​"The Garden Blog: A Family Grows in Detroit" will follow one of our new garden bed renters and her family on their first bed-rental experience this season at Palmer Park.

Beautiful Pests
​By Amy Kuras

Because of my work schedule and my kids’ schedule, my garden time often comes late in the day, sometimes late enough that I’m racing dusk to get my chores done. It’s a very peaceful time to be there – golden light on the meadow, kids joyfully shrieking through the splash park, and the normal bustle of this busy city oasis beginning to slowly wind down. 

A few weeks ago, I was puttering around in the garden when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I was scared at first, fearing a mean dog, but it was instead something so much better -- a deer! looking for food in the wild meadow that surrounds the garden. I know some people hate deer, because they are pests and will clean out months of hard garden work with a few minutes of munching –and believe me, I put the deer netting we were offered on my raised bed just like everyone else did. 

But for me, a deer sighting is magical. I grew up in the city, and I never saw a deer until I was 24 and working as a reporter on Grosse Ile, a small island in the Detroit River. It’s still exciting and rare for me to spot them, and I relish their grace and loveliness and intelligent soft eyes. I knew they lived in the park, but I’ve hardly ever seen one. This time, there were two. 

I haven’t been this close to one of these beauties. I was worried they might challenge me for my plants or something (again, city kid, I’m completely unfamiliar with wildlife, but ask me about cats!) but instead one of them, a female, kept munching milkweed and tall grass just outside the clearing of the garden area. Every now and again we’d look at each other for a few minutes, me delighted, her wary. She’d stare and then, flipping her tail like an irritated cat, she’d go back to her meal and I’d go back to my weeding. 
​
Since we started this garden project, I keep thinking about the idea of something sparking joy. The garden has been an unalloyed spark of joy for me on many levels. And that night, it was the joy of communing with a wild and beautiful creature, both of us engaging in our evening chores. It’s one of the things I hope I always remember, and one of the many gifts from the garden I’ve already received. 

​Amy Kuras is Research and Policy Program Manager for Detroit Food Policy Council and member of People for Palmer Park.

​"The Garden Blog: A Family Grows in Detroit" will follow one of our new garden bed renters and her family on their first bed-rental experience this season at Palmer Park.

We have harvest!!
By Amy Kuras

One thing I have learned about gardening is that a lot can happen in a little time, and sometimes there’s a lot of waiting and then bursts of frenzied activity.

​Case in point: We put in our cold crops in late April. And we waited, and waited, and worried about what to do when it was time for the hot crops to be planted when the cold crops hadn’t even begun to really take off yet. Thanks to some great advice from Molly and some surprisingly meticulous garden planning from me (let’s just say “meticulous” isn’t a character trait one typically associates with me) I figured out how to find good spots for the hot crops without crowding out the cold crops. So we planted, and watered, and hoped.  That was May 18, the first day the garden officially opened.

We had a long-standing plan to head to DC and Maryland for a family reunion the following weekend, because it was Memorial Day. I slogged through the mud to look over the garden the day we left, May 23, and was happy to see a little bit of growth in just the five days since we’d planted. We got back late the night of Memorial Day (May 27) and finally moseyed over to check the garden on Tuesday evening.

Well. Mother Nature apparently held quite a Memorial Day party because things have just exploded. The lettuce plants doubled in size, the band of lettuce seeds needed a third thinning because the seedlings were all crowding each other out, the peas and broccoli grew a good couple inches, and beans and cucumber seedlings were starting to push above ground. The beets and carrots are starting to look well established, too. Teaches me to come to the garden without anything to bring home a harvest -- I pulled up the deer netting, had my husband hold out his shirt, and began piling lettuce into it!

It’s amazing what a little sun, a lot of rain, and good soil can do.

However, not all is perfection. I’d planted Brussels sprouts down the middle of the bed, because they take a long time to mature. Unfortunately, half of them look great but half have died, as have some of my kale plants and all of my collards. It’s disappointing, but realistically I’m the only one in my family who would have eaten a bunch of it anyway. More room for juicy tomatoes and snappy beans, right?

​Amy Kuras is Research and Policy Program Manager for Detroit Food Policy Council and member of People for Palmer Park.

