Dabney Garden Blog

The MHF Fund has generously agreed to provide funding for us to purchase a drip irrigation system. Currently, the money was included in a grant to the Caltech Community Garden Project, and they’ll be placing the order for us directly. Stay posted for details.

So according to Fedex all our packages have been delivered, but as of yet we have not received any money or contact from Parks. (See http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~alexr/scn/scn6.gif’)

I’m not sure what’s going on but I’d like to have the funds available so we can complete our MHF spending and I can write up that report the Committee expects and is entitled to.

Current course of action (obviously later steps only taken if they refuse to refund in full)

1) Send email with above link asking how long till paid(done)
2) Send Parks an email mentioning that we will be forced to open a payment dispute for unauthorized transaction
3) Open a PayPal dispute, and send Parks notification of this fact.
4) File BBB dispute against Parks
5) Ask Tom/Legal for suggestions. It’s only $377 but it’s important that companies don’t push people around, or that money will add up.
6) Oooh, you just wait until I write about THIS in my online journal! (critical blog post!)
7) “My fellow Americans, I’ve just signed legislation outlawing Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.”

Still, they’ve already agreed to a refund (if hazily about who pays for shipping), so hopefully this ends without a nuclear exchange. Just want to keep our options organized.

In solidarity,
Alex

I talked to them, they’re willing to grant us a refund if we simply refuse delivery of all packages. Talked to Mario in central receiving, and sent him an email with the 21 tracking numbers to refuse. To date, 20/21 of the numbers have been refused, the last hasn’t come yet.

We shall see if Park’s is good on their word and doesn’t pull any crap like making me pay for shipping or some kind of restock fee, but it looks like we’re getting a refund for the bulk of it.

UPDATE [2008-07-10] After initial delivery was refused, Fedex kept trying and eventually Shipping and Receiving let the order through. I’ve asked Eric to go talk to S & R and ask them to return to sender, if he’s too busy I’ll find someone else to (it’s best if it’s him since the packages are addressed to him). If this fails, I think it may be time to talk to Tom. I have no use for an additional 20 tomato cages and 8 packages of trellis netting; and we were counting on that $377.

To prevent headlines like this in the Tech, I am posting our budget for the world to see. Please do not buy anything for the garden without talking to me first if you expect reimbursement.

I will be fighting the double charge from Park’s, and have sent them an email.

Al “feels guilty writing himself large checks” ex

Hi all,

Val and I ordered a trash can to lend to the Red Door Cafe. They will be donating their used coffee grounds to the garden instead of trashing them as they currently do. Coffee grounds make an excellent mulch, fertilizer, and addition to compost. Eric will be setting it up in a few days.

We have also ordered three more composting bins, since our current donation from Carol is nearly full. These will be a nice rolly model.

Additionally, we will, over the next few weeks, be placing compost buckets (they have an airtight seal and odor-absorbing lid) in the Hovse kitchens. If you really don’t want one in your kitchen email Eric and it will not be put there. We don’t have the resources to regularly empty them, however, so it is up to students who use them to take them out when full. There will be signs on them explaining this.

I’ve loaned a few pieces of equipment to Chris Watson for the purpose of starting a garden at 255 S. Hill, and used a bit of our helping other campus groups funding for soil for his project. Housing may be reimbursing us, but I did build in some getting other groups started funds into the proposal.

Rather than sending out emails to this list for status updates, I plan to set up a blog on our UGCS space. When active, it will be at http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~garden/. There will be RSS and all that Web 2.0 stuff that makes yuppies drool.

Finally, there are some edibles back there now, tons of pole beans (Val says you can eat them raw now or wait a few weeks and shell them.), tons of kale by the wall, and lots of garlic shoots and green onion greens. More coming soon.

Peace out to the free world,
Alex

If you have some free time and are interested, I could use some help in the garden:

• We have mulch! the bale of straw. If someone could spread it out around plants it would helpwith moisture retention and weed control.
• The compost needs turning. This is awkward at the moment ’cause it’s full of branches
• We have money. MHF approved. I need someone to look into ordering things.

Additionally, I could really use a person or two to watch over things and make sure the plants are getting watered, harvested, etc (and to save enough of each plant for seed next year) over the summer, as I’ll be gone from late June until next year.

Alex

Thanks to all who helped! Download

Short:
* If you have 5 mins please review the MHF proposal due tomorrow: https://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~alexr/garden.pdf
* If you want garlic shoots or lettuce, feel free to pick some. We have far too much lettuce and a decent amount of garlic
* If you have 30-45 minutes please help by thinning the kale patch/moving plants around to good spacing.

Elaboration:
* The proposal is almost complete. Only changes will be adding a statement from Tom and changing the bursar’s account number to a real account. Anything else needs changing, please let me know ASAP. Constructive criticism/suggestions appreciated
* If you have experience gardening, even if you haven’t/don’t plan to help much with the garden, please send me a few sentences/paragraph to
put in. The MHF wants to see we have knowledgeable people on board the project.

* Trim garlic shoots that you take leaving hte plant about 4 inches to work with. Trimming like this encourages bulb development.
* Try to take the lettuce flowers along with leaves. Even if you don’t eat them it will encourage leave growth.

* The kale in the white rectangle should be in two rows about 1 ft apart. Plants in a row should be 2-3 in apart

Cheers,
Alex