Minutes from SPUDS membership meeting, Friday, Oct. 16, 09

-originally recorded by Veronica Timmons-

7:00 pm -9:30 pm

3906 Wren Road, Denman Island

Members in attendance:

Brian Miles, Peter Bickel-Janes, Maxine Matilpi, Ron Dobie, Mike Nestor, Fireweed, Riane daSilva, Sheila Nopper, Rae Eckel, Velda Parsons, Bob Parsons, Margaret Fraser, Fox, Ron Sakolsky, Veronica Timmons, Karl Goodwin, Bob Vosburg, Herb Jones, Susan-Marie Yoshihara, Barbara Heywood-Jones, Charlie Johnston

Absent:

Corinne Bjorge, Andrew Fyson, Laura Busheikin, Marjo von Tooren, Shaun Woods, Bill Engelson, deNeen Baldwin

Co-facilitators:

Ron Sakolsky and Charlie Johnston

1. Agenda

1. The Agenda
2. Basis of Unity
3. Agreement – Basis for Decision-making
4. Field Decisions

2. Basis of Unity

Ron and Sheila shared some of SPUDS background by referencing our start-up grant from Freedonia, including some of the initial goals of the project as presented in our application for financial aid from the anarchist funding body (2007). [visit Freedonia online by clicking on the LINKS column, right hand side of blog]

"Our goal is to shift our food consumption away from its increasing dependence on imported produce and to shift our economic emphasis back to self-sustainability with small, local food production." [excerpted from our grant application to Freedonia; for further details see the whole application by clicking on the Funding Background link, also on the right hand side of this page]

The group used consensus process to begin building a Basis of Unity, brainstorming as follows:

• Community building
• Production for others
• Providing opportunities to grow food
• Increasingly sustainable
• Building caring relationships through sharing the harvest and activity
• Building empowerment through skill building
• Non-commercial
• Moving towards Denman food sustainability
• Experimentation of planting methods
• Enjoyable, fun
• Minimal harm
• Organic
• Not monoculture, crop rotation
• Strive for inclusivity
• Harvest celebration ritual
• Local sourcing
• Organic where possible
• Non gmo
• Prioritizing for the health of the soil
• Love and revere the soil
• Variety of vegetables
• Feed soil not the plants
• Be an educational model
• Educate ourselves
• Accessibility (sharing harvest)
• Encouraging youth
• Egalitarian
• Planting peace

Clarifications were requested of those who contributed the following ideas...

Planting peace: Sharing food, producing security/comfort. Sense of
cooperation/good-will

Non-commercial: Not selling food we grow. Not for profit

Minimal harm: Minimal harm to people, animals and the soil

Inclusivity: Including different ability levels of people. Including vegans in the cooperative, being able to afford memberships

Sustainability: Lack of fuel in the future. Move towards getting off fossil fuels

Not monoculture: Healthier for the soil and plants if crop is varied and changed

Production for others: Sharing the harvest with others if we do not need all the harvest

Egalitarian: Power sharing

The ideas brainstormed were then grouped by commonality into categories:

1. Community Building
• produce food for others (outside the membership)
• hold a harvest celebration
• encourage youth
• increase the opportunities to grow
• strive for inclusivity
• accessibility (share the harvest)
• build a caring and sharing community
• share in growing activities
• plant for peace
• encourage fun and enjoyment

2. Sustainability
• move towards Denman sustainability
• source products/supplies locally (where possible)
• move towards increasing sustainability
  

3. Soil/Growing Issues

• use organic (where possible)
• prioritize for the health of the soil
• love and revere the soil
• use a variety of vegetables/not a monoculture
• encourage experimentation
• use a diversity of planting methods
• feed the soil not the plants
• encourage experimentation
• encourage fun and enjoyment

4. Education

• educate ourselves
• empowerment through skills building
• be an educational model

5. Group Process

• be egalitarian – power sharing
• use the 3-Gates in communication

6. Ethics

• minimal harm to people, animals, plants
• be non-commercial (non-profit)
• encourage fun and enjoyment

The following members agreed to write up a category into statements. These will be presented to the membership at the next meeting for additional discussion and honing. They will also be posted on the Blog for members to access and think about prior to providing further input.

