SOQUE BULLETIN
April 9th, 2012
The 3rd Season of the SRWA's Locally Grown Market starts this week.
Featuring for the first time, mik from Mountain Fresh Creamery.
You can still order through 9pm tonight (Monday). Just click on the flier above to access the website.
1) Clarkesville Greenways PUBLIC MEETING - Announcing Greenway Expansion! - This Thursday, April 12th
2) SRWA in the news - newpsaper stories since January
3) Two Green Way Community Garden Plots Available
1) Clarkesville Greenways PUBLIC MEETING - Announcing Greenway Expansion! - This Thursday, April 12th
Come out and support your enthusiasm for the Clarkesville Greenways, and also get a tour of the proposed half mile expansion into Mary Street Park that should begin sometime this summer. It's been nearly three years (June of 2009) since we've had a Greenways Public Meeting and there's cause to celebrate. Last month the City of Clarkesville received word that they had been approved for a $100,000 grant from the Georgia Recreational Trails Program to extend the existing Greenway trail into the adjacent Mary Street Park.
This new trail section will greatly enhance the use and enjoyment of the Greenway and also improve Mary Street Park which just happens to be in a revisioning process this year. The city has also applied for funding to build a grassed amphitheater that would join with the Greenways. Other features of this new trail section will include: two trailheads, concrete ramps, a restrooom and access to picnic tables for individuals with disabilities. It will also feature a second bridge across Rocky Branch, and improved signage. The grant will also allow us to assess ways to improve the overall trail system so come out and give your ideas.
Part of the public meeting will be soliciting input from citizens who use the Greenway and looking at volunteer opportunities such as: improving use of the kiosk for posting community announcements, management of pet friendly features, signage explaining special features of the Greenway, how to promote the Greenway to visitors to the area, special events, maintenance of the trail and trail features such as the boardwalk and natural areas.
Come and enjoy a walk around the new trail section and discussions of how to make the Greenway even more used and loved in the City of Clarkesville. Meeting is at 6pm at the Mary Street Park picnic pavillions this Thursday, April 11th. If you're interested in us addressing a particular issue go ahead and let us know at soque@windstream.net.
Concept Map for the Mary Street Park Greenway Expansion.
The details of how the trail will be designed have changed, but this gives a general outline.
Come to the meeting on April 12th to walk the proposed trail and see for yourself.
2) SRWA in the news - newpsaper stories since January
We just added a new link to our website called SRWA NEWS that will feature newspaper and magazine articles featuring the SRWA and our related projects. Special thanks to the Northeast Georgian who does a great job of covering our many projects and events. Here's a quick list of the articles published since January (we still need to add our stormwater tour of the judicial center). Hope you enjoy this new link:
Also, now is a great time to join the SRWA and receive our latest SPRING / SUMMER newsletter that will be getting mailed out later this week. If you've been thinking of joining and just haven't gotten around to it yet, sign up today through our website and you'll have a full update on all our activities in your mailbox by this time next week. Just click the donate leaf. And thanks for your support.
3) Two Green Way Community Garden Plots still Available
The Green Way Community Garden just kicked off it's 3rd season and there's still room for two energetic and fired up gardeners who'd like to get engaged in growing organic fruits and vegetables. Some of the exciting new activities for this year's garden are:
· Greenhouse completed - thanks to a generous gift from Georgia Power we were able to complete construction of a 30x16 greenhouse adjacent to the garden which will be used to extend the season into the cooler months and also for growing transplants, and to propogate rain garden and riparian plants. We hope to have a dedication at some point to show it off.
· New Composting Bins - our garden leaders helped to assemble two pallet composting bins made from pallets that came from our rainbarrel program.
· Blueberries will produce fruit this year - Our blueberries are entering their third season this year and they'll finally begin bearing fruit.
· Flower and Herb gardens - We'll have two community plots where we'll be experimenting with a combination of perrenial and annual flowers and herbs to give our garden some permanent beautiful and edible patches.
· Farm rows for sale and donations - We've added two 100 foot rows this year to plant more crops that we can both sell for income to the garden and to donate to the local soup kitchen, and other locations.
But the core purpose of the garden is to give each participant their own 10x20 foot plot to learn to grow organic vegetables from April 1st - August 30th without using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. We do require gardeners to keep plots well groomed and harvested every week of the season, so be certain you're able to dedicate several hours every week to your plot, and are willing to volunteer to do community projects. That's the fun of the Green Way Garden, it's a great place to build friendships and develop your own skills and projects that benefit the broader community. New ideas and individuals are highly welcome. For more information call Walter Matlock (706) 754-5290
Justin Ellis
Executive Director
Soque River Watershed Association
706-754-9382
