Woo Hoo! And so we begin

Meeting number two brought more people and more energy.  We met newcomers to town, longtime residents, condo dwellers.  All wanted to see a community garden project for the same reasons as well as different ones. All would like their own plots, all would like to see a youth garden, and all want to help in a giving garden for the food pantry.  What is it about gardeners?----we span the generations, yet put us all in one room and we are old friends from the get go!  Love it.

We discussed community, giving back, healthy eating, recreation, education, youth programs, and more.

Next order of business is to find some land.  Not just any land, but sunny, healthy, and tillable land.
We talked about community garden models in other towns, on municipal land, and the realistic timeline for planning and rolling something out. Probably months and months. We can do this. 

We are also looking into finding space on private land for the food pantry garden, and have taken steps towards making connections with landholders.  This is something that could be in the ground and green and growing this spring.  If you are reading this, and can help us with your land or know someone who might be open to letting us cultivate a large vegetable garden, please contact us here via a comment or an email.

Lauren at the Y will send out minutes of the meeting to those of you who are on our list. 

I have just received an email from one of the Town departments, woo hoo! So the process begins.........
As soon as I know what we need to do Town-wise I will rally you, troops.
Thank you!
Amy

Did you miss the first meeting? Can you do Monday 9/20?

We will be holding another meeting, we received many emails and calls from interested folks who either couldn't join us or heard about it afterwards.

Here's Lauren from the Y:

Hi All!

Hope you all had a great weekend. Thanks again for meeting last week to discuss a Franklin Community Garden.

I wanted to let you know that we are holding another meeting on Monday, September 20 at 7 PM at the YMCA. This will be led just like last weeks to gain more interest from the community and to allow all those who wanted to attend, but were unable to make it to share their vision and ideas.

Please spread the word to anyone you know who might be interested in a Franklin Community Garden.

Thank you!
Lauren
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email us at franklincommunitygardens @ gmail dot com

Yes, It Does Appear That You Are Ready, Franklin. And Willing and Able.

Hi, This is Amy.
Let me tell you about our first meeting!

I got to the Y early to help set up and we set out a circle of chairs.  It was a big circle.
Then I worried that if we put out too many chairs and only a few folks showed up, well, it just might not feel right.  I put 1/2 of the chairs back by the wall. And then spent the evening happily providing more chairs.

Thank you, everyone. I knew you were out there!

Lauren is putting together the minutes and I'll post them soon.
I am working on a committee sign-up list.
Emails and calls are arriving asking when are we meeting again.
I've stirred up town offices, in a good way I hope,  by enquiring about a certain location for plots.  A meeting is in the works, I'll  know exactly when soon.
Jodi has offered to contact a landholder for permission to use a portion of his agricultural land so that we may jumpstart the community Giving Garden for the Franklin Food Panty.  That would be wonderful.
Offers of web development, grant writing, and more.
A wonderful email offering THREE compost bins just came in, Thank you, Danni! I'll be by Saturday!
Thank you, Chris and Michelle, for spreading the word and walking in the tall grass.
Thanks, Lauren, for getting the ball rolling.

Franklin, you rock.

(edited to add---I didn't post the minutes here.  If you were at the meeting, or contacted us with your email, they were sent to you.  When we get a website up we can post them there.  Are you reading this, Ramsey? Let's talk!)