One thing you can say about the Southside Place Community Garden is that we know how to throw a party.

Our first fundraiser was a Cinco de Mayo party in 2013 before any beds were built. Since then this annual outdoor party has grown in attendance and scope. Patty Tilton, the garden Treasurer, instituted a silent auction at the second party in April, 2014. Now the proceeds of the auction surpass the ticket sales, more than doubling our fundraising efforts. Our third annual fundraising party was Sunday April 26, 2014—a garden party, of course—held on the garden lot. Food was donated by Whole Foods, Edloe Deli, The Union Kitchen, Molina’s and Moeller’s Bakery. The Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt truck arrived and set up shop near the sidewalk. Singer/songwriter J.J Essen provided musical entertainment with vocals andguit ar. Community garden members volunteered their labor and donated beer and wine (special thanks to Ron Shimkus, the Bakers & Jean Roberts!) to make the party a whopping success. Jennifer Anderson thanked Duncan and Michelle Stewart for their donation from Texas Citizen’s Bank to build our lovely new tool shed, which, it turns out, came in handy that night.

The weather cooperated up until about 7pm when the thunder and lightning got too close for comfort. We scrambled for cover when the rain started, into the new shed and under the tents. The ever resourceful Richard Rothfelder called a fireman to move both fire trucks to the driveway so we could take cover in the firehouse. The singer, perhaps fearing electrocution, quickly moved his stage in the firehouse. Turns out, the acoustics in the firehouse are fantastic. J.J. Essen loved the “reverb” and you could hear him better in the garden even though he was farther away. Perhaps the firehouse can become the future music stage location.

This year’s auction was the biggest ever, with donations from Breakaway Speed, Alira Day Spa, Bering’s and many other generous local businesses. This year we raised about $4,800 total from this one, casual party and we were delighted to have recruited many more members. Next year, we plan to ask for corporate wine and beer donations and, more importantly, to schedule a set up and clean-up crew. And next year, no thunderstorms, please!   

Here’s are smoothie recipe that uses carrots and the carrot tops! 

Green Smoothie by Melanie Jordan

• Dandelion greens
• Handful of cilantro
• Handful carrot tops + 1 carrot
• 1/2 cucumber
• Chunk of ginger
• Squirt of lemon + 1/2 piece
• Green apple
• Filtered water

 Today the kids from Beehive Preschool in West U planted sunflower seeds in the semi-circle which will grow into a Sunflower House.  Their teacher read The Sunflower House which explains how the stems grow into walls, making a room for reading and playing.

Nearly 100 people visited us at the wine tasting and sale sponsored by Beviamo Italian Wines. Great day for a garden party!

The left bin is for Greens. The middle bin is for Browns. The right bin is to properly layer and mix Greens & Browns. What’s a Green and what’s a Brown? See this image below:

Who knew that a shed could create such community? Shed construction by Alpine Portable Buildings began on schedule March 3, 2015.

Even before it was finished, a crowd grew and a party started.

End of Day 1 of Construction:

From the beginning, the garden shed has been envisioned in the garden design as both a necessity and a perk of the garden. It is a necessary structure to hide the detritus of gardening. Previously, we hid wheel barrows, rakes and shovels behind temporary bamboo fencing. The fencing promptly rotted, looking worse than the equipment it was installed to conceal. The shed was also designed to make the garden more user-friendly. Garden members suggested decking out the shed with bulletin boards, swings, rocking chairs, a sink, beer keggerator, an espresso machine, and a wine fridge. Not your typical garden shed

Texas Citizens Bank generously donated the money for the construction of the shed, which will carry their logo. But what should it look like? Although durable and economic, ugly plastic sheds were immediately ruled out. Anything on the garden lot must be “in keeping with our neighborhood,” a phrase that we learned at the Urban Harvest class called Starting a Community Garden and often bandied about. Pinterest is abuzz with adorable, creative garden sheds. Architect Joe Przybyl designed a lovely shed with a pitched roof and a porch overhang, inspired by one we saw near HSPVA.  Amy Bryant (see below) found an adorablepre-made shed from a Canadian company, but the shipping to Texas was prohibitive.

 Eventually, I ran across a local company who builds custom sheds on your lot whose high-end “cedar chalet” model looked remarkably similar to Joe Przybyl’s design.  Considering that they have ample experience building sheds (whereas our Building Committee, made up of lawyers, physicians, and architects do not), Alpine Portable Buildings was hired to install a shed on the back of the garden lot. Moreover, this portable building will be more cost-effective than building a shed from scratch, especially if you add in the billable hours of the Building Committee.  After construction, our Building Committee will be have to decide how to furnish the interior. I’m guessing that they’ll make room for that keggerator. Cold beer, anyone?

Impromptu Party on Day 1

Garden Members: Claire, Kay & Krista celebrate into the wee hours.

Thank you. Texas Citizens Bank for sponsoring this shed. And thanks also to Ms. Kay Browning who immediately furnished it with three rocking chairs.

Day 2 Construction:

Finishing the siding Day 2

Final Product

Lovett Homes contributed towards the construction of a gazebo, soon to be a major focal point of the garden. On February 10, 2015, we presented our plans to the Southside Place City Council. So we are moving on to Phase II of the garden with the excavation, concrete foundation, and framing of the gazebo to start this month. It’s actually a pergola (slatted roof) and it will look something like this:

Here it is from another angle:

How cool is that? Awesome renderings by Joseph Przybyl, AIA.

Every community garden needs a garden shed. We’ve been making due with tools and junk piled behind temporary bamboo fencing. Texas Citizens Bank made a generous donation so that we can build a real shed. We scoped out sheds at nearby community gardens. Joe Przybyl designed a shed just for us. But in the end, a quick google search revealed a local company that builds sheds and installs them on your lot. The footprint of shed turned out to be exactly the right size. And it is customizable so that we can add skylights and extra windows, such that we may be able to forego a greenhouse for starting transplants.

This is basically what the front will look like, facing Edloe: 

We may have an extra window installed in the back or move the one window to the south end. An extra window will be added to the south facing end and one or two skylights will be installed in the back side of the roof. Comments? Contact us by email: jbabcocktx@gmail.com

Can you believe it? It’s been almost three years already since we got the go-ahead to break ground on the Southside Place Community Garden. Now we are having our 3rd rocking party. Last year, we anticipated 100 people in attendance and we ran out of food (although we had plenty of wine & beer!). The food truck we reserved didn’t show up. This time, we are  anticipating 300 people and we’ll have three times the food…plus the Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt truck!

Bring your checkbooks. This year we have a fantastic silent auction. Check out these auction items in advance and be prepared to bid: Silent Auction Brochure.pdf