Longmont's Oldest Organic Community Garden
THE SSCG BOARD
Check the Calendar for the next Board Meeting.
The Second Start Community Garden is a 100% volunteer-run organization. We encourage returning gardeners to help serve our garden and our community by participating as a member on our Board of Directors.
Co-Chairperson
Derice
I'm a life-long gardener from Wisconsin. I moved to Colorado 30 years ago and have loved the challenges of gardening here. 2020 is my 18th season gardening at SSCG. I have served on the Board of Directors in several capacities - currently I'm the Co-Chair of the Board of Directors.
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My husband and I have raised 3 children (& 6 foreign exchange students) in this community. I'm a retired Product Designer, a Master Gardener -Boulder County (7yrs service), and currently offer Garden Services to select clients. I keep coming back each year to SSCG for the soil I've built and the great friends I've made through the years - each of whom share wisdom and the love of healthy food and caring for our environment.
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Co-Chairperson
Jack
Welcome to the Second Start Community Garden, one of Longmont’s hidden gems! Although relatively new to gardening here in Colorado, I have a life-long interest in growing food using the gifts that nature gives us. This is one of my “second acts” since I retired as an aerospace engineer three years ago and moved here to be near to family. My grandchildren love being part of the community: tending the plants, weeding and harvesting, sitting in the shade garden on a hot, sunny day. This is a beautiful way to pass on respect and love for the natural world to our kids.
I am the co-chair with Derice for this year, to support her when she is unavailable or needs back-up. I will also work on design improvements, grant writing and promotion in the community. Please reach out to me if you know of any organizations that we can work with or might support our work.
Eric
Work Share Coordinator
Greetings. My name is Eric. I've been gardening for 35 years, 10 of which are with SSCG. Communal gardening has enriched my experience by digging in the dirt with like-minded gardeners and learning how to garden in Colorado as we are originally from Pennsylvania.
As Workshare Coordinator, I hope to work alongside the members to make the garden a more aesthetic environment and communal experience.
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Treasurer
Lynn
Greetings. My name is Lynn, Treasurer on the Board. I've been gardening for over 12 years with SSCG. I truly enjoy growing organic vegetables and like reconnecting with long time SSCG gardeners as well as meeting new gardeners. Presently I garden in the westside of the Garden. If you're looking for a mentor, I’m glad to be of service.
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Contact me with any questions you have around accounting, donations, payments or refunds.
Orchard Manager
Kristen
Hello and welcome to new gardeners! My name is Kristen, and I've been gardening my entire life. My parents were homesteader-types, and I grew up helping to grow food for our family on a wooded property in upstate New York. I joined SSCG in 2005 and found that gardening in Colorado is so different from back east! The kind and helpful people at the community garden have been a great resource for me.
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Currently, I am serving the Board as the Orchard Manager. I had no prior experience with fruit trees before joining SSCG, and everything I've learned was from the extension office and other gardeners.
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I love gardening in the friendly and supportive atmosphere at SSCG. It's a wonderful community!
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I am always looking for assistants in the orchard. I'd be glad to have your help if this is an area that you're interested in. No experience necessary, as this is a learning place and I'd be happy to teach others just as I have been taught. Reach out!
Registrar
Olivia
I am Olivia and am serving as Registrar of the Second Start Community Garden. I am somewhat of a reluctant gardener having come from Florida where everything can grow quite easily, but also everything gets eaten just as easily before I can harvest. I got more interested in porch gardening--growing tomatoes and lettuce for BLTs for easy lunches--and thought that I would try my hand at community gardening in the actual earth without containers.
I am relatively new to gardening at large in Colorado, but I have always been interested in starting from seeds and working from there. I share my harvests with my co-workers who are more than happy to have my bounty of tomatoes and hot peppers. And an odd fact about me: I love squash, but I have an irrational fear of large leaves. I have learned quite a bit from all the fellow gardeners at SSCG and it’s been a great experience, though weeding was something I did not really have to manage in a container garden. As Registrar, I am looking forward to meeting all of the members when I can.
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Secretary/Bee Keeper
Tim
I started gardening as a poor graduate student at Oklahoma State. I grew mainly tomatoes, peppers and okra which are easy and tasty.
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These days, I'm married to a life-long gardener, who persuaded me to join SSCG, so gardening continues to be an important focus for me and my family. I’ve been a member of the community garden since 2002 and I've been on the board in one role or another since 2004. I've been Treasurer, Chairperson, Work Share Organizer and Beekeeper. Given that much time with the garden, it is obvious that I have enjoyed participating in the community garden.
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I've been a beekeeper for 11 years and have enjoyed it, but it is a challenge to keep bees given all the threats they face from mites, pesticides and difficult weather that Colorado sometimes brings. I check the bees about every two weeks in the spring and late fall and every three weeks during the summer. Getting any closer than 10 feet from the beehive is asking them to sting you. Please stay back. If I am checking them, please stay 100 feet away as sometimes the bees can be ornery when stirred up during an inspection.
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Work share days, where the membership get together to maintain/improve the community pieces of the garden, are especially enjoyable for me. I work in an office every day and sit at a computer. Getting outside and doing some hands-on work is good for me. I enjoy working with other gardeners and getting to know them. There are many intelligent and kind folks at the garden so working and chatting is a pleasure. I like SSCG and its members. I hope you will as well. Come gardening with us.
Social Coordinator
Lili
Greetings. I planted my first seeds when I was 10. My mother gave me a patch of land beside the garage and I planted zinnias. I’ve been at the SSCG garden 12 years. I love having a designated place that’s not home. I’m only there to garden and nothing else.
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I’ve a knack for growing beets. Reach out if you'd like pointers for growing them. I have previously been Secretary of the Board, where I tracked the happening of the monthly Board Meeting, but as social coordinator, I will help provide community events for the garden membership and general public. Check our calendar and stop by. Happy Gardening!
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