1. Community Building- Sheila

2. Sustainability - Veronica

3. Soil/Growing Issues- Bob and Velda

4. Education- Veronica

5. Group Process- Fireweed

6. Ethics- Mike

3. Agreement- Basis for Decision-making

A very brief followup discussion ensued about consensus, as the meeting's focus on forming a basis of unity had been previously determined as necessary to engagement in consensus building. However, there was insufficient time before the end of the meeting to determine how decision-making would proceed until the group has more time to deliberate on the consensus group process option.

One person suggested that we "work towards building consensus" [over time] as a group. Another suggested that we practise using it in the interim. Members were encouraged to look at the blog for information and to learn more about using consensus process.

4. Field Decisions

No formal discussion took place during the meeting about next steps in the field. However, as the membership was disbanding Margaret, Fox, Ron and Maxine volunteered to contribute to the digging left to do in the field. Veronica offered to call Derek to request his assistance in spreading the remaining peas.

NEXT MEETING: A date for SPUDS next meeting of the membership was set for : Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 7pm at Susan-Marie’s house. Co-facilitation of the meeting will be shared by Sheila Nopper and Mike Nestor. Please bring a folding chair if you have one, and carpool! Thanks for heping keep SPUDS meetings 'scent-free for inclusivity'.

The meeting ended at 9:30pm

Almost, but not quite ready for winter!

October 14, 09

It was a busy weekend with Winter Soil Preparation at the field...

On Sunday, October 11th, 14 members worked hard to get the nitrogen-fixing winter peas spread on the harvested half of the field which had been rototilled by tractor on Saturday.

Peter's idea to broadcast pea seed into the rye on the other half of the field was amended in order to address concerns about inadequate nitrogen fixing. Once on site members decided to set aside a much smaller 'experimental patch', and till and seed the rest in order to increase chances for improved soil fertility in the area where next year's potatoes will be planted.

On Monday, Peter and Barb marked out a 20' x 20' experimental area. Scythed rye was left on this area after seeding as mulch. Bob began rototilling the remaining area at 9 am. Another six members arrived at 11am and continued the work of removing rye fom the rest of the field to a pile for later use as mulch next spring. By 1pm a third had been rototilled and/or dug by hand/shovel. By 2 pm the tired group decided to call it a day and ask that other members complete digging of the remaining area.

A row takes about 30 minutes to work with a spade. Other volunteers are needed to help finish this job so cover crop seeding can be completed asap. Sunshine is expected again early in the coming week!

Meanwhile, thanks go to Bob P for his hard work rototilling, Brian for the loan of the roller, Peter for the seed broadcaster, Veronica for purchasing the peas, Ironwood Farm in Fanny Bay for sharing/donating hard-to-find inoculant, and Carol, Veronica, Derek, Susan-Marie, Rae, deNeen, Fireweed and Mike for helping with coordination and communications, and everyone for their work in the field. Special thanks go to Mike Lindsay for tractor-tilling half the field on short notice (and anyone else inadvertantly missed!)

As mentioned in the last update, purchasing our cover crop has more than depleted SPUDS current budget, so the idea was suggested that members renew their memberships now, rather than wait till spring. Thanks to those who have already paid. It is $15 for a single membership and $25 for a family or group membership. Please make your SPUDS membership cheque out to *Cascadia Food Security Project*, leave it in the envelope marked ‘S’ in the FreePost, OR bring it (or cash) with you on Friday. If you have any questions, please call Mike at 1209.

REMINDER: This Friday, Oct. 16th at 7:00 pm*, a meeting has been scheduled to continue our exploration of consensus process as a cooperative. Susan Marie Yoshihara has kindly offered her home again at 3706 Wren Road (note: a little earlier than last time!) Scent-free, please. Bring a folding chair if you can.

Members with computer access can familiarize themselves with information about consensus process available through the links column right here at www.wearespuds.blogspot.com. It is hoped that those who were not at our Oct. 6th meeting with Mary Lang will also attend so we can be as inclusive as possible in any decision we make about the potential use of consensus process for our group.

We have begun to craft a basis of unity by sharing our own personal visions for SPUDS, and will continue that work with Charlie and Ron co-facilitating. Bring your own vision statement for SPUDS to the meeting and be part of building our solidarity as a cooperative!

Take a look at the collage of Andrew's photos from our 2009 Harvest, below in the last post!

Please RSVP if you can't attend Friday's meeting. Last but not least, thanks for carpooling! www.islandrideshare.com

NEXT EVENTS! Oct. 11th, and Oct. 16th, 09

Photos from SPUDS Harvest, Oct. 3, 09 by Andrew Fyson,
collage by Fireweed (Just click on the collage to enlarge the image)

TWO EVENTS COMING UP! Sunday, Oct. 11, and Friday, Oct. 16

Dear Fellow Spuddites,

1. It’s all hands on the field once again this coming Sunday, October 11th, 10:00 am to 12:00 noon!

Tuesday nite’s meeting about consensus process with Mary Lang from Creekside Commons in Courtenay was well attended and inspiring.

At the end of the evening, a decision was made by the 16 members present to get our fall cover crop in the ground right away!

Sunday will involve preparing the soil for broadcasting Austrian pea seed. We’re planning for a tractor and rototiller, but please bring a hoe and rake if you have them. We’re also hoping a roller will be available to press seed into the soil.

The other half of the field is currently covered in mature rye already fallen. An experiment has been proposed that the nitrogen fixing legumes be broadcast into this crop without removing it.

Purchasing our cover crop will more than deplete SPUDS current budget, so the idea was suggested that members renew their memberships now, rather than wait till spring. This will enable us to proceed with necessary expenses, so please make your SPUDS membership cheque out to Cascadia Food Security Project (the name on our bank account), leave it in the envelope marked ‘S’ for SPUDS in the FreePost, OR bring it with you on Sunday. If you prefer to use cash (or would rather pay later), please call Mike at 1209 to make alternate arrangements.

Yes, it's Thanskgiving! Bring a potato or two from your harvest share if you would like to contribute a small gift of appreciation to facilitator Mary Lang for her generous donation of time and knowledge about consensus in support of our cooperative on Oct. 6th. (See below for details on the followup meeting planned for Oct. 16th).

On Sunday, please bring water (to drink), a rain jacket (in case), a hoe and rake along with your Thanksgiving Spirit. Any questions, please call Carol at 0314.

2. On Friday, Oct. 16th at 7:00 pm, a meeting has been scheduled to continue our exploration of consensus process as a cooperative. Susan Marie Yoshihara has kindly offered her home again at 3706 Wren Road (note: a little earlier than last time!) Scent-free, please.

Members with computer access can familiarize themselves with information about consensus process available through the links column at www.wearespuds.blogspot.com. It is hoped that those who were not at our Oct. 6th meeting with Mary Lang will also attend so we can be as inclusive as possible in any decision we make about the potential use of consensus process for our group.

We have begun to craft a basis of unity by sharing our own personal visions for SPUDS, and will continue that work with Charlie and Ron co-facilitating. Bring your own vision statement for SPUDS to the meeting and be part of building our solidarity as a cooperative!

See you in the field on Sunday. Thanks to Andrew Fyson for photographing our harvest last weekend!

Please RSVP if you can't make it to either of these next two SPUDS gatherings. Last but not least, thanks for carpooling! www.islandrideshare.com

SPUDS Membership Meeting Minutes-for Friday, Sept, 25th, 2009

notetaker: deNeen Baldwin

Members attending:

Barb Heywood-Jones, Herb Jones, Bill Engelson, Karl Goodwin,
Bob and Velda Parsons, Marjo von Tooren, Bob and Carol Vosburgh,
Mike Nestor, Fireweed, deNeen Baldwin, Rae Eckel, Derek Takerer,
Shaun Woods, Susan Marie Yoshihara, Veronica Timmons

Agenda:

1. Welcome, meeting guidelines, thank you’s

2. Introductions- Why I'm a SPUDS member

4. Report from the Core Group

a. 2008

b. 2009 – what worked, what didn’t (row responsibility)

c. Fall – harvest date? Tilling? Fall cover crop?

5. Discussion/decisions
1. Decision-making process
2. Issues: soil amendment - presentation
3. Policy re use of animal products/green composting

6. Next year’s Core Group, roles, communication system

(blogspot and bulletins)

7. Other

Report from the Core Group

Herb Jones gave a report on what has happened during the 08 and 09 seasons. He will write it up for the blogspot.

This year’s harvest is slated for Saturday, October 3^rd from 10 – 12 noon. If it rains, come the same time on Sunday, October 4^th.

Please bring :

-A digging fork (rather than a spade, which can damage the potatoes)
-A large pail or bag for your potatoes
-Gloves
-Hat and water might also be handy.

Organic apple juice will be provided, baked potatoes and chili. Timing has taken into consideration the desire of some members to attend Recycling earlier in the morning.

Please RSVP either by email or call deNeen at 250-335-3027, or Fireweed at 1209.

If you are unable to make it, please make arrangements for someone to pick-up your share or make other arrangements.

Discussion

Several rounds of input from those attending the meeting made up the bulk of the
evening’s discussions. Generally, members felt that they joined SPUDS to be a part of a cooperative community effort concerned with promoting Denman sustainability. However, most people felt consistent communication has been lacking; Carol Vosburgh, Fireweed and Rae Eckel have volunteered to work on communications. For those who do not use the internet, copies of all the documents will go into the Freepost in an envelope marked SPUDS.

It was also agreed the structure of how the field work is to be done needs revision. The idea of assigning rows didn’t work; both because it wasn’t always clear, and that the idea of solitary work on the field, while useful for those who couldn’t attend the designated work parties, didn’t contribute to the coming together of co-op members.

To date, there has been a Core Group of those interested in the decisions of how the field is planted, maintained and harvested. Some were concerned that they didn’t get enough information about what was happening and wanted to change how decisions are made. To that end, Fireweed and Mike made a bid for SPUDS to use the Consensus method of decision making. An email to the meeting from absent member Ron Sakolsky was read by the facilitator, also advocating for the use of consensus process.

It was decided to have a meeting about that process so those of us who are not familiar with it, and interested in decision making, could make an informed choice. That meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 7:30 pm, at Susan Marie Yoshihara’s house. 3906 Wren Road. Please ensure this is a scent-free event. For more information on Consensus and general news on SPUDS go to http://www.wearespuds.blogspot.com/ (please see the previous post on this blog for updates on the Oct. 6th meeting)

In the spring, the issue of animal manure versus plant based fertilization came to light when the Co-op was offered some island steer manure. There will be another meeting to discuss this, and other agenda items, once we have decided on the Consensus option.

See you at the harvest!

Membership Meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 6th

WHAT: Exploring Consensus Process
WHERE: 3906 Wren Road, home of Susan Marie Yoshihara
WHEN: 7:30 pm sharp (please come a little early!)
WHO: Mary Lang

Mary Lang, a resident of Creekside Commons (a successful co-housing project in Courtenay that uses consensus process), has very kindly offered to share her knowledge of this useful communication tool with SPUDS this coming Tuesday evening beginning at 7:30 pm.

A retired school teacher (twenty years working in the inner city of Vancouver), Mary currently works as a counselor. Her labour background included working with Unions and Robert’s Rules. She is excited to share her appreciation for the community building nature of consensus process.

Mary is leaving for Toronto the next morning, and so juggling a busy schedule to accommodate us on short notice. Please come on out to take part in this important information session, and help decide if the proposal by some members to incorporate consensus process into SPUDS is one we might collectively support!

For further information about consensus process, please click on the link to the Seeds of Change website on the right hand side of this page!

Consensus process can be a useful tool for all kinds of groups, so you just might be inspired to take some new ideas to other community-based initiatives you are also involved in. All past, present and future members of SPUDS welcome and encouraged to attend!

From the Seeds of Change website:

Consensus is a decision-making process that works creatively to include all persons making the decision. Instead of simply voting for an item, and having the majority of the group getting their way, the group is committed to finding solutions that everyone can live with. This ensures that everyone's opinions, ideas and reservations are taken into account. But consensus is more than just a compromise. It is a process that can result in surprising and creative solutions - often better than the original suggestions.

Last but not least, yummy baked potatoes and a pot of chili, along with organic apple juice will be on hand for hungry SPUDS members following the harvest this Saturday. Please bring a bowl. See you there, from 10am - noon!

It's Harvest Time Again!

PART ONE:

On Friday, Sept. 25th at the meeting of the membership held at the Senior's Hall, the harvest date was set for this year’s potato crop. Hope to see you all this coming Saturday, October 3rd, in the Hermitage field, between 10:00 am and 12 noon!

Our alternative date, in case it’s really raining, is the following day, Sunday, October 4th, 10:00 am -12 noon.

