All-

We had a great meeting on Thursday. Lots of ideas! We have had two meetings and I am so excited that the kids that have come have been FULL of great ideas! Please know that this is a family and community group. We want everyone to join in on the fun!!

I'll have the meeting notes posted up soon with our plans and some starting thoughts for our proposal to the HOA. We can use this site and maybe a shared document site to work remotely with each other. I know we all have other life events happening and I appreciate that you are all willing to spend some of that precious time with this group. Thank you.

I will not be at the 7.18 meeting. Darn.

Well that was fun! Sorry for the crickets but after getting married we had a little trip to Colorado, I had to get back to the Day Job, and my college classes started again. Here's where we are at:

1. WE HAVE THE FUNDING!
- We completed Stage 1 successfully and the $1400 is in my bank account
- I created a separate account to help keep funds separate

2. HOA Meeting
- They asked that we put together a basic proposal
- Expected cost, landed needed, etc.
- They would like a presentation at the August meeting which near the end of the month
- The Lifestyle Director offered to go over the proposal a few weeks before that to ensure foot forward and they know the board members and can help us tweak it so it appeals to them

3. Next meeting to go over all of this
- This Thursday, July 18, at 630p
- I'm going to create a new event and announce it
- I will also put another post up on Nextdoor

Here is a planter box I built for our house. We have not used it yet but it was the design I went with because it is portable, despite being heavy, and it is raised to keep most critters (mainly my dog) from getting into it.

I can try to build other types of planter boxes or enclosures once we find a plot to create our community garden.

The following is the plan that we came up with at our kick-off meeting. We have broken it down into topics.

Seed money through the Arizona Sustainability Challenge
• Expected usage will be on building materials, seeds/plants, water, electricity (if needed), and ongoing maintenance costs
• We are hoping to secure a location free of charge through our HOA or one of the elementary schools in our neighborhood
• Other options for a location may include local groups that have some land for us to use as a donation/tax write-off

Secure a location
• Don to attend next HOA Board meeting: June 25th @ 630p MST
o Initial meeting with Kelly, HOA Lifestyle Director, went well but she said previous discussions of a community garden have been turned down; concerns about lack of planning, etc.
o She said my initial discussion with her was more prepared than anyone else and she asked me to come to the next board meeting to discuss the garden
o Don sent official email to Kelly per her request outlining our idea and to provide more information on the potential funding from Arizona Sustainability Challenge through ChangeX
o HOA will vote if they want to help our group by providing a location for our garden
1. Need to ensure community access
2. Need access to water and electricity
• We can also discuss options with the two elementary schools in our neighborhood
1. Need to ensure community access so can’t be on interior school grounds
2. Need access to water and electricity

Marketing our group
• Nextdoor
o Using Nextdoor has already proven successful
o We will continue to market via Nextdoor promoting both our ChangeX website as well as our Facebook page (to be created soon)
• Facebook
o We will create a Facebook page as this is a popular way to reach people via social media
o This will be especially helpful to announce events and show pictures of our work
• Community launch party
o Once we have our basic plans for the garden, ideas on where the garden will be, etc. we will have a community launch party
1. We will rent out the HOA Club House
2. Don has a PA system and can set up a PowerPoint presentation
3. Refreshments will be served
o We will announce/promote the launch party using Nextdoor and Facebook

Our garden
• Timeline: Use the summer to secure location and plan our layout
• Building: Anthony has offered his skills in building planter boxes, etc.
• Vegetables & Flowers: We can start seedlings in garages during the summer
• Miscellaneous
o Anthony suggested that solar might be an option if power is needed
o Don has one set of grow lights for seedlings

Impacting our community
• Work together in the garden
o Builds community
o Relieves stress
o Gets us outside
• Offer classes
o Arrange for local nurseries to present on different topics
1. Growing seasons
2. Home gardens
3. Hydroponics (nutrients added to water) / Aquaponics (live fish)
• Don has an aquaponics system
• Southwest Aquaponics and Fish Hatchery in Glendale
o The goal is to teach others how to start their own gardens
• Work with the schools
o We have two elementary schools in Vistancia
o Have garden days where the kids come and help in the garden
o Have short workshops on how they can grow herbs and flowers
• Add an all-in-one hydroponic system
o Teach the community about hydroponics (no fish at least initially)
o Benefits and differences compared to soil gardens