​"The Garden Blog: A Family Grows in Detroit" will follow one of our new garden bed renters and her family on their first bed-rental experience this season at Palmer Park.

The garden is open!
By Amy Kuras

This past weekend, I and all my fellow Palmer Park gardeners kicked off the season in style. On a day that started out pouring rain and ended up sunny, warm and beautiful, we planted our beds, helped a contingent of volunteers from Home Depot spread wood chips, and probably ran our site farmer, Molly Leebove, ragged with all our questions.

The gardeners are as diverse as the people who use Palmer Park for any number of things; families,
singles, and groups like Yoganic Flow and GirlTrek. Some of us are experienced gardeners, some are
brand new, and we’re planting everything from arugula to zucchini.

For my family and I, this garden represents something we’ve long hoped for in a place we already love.
When my husband Paul and I moved into our house in Greenacres 17 years ago, I immediately planted a
vegetable garden and learned how amazing food can taste when it was picked mere minutes before
hitting your plate. I kept it up for a few years, but lost my mojo when my daughter Maggie (who now
goes by Max) came along in 2004 and when my son Will arrived in 2008. By the time I was thinking I
might want to start up again, the big maple tree in our backyard had grown enough to keep the whole
yard in shade for almost all of the day. I managed to eke out a few tomatoes and get an herb garden
going, but generally any really productive growing was not happening.

When I was a kid, I remember my dad belonging to a community garden, where you could rent a bed for
the summer. I work for the Detroit Food Policy Council, which has close ties with the urban agriculture
community, but my inquiries about such a thing here in Detroit came up empty. I’d resigned myself to
getting my fresh seasonal veggies at the farmers market. Then, late last year I heard about the Rent A
Bed program. To say I was excited is an understatement. We already love Palmer Park and spend a lot of
time at the splash park and on the trails when the weather is nice. I attended the annual meeting to find
out more and signed up on the spot!
​
We joined Keep Growing Detroit’s Garden Resource Program, took their basic gardening class, and Molly
kindly let us start planting all our cold crops early. At our kick-off meeting in mid-May, I dragged my kids
over to see the bed. “WE HAVE BABIES!!!” I cheered, seeing the band of lettuce seeds germinating into
little microrgreens and the peas Will had planted slowly unfurling themselves toward the sun. This was,
to my teen and tween, about the most embarrassing thing a person has ever done, but I didn’t care. We
were even able to harvest some lettuce from the plants we’d taken home from KGD and had our first
official salad from the garden (okay, with a LOT of store bought lettuce as well) at Sunday dinner.

​Amy Kuras is Research and Policy Program Manager for Detroit Food Policy Council and member of People for Palmer Park.

TEXT ALERTS FROM PEOPLE FOR PALMER PARK!

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IMPORTANT UPDATE!
Due to a vendor glitch, our entire list of contacts was recently deleted. So we need anyone interested in using our text alert system (EVEN IF YOU SIGNED UP BEFORE APRIL 2019) to sign up again. We are so sorry for the inconvenience!

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Will tonight’s bike ride be cancelled due to rain?
Is the ground too wet this week for yoga or t’ai chi?
Now you can receive instant updates for our recreation programs and events, in text form RIGHT ON YOUR PHONE.

INSTRUCTIONS:
(This is a one time setup and will only take a moment...)

Text “PalmerPark” to the number 41411.
No quotes, no spaces. It is not caps sensitive. Now SEND.

You will receive a reply that looks something like this:

Rply Y to confirm 4+msg/mo automated mktg txt msgs from PeopleForPalmerPark @your number here
Consent not reqd for purchase
Msg&DataRatesMayApply
Info? Rply HELP


Reply with just the letter Y.
You will receive next msg like this:

Welcome to PALMERPARK.

Msg&Data Rates May Apply
4msg/mo 
Rply HELP for help
Rply STOP to cancel 

Reply with your first and last name.
You will receive next msg like this:

Your name has been changed to: your name here

Pro-Tip:
Rply #NAME to change your name at any time.


Then you're all set!
Expect to receive approximately 4 messages per month. These will ALL be People for Palmer Park related (weather updates for recreation programs, event reminders), Not spam. Charges may apply, check your individual cellular/data plan.