Please bring :
-A digging fork (rather than a spade, which can damage the potatoes)
-A large pail or bag for your potatoes (some bags may be provided)
-Gloves
-Hat and water might also be handy

Organic apple juice will be provided. Timing has taken into consideration the desire of some members to attend Recycling earlier in the morning.

Please RSVP if you plan to attend.
If you are unable to make it, please make arrangements for someone to pick-up your share.

PART TWO:

A follow-up meeting to Friday's meeting (Sept. 25), is currently scheduled for TUESDAY, OCT. 6th at the home of member Susan Marie Yoshihara at 3906 Wren Road, 7:30 pm.

The main purpose of this meeting will be to learn about consensus process ...we were unable to locate a facilitator for the Sept. 25th membership meeting, and are hoping we will find a non-SPUDS member to come in to introduce the process. Two members independently submitted a proposal to the membership meeting on Sept. 25th that consensus be used as a means of collective decision making by the cooperative, to encourage greater inclusivity, improve communications and build community.

The membership present supported the idea of exploring this proposal further. It should be noted that because of the tight timeline, we may or may not be successful in finding someone skilled in teaching consensus process by the Oct. 6th meeting date set, so please check the SPUDS blogspot at www.wearespuds.blogspot.com for updates. All members interested are encouraged to attend.

Also,we did not have time to address all items on the agenda at the Sept. 25th meeting, so time permitting, hope to continue where we left off. The minutes from our Sept. 25th meeting will be posted on the blogspot when they become available.

Please call 335-1209 to confirm your attendance at the harvest. A new communications team is taking form, so for now, if you need to change your contact information, have questions or input you would like to make to the co-operative, please contact 335-1209.

Thankyou, and see you Saturday!

SPUDS MEMBERSHIP MEETING, Friday, Sept. 25

Below is a PROPOSED agenda, (submitted by Veronica Timmons) for the next SPUDS Meeting. Please note the change in date. It is now Friday, 25th September (not 24th) at the Denman Activity Centre (Senior's hall). Please let Veronica know if you have other agenda items.

DeNeen Baldwin will be calling everyone to see if they will be attending and to answer questions.

-Veronica Timmons

PS The original memo from Veronica (above) suggests people visit this blogspot, as well as www.veganiculture.blogspot.com for information gathering before the meeting in regards to how we might choose to fertilize the SPUDS patch. (not all members consider animal manure a desirable option, and various views can hopefully be discussed at the meeting )

(Proposed) Agenda for the

ANNUAL SPUDS MEMBERSHIP MEETING

To be held on

Friday, September 25^th, 2009

Seniors Lounge, Denman Activity Centre

1. Welcome and thanks

2. Introduction of the Facilitator

3. Introductions - Why I’m a SPUDS member

4. Report from the Core Group

a. 2008

b. 2009 – what worked, what didn’t

c. Expansion of the crop?

d. Harvest date

5. Discussion/decisions
1. Decision-making and communications process
2. Policy re use of animal products/green composting

6. Next year’s Core Group

Elections

..

7. Other

Memo from member Ron Sakolsky:

Sorry I can't make this important meeting. I could have made the one originally scheduled for September 17, but I have other plans for September 25.

I do have 2 proposals on inclusivity that I would like to have placed on the SPUDS and Veganculture blogspots before the meeting and have read at the meeting itself.

PROPOSAL #1
In the future, since we are a small group, can we propose a few alternate meeting dates on the list before choosing a final date so that we can choose the one that is most convenient for all of us.

PROPOSAL #2
Consensus decision-making be used as the group process at all membership meetings, preferably with a facilitator skilled at building consensus.

Explanation of the above:
I believe that consensus decision-making is the only feasible way to handle potentially contentious issues among equals in a cooperative setting. Consensus allows us to fully hear what each of us has to say on an issue and to incorporate the best thinking of everyone, rather than just a majority, in the final decision. Only if each of us has the opportunity to have our concerns heard and addressed in the decision can we walk away from the meeting with an end result that we can all live with and can implement without resentment in the future. This is not a DIRA meeting, and we must relate to each other and our issues in a comradely spirit of mutual respect rather than relying on the competitive approach of Roberts Rules or just drifting along as if process doesn't matter. If we can't agree to do the hard but rewarding work of consensus, while we may be able to grow a potato crop, we have failed ourselves and allowed expediency to triumph over cooperation.