climbing over the coping wall, and over the landscaped perennial bed to enter. OLCG has the funds on hand to do this work. This area is marked on the garden map at the front with dotted arrows. B. Request: Phase 3: To complete the garden with Phase 3, the OLCG needs a picnic table and six benches. The attached plan shows their location (circled in red) and the cost of purchasing and delivering the materials.

The picnic table, seating 8 to 12 people on four sides, will allow those who work and visit the garden to gather for meetings and activities. It will offer a place to socialize and to hold information-sharing sessions. Gardeners can sit and talk, make plans, and welcome visitors to the garden. In addition, the Englehard Garden Club will have table space for students to gather, share ideas and carry out their activities. The table will be assembled by garden members and will be anchored down by driving 3-ft long staples of rebar into the ground over each of the eight legs of the table.

The 4-foot in-ground benches will allow both gardeners and visitors to sit and enjoy the garden and to visit with one another comfortably. They will welcome all who want to observe, converse, or sit in the sun (along the northern edge of the garden) or in the shade (along the southern edge of the garden). They will be assembled by garden members and will be anchored in a column of concrete. (Note: The bench pictured here is 8 feet long, but we will order 4-ft benches.)

The table and benches will complete the final phase of constructing the garden. They are important to promoting the mission of the garden by providing places to come together to further cooperative community gardening and to focus on learning, community development, and sustainable stewardship.

document: Proposal for Phase 3 of the OLCG attachment: Garden bed map & photos for Phase 3 date: February 23, 2014

<---------------------- 29.5 ft -------------------------------->

<-4 ft-> 4' 8' 12' 16' 20' 24' 28'

compost bin Budget Proposal 150 ` 140 25 26 bike rack picnic table (circled in red): frame 9 planks of cedar - $7.10 each
(a plank is 1.5" x 9.25" x 4 ft)

` $352.50 63.90 100.00 $516.40

36 bolts and nuts:

130

24
<-4 ft->

each bench: frame 2 planks of cedar - $7.10 each

(a plank is 1.5" x 9.25" x 4 ft)

` $180.00 14.20 25.00 $219.20 $1,315.20 -60.00 478.00 50.00 total request $2,299.60

log 120 22 23
tree shade

8 bolts and nuts total for each bench

6 benches (circled in red) i.e., $219.20 x 6 courtesy discount on frame order delivery of frames: delivery of 21 cedar planks

110
storage box

21

100

20

Toonerville Park

90

17

18

19

raised beds (green - Phase 1 & blue - Phase 2) 2 ft high x 4 ft wide x 8 ft long cedar planks 2" thick 300-gallon water tank (Phase 1) 154 ft storage box (Phase 1) (8' L x 3' W x 3' H)

80

15 (4' x 8')

16

70

12

13

14 border plants (Phase 2, to be planted Spring, 2014)

60

11

blackberry bushes around perimeter supported by wire (Phase 2) bike rack (Phase 2)

10 50 picnic table (requested above, Phase 3)

7 40

benches (requested above, Phase 3) (on the north edge, they are in sun and on the south edge, they are in shade)

5 30

20

1 10 sign

water hydrant

s I d e w a l k

E N S W

perennial bed 0 Garden bed map & photos for Phase 3.XLS

1221 S. Brook St.

02/23/2014