Organizational Description:
Palmer Park is comprised of 296 acres of lawns and historic woodlands, a public golf course, tennis courts, state-of-art splash pad, hiking and biking trails, Lake Frances, a historic log cabin, and more. With continued city budget cuts and limited financial resources, the City has encouraged creative solutions from citizens to keep our parks alive and healthy. People for Palmer Park accepted this challenge, and has officially adopted Palmer Park. People for Palmer Park  (PFPP) is committed to the preservation, recreation and revitalization of Palmer Park, for the good of all. Our vision is to create an urban oasis, regional destination, and daily recreation site that will promote an active and healthy community. Our guiding values include preservation of park resources; restoration and preservation of the park’s history; equal benefit and access to the park; creation of a safe park environment; responsiveness to park users and the community; timeliness in our actions; and collaboration and cooperation with the city, community, and stakeholders.

We believe that with the collective energy, efforts, and talents of the people who use and love the park, it can be revitalized to its fullest potential and restored to Senator Palmer’s vision when he donated the land for the park in the late 1800s: “a park for the good of everyone.”
 
Position Description:
PFPP is seeking a Farm & Community Engagement Manager. This position is responsible for overseeing in-ground and plant production at the Palmer Park Urban Garden, an approximate one-acre urban farm located in Palmer Park, Detroit. (The one-acre is the portion currently being cultivated, however, it is part of a larger, almost 5-6 acre area that may be developed in the future.) The site, owned by the city of Detroit and operated by People for Palmer Park includes twenty (20) 4x4 raised beds, which have been planted with a variety of vegetables, herbs and perennial flowers/herbs,  a compost station, a rain catchment irrigation system, a greenhouse (under construction) and a pumpkin patch area has been planted annually.

In addition, People for Palmer Park previously planted approximately 700 apple trees in three different orchard areas. While there is a grounds crew engaged to do the major mowing, mulching and tree maintenance, the farm manager will assist with coordinating volunteers to do some regular oversight and maintenance of the orchards.
 
The Farm & Community Engagement Manager will also work closely People for Palmer Park to develop a maintenance and harvest plan. S/he will be responsible for recruiting and training volunteers and connecting with local organizations.  S/he will also need to utilize farm/garden tools, and operate light machinery including a farm tractor; occasional maintenance and repair of this equipment may be required.

The Farm & Community Engagement Manager reports to PFPP’s president, Rochelle Lento and Preservation Committee Chair, Clinton Griffin.
 
Duties and Responsibilities:

• Oversee the production of vegetables, herbs, flowers, fruit, and seed at the PFPP garden including supervision and volunteers engaged in fieldwork at the site.
• Oversee transplant production by providing support and supervision to volunteers.
• Facilitate an annual farm planning process for the PFPP Farm. to include a site map, field plan, harvest plan, planning schedule, crop rotation plan, labor plan, and farm budget.
• Maintain and improve quality of produce and soil.
• Maintain records to monitor and evaluate key farm inputs, outputs, and activities.
• Assist with the development and implementation of farm-based education for urban gardeners and farmers.
• Assist with community engagement initiatives at the PFPP Farm including events, tours, and regularly scheduled working lessons/volunteer opportunities.
• Attend PFPP meetings, trainings, and other key citywide events, as needed.

 
Qualifications:

• The ideal candidate will have 2-5 years of organic farming experience, including transplant production, farm planning, and harvest and post-harvest handling.
• Interest and familiarity with issues relating to the City of Detroit, local food, food access, and sustainable agriculture, and a genuine appreciation of the urban environment.
• Strong organizational and written/verbal communication skills; proficiency in MS Word and Excel required.
• Experience supervising volunteers and working with diverse communities.
• Experience teaching youth and/or adults, preferably in a farm or garden setting.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Ability to lift 40 pounds.
• Driver’s license is preferred but not required.
• Bachelor’s degree in agriculture, social work, community organization, natural resources, plant science, horticulture or a related field is preferred but not required.

 
How to Apply:
Please send email of your resume and brief cover letter no later than March 21st to Rochelle Lento, People for Palmer Park Board President of rlento@dykema.com or to PO Box 43734, Detroit MI 48243. Use the job title as the subject line.

For more information, please visit our Garden info page or call 313-727-9925.