The big news is...The Water is Turned on at the Garden! Let the Ten Year Anniversary celebration season begin!
And in other News and Updates:
1. We had a wonderful Kick Off Work Party, Potluck and Egg hunt to celebrate our the start of our 10 Year Anniversary season. Thank you all for helping clean out the barn, set up the hoses, get the compost bins in order, get some info up on the kiosk and start grading the Westside Landscaping project, and for bringing delicious food! Check out the Photos of the special day Here.
2. One of our founders Gina Schley, of SHEGROWS, is offering a workshop TODAY Friday April 22 at 5:30 pm at the garden called "Set Up Your Garden as a Power Workhorse". All gardeners and community are welcome. Don’t miss this valuable breakdown of important steps to setting your garden up for success. RSVP at the Evite Here.
Gina also shared she has a free Mini Course in Soil Preparation on her website Here. Check it out. Healthy balanced rich soil the key to gardening success!
3. Compost is available at the garden. It’s the pile of dark rich looking stuff on outside the west side fence line. Please take one to two wheelbarrows full so we have enough for everyone.
Note: We’ve noticed some plastic and glass particles in the “organic” compost we ordered and circled back with our concessionaire Denver Urban Gardens (DUG) who sourced the compost and it seems this is not uncommon for commercially produced compost which is processed near other recycling streams. We recommend using the screens available to screen out unwanted particles if you are concerned about safety.
Also Note: We also produce our own compost from organic garden refuse and sometimes things get mixed in we’d rather not have, but overall it tends to be rich and clean. You are welcome to use our in-house compost from the boxes on the south side near the garden entrance off the pathway, and put your Organic compostable items in the pile next to the bins (the sign at the bins will guide you on what goes in and what doesn't).
STAR Gardener Tip: We encourage gardeners to mow compost and water the compost boxes whenever you get the chance, as this is great way to get service hours in and it is an ongoing important job that takes a lot of people throughout the season. Breaking down the materials and watering them help us create “black gold” within weeks to enrich our plot soils, while keeping the valuable organic garden “waste” out of the landfill!
Note: Be sure to dig out metal and plastic and cut pieces down to 3-6 inches before using our mower. Think: If it isn’t something I’d mow with my own mower, I wouldn’t put it in the in compost or mow it with the garden's mower.
Note: You can Log your Service hours Here. (12 service hours, or work in community spaces, are required per plot per season).
2022 Garden Kick Off Work Party, Potluck Brunch and Egg Hunt
Sat April 16
4. Third Thursday Gardener Market/Potluck/Work Party: This season we will have work parties every Third Thursday starting on May 19, with a workshop offered that day by Jim Richards (more info to come), seasoned Rose Roots Gardener, while work party leads VP Patty Sacks and Julie Lesnick guide projects. This will be followed by a BBQ potluck, and a Gardener Market, with several live music events scheduled throughout the season. This is a great way to meet your garden community!
Do you have an Artisan Item to Sell? Please consider participating in our Gardener Market as a Vendor: Find more information and Sign up for our upcoming market as a Vendor at our Evite Here by May 13.
5. Save these Upcoming Dates
May 3: 6:30 pm Rose Roots Steering Committee Meeting at the Garden. All Gardeners welcome. Weather dependent.
May 14: 8:30 am-12:30 pm-Dug Great Day of Gardening Event hosted by Rose Roots and Sponsored by Denver Urban Gardens (DUG). Workshops and a food truck will be available.
May 19: 6: pm Third Thursday: Workshop with Jim Richards, Work Party, Gardener Market and BBQ Potluck
6. Sunflowers: so beautiful and symbolic as they turn their heads towards the tracking sun… and such sun hogs. Nobody is perfect after all. That being said, be sure you don’t plant tall sunflowers adjacent to your neighbors’ plots, or we may have to gently beat you with a giant sunflower head.
Note: Due to Sunflower centered gardener conflicts in the past, the garden leadership team reserves the right to remove any sunflowers, corn or any plants grown that egregiously steal sun from their neighbors’ plots. Don’t be that kind of neighbor.
Recommendation: Please limit sunflower and corn growth to the half of your garden that is not directly adjacent to another adjoining plot.
7. Gratitude
Thank you to Gina Schley and new gardener Steve Wheeler for setting up our education plot for workshops and to Gina for donating materials.
Thank you to Deb Harris for stepping up to help maintain the garden Kiosk where we can see community are already checking out the information and we've already recruited a few new gardeners.
Thank you to Patty Sacks for ordering compost for the whole garden.
Thank you to Gary Williams for leading our Kickoff Work Party and Patty Sacks for lining up screens for gardeners to screen out unwanted materials.
Thank you to Tom Glum, Meredith Lopez, and Temple Smith for offering to help with website maintenance, spreadsheet revisions, and newsletters.
Thank you to Jim Richards for adding seals to help our hoses not leak and save water.
Thank you to Produce Donation Lead Cindee Malito for interviewing our produce donation recipients and sharing an article about it (coming soon) as well as revising our Food Donation Pick Up and Delivery Sign Up Sheet.
Thank you to Kendra Eliason for leading our membership team in 2021, to Theresa McKinney for leading our Produce Donation team in 2021, and to Sue Donaldson for maintaining our kiosk for the 2021 season.
Thank you to Amy Ahrent for getting info out to you on Social media as our Communications Lead.
Thank you to Judy Newton, Community Outreach lead, for coordinating our first Annual garden Easter egg hunt.
Thank you to DUG for solving registration challenges, and to the City of Arvada for turning our water on.
And a BIG Thank you to John Malito and Laura Bennett for coordinating garden plot registrations and new member orientations. We have only one and a half plots left that aren't spoken for!
We are sure we've missed a few thank yous, so let us know if you'd like to thank a fellow gardener for a good deed. You should know, as an all volunteer organization, we especially thank all you members for joining us this year. You are the Gardeners Growing Community.
Looking forward to seeing you all out at the garden!
Rose Roots Leadership Team
(720) 702-8806
Remember to Follow us on Instagram at "RoseRootsCommunityGarden" Here for the latest updates. We are also on Facebook at the same name.
Community Feedback:
"I am so excited to see that more trees are going to be planted in the Westside Landscaping project and excited to see that area is going to be developed with picnic tables, walking paths and more plants. Thank you so much! If you need volunteers to help, please post the dates/times/needs. I enjoying walking along the gardens every day."
Lauri, April 21, 2022