Posted Aug 21 2011

Posted June 18 2011 Greetings Fellow Gardeners,


A Happy Spring Weekend to you, and Happy Fathers Day to all the fathers out there!


We are ready to put up the High Tunnel! We have received some very generous contributions from the community: Brad Hartbauer came over with his auger and drilled 8 holes for the anchors, Greenleaf Forestry donated the beams for the foundation, and Kim & Tyler Stein of In the Now, For the Future have gathered and prepared the materials to anchor this high tunnel so well that we won't have to worry about the Westcliffe winds blowing it away.


We'll get started at 10:30 am this Sunday June 19. The more the merrier. Please bring work gloves and shovels.

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The Cliffs Park: A Community Garden
c/o Sustainable Ways, Inc.
PO Box 672
Westcliffe, CO 81252

Posted April 27, 2011:
Dear Fellow Gardeners,


We have a lot of exciting plans underway to enhance the Community Garden as we enter our second growing season. We would love your help in making them happen!

At the top of the list is our new high tunnel, a large hoop house made of greenhouse plastic and steel tubing that will act much like a traditional green house, extending the growing season at the garden by about a month at each end of the season. Sustainable Ways Inc. recently purchased this high tunnel for the community garden through a cost-share program with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. You can see a picture and more info about the high tunnel on the Farmtek website:

In order to learn more about high tunnels, and come up with some plans for how to use ours, we will be gathering to watch an informational webinar at the Library Community Room next Thursday May 5 at 5pm. After we watch the short introductory webinar we can come up with a plan for our own high tunnel. If you aren't able to come next Thursday, or want to watch the webinar on your own ahead of time you can find it at Website: . Look for "Recorded Webinars" on the right column.

On May 7 Sustainable Ways will hold the second of a two part Permaculture workshop focused on finalizing a comprehensive design for the community garden using principles borrowed from nature. If you would like to register for this workshop please contact Sue Pitman at 371-3685.

Finally, we will be planting our new fruit tree orchard, brought to the community garden through a grant from the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation and Dryers Fruit Bars on Wednesday May 11th beginning at 11am. We hope to recruit a large number of volunteers for this event. Please plan to come ready to work with gloves, a shovel, and a wheelbarrow if you have one. And bring along a friend or two if you can!

If you are interested in working in the Commons Area this year, please respond to this email or call Buffy Lenth at 783-4833 so that you can be included in upcoming planning for this season. We will be looking for a weekly time work together in the garden, and setting up a watering schedule so that we can all share the responsibilities.

As always, if you would like to sign up for a free individual plot please contact Buffy Lenth at 783-4833.

Plans for Westcliffe's Seed Lending Library are moving forward! If you'd like to get involved please join us this Friday April 29th from 1:00-2:30pm in the courthouse basement. For more information visit website.

Thanks! Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

The Cliffs Park: A Community Garden
c/o Sustainable Ways, Inc.
PO Box 672
Westcliffe, CO 81252



Dear Fellow Gardeners,

March 25, 26th and  May 7 2011
You all asked for Permaculture Training that is on weekends and doesn't cost so much when we offered a full 2 week Permaculture Design Certificate Course in Westcliffe last summer. So here it is!

Thanks to a grant to CusterHealth! from the Colorado Health Foundation we are offering a Free Permaculture Workshop (Part 1) on Saturday, March 26, 9-4 and Part 2 on Saturday May 7, 9-4. Pre-registration required for both. In addition, there will be a free Introduction to Permaculture presentation on Friday evening, March 25, 6-7:30 at Cliff Lanes. These programs are part of Sustainable Ways' effort to develop a local food supply and CusterHealth! effort to get people outdoors exercising, working with others, and eating healthful foods.

The Introduction to Permaculture presentation is suggested for the participants in the Saturday Workshops and for anyone else who wants to know what Permaculture is all about. (a brief description of Permaculture is using OBSERVATION & COMMON SENSE FOLLOWING THE PATTERNS OF NATURE to provide for human needs in abundance without harming the earth.)

Permaculture Workshop Part 1 on Saturday, March 26 will teach the Permaculture Design process by assisting in creating and updated design of Cliffs' Park Community Garden to accommodate community needs, lessons from 2010, and a fruit tree orchard/forest garden to be planted May 11. Learning this process will assist you in designing your own garden using Permaculture Principles for maximum long term productivity. This is your opportunity to participate in planning for the community garden, important if you have or want a plot, want to help with the Common's garden, or just want a pleasant place to walk and will constitute the first community garden meeting of 2011.

Permaculture Workshop Part 2 on Saturday, March 26 will build on the March 26th workshop including finalizing the updated design of Cliffs' Park Community Garden and teach how to implement the design of your own garden using Permaculture Principles for maximum long term productivity with minimal use of water. It will include hands-on preparation of the community garden for fruit tree planting and site improvements to minimize the use of water.

TO PRE-REGISTER reply to this email giving your name, phone, mailing address, and email address or contact Sue Pitman at 371-3685 (sue.pitman@gmail.com)

Instructors are Becky Elder and Sandy Cruz,. (Becky will do the Friday evening Introduction to Permaculture.)

Sandy Cruz has been working towards greater sustainability, including food production and preservation, at 9,200 feet for over three decades, experimenting with plants and refining strategies for living in extremely harsh conditions. She holds a Diploma of Permaculture Design from the International Permaculture Institute and founded High Altitude Permaculture in 1992. Sandy teaches diverse permaculture courses, consults on site planning and design, and has trained fifty new Permaculture teachers from around the country. Sandy recently relocated to Salida, where she is establishing a new permaculture research and demonsration site.

Becky Elder has been gardening on the Colorado Front Range for thirty five years. Certified in permaculture design, 2002, and holding several certificates, Becky works with Pikes Peak Permaculture, High Altitude Permaculture, Sustainable Ways, and Transition Town Manitou Springs. She is a board member with Peak to Plains (agricultural) Alliance and the Green Cities Coalition. An active Master Gardener for Colorado State University, she teaches in the Gardening in the Pikes Peak Region series. Becky is an Environmental Consultant (2010.) A life-long organic gardener, Becky owns Blue Planet Earthscapes, an award winning, gardening company. A former wildlife rehabilitator, her Manitou home gardens are Certified Wildlife Habitat and were included in the Audubon Society's book: Colorado Wildscapes. Her first book, Raven in the Garden, a Front Range Gardener's Journal was published in 2007.


Sandy Cruz has been working toward greater sustainablity, including food production and preservation, at 9,200 feet for over three decades, experimenting with plants and refining strategies for living in extremely harsh conditions.
 
Sustainable Ways is a 50l(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to educating, advocating, and demonstrating ways of sustainable living in the Wet Mountain Valley.

Greetings!  We hope this note finds you well and enjoying the beautiful winter weather.