August saw the launch of our Fall Semester of Junior Gardeners Academy. Our eager students had a blast planting eggplant, perpetual spinach and a “pizza garden” with all the herbs that make pizza taste like pizza on the first day of class. They started new bush beans, grew the the seedlings at home and returned to the garden to plant them in their garden bed. They are off to a wonderful start for the fall growing season and already harvesting herbs from their garden bed that never make it home because they are so excited to taste what they’ve grown that they gobble it up on the spot. On the first day of class, students were polled on what types of vegetables and fruits they like to eat and want to grow. It is astounding the depth and diversity of produce these 5 – 10 year old students want to grow and we’re going to help them do exactly that. It is the second semester in a row where Pomegranate came up with eagerness. So, we decided to surprise them a pomegranate tree of their very own and had them plant it in our forest garden. Now the students will have an invested reason to keep returning to the garden even after the semester ends. This is a truly rewarding experience in how to grow a new generation of gardeners.
Our Annual Open House Breakfast in the Garden was a huge success. We brought on many new members who are eager to come garden with us and rent garden plots and there was a buzz of activity everywhere around the garden with Chris Servile guiding guests for tours. It was a very busy morning full of vibrant new faces eager to learn more about all that we do in our garden and for our community.
We finally completed the install of 8 new Vego beds, which has us half way to the finish line of converting all of our in ground beds. That was a truly brutal task in the dead heat of summer and we are so grateful to all of our amazing volunteers who worked tirelessly, sweating buckets and taking lots of breaks in the shade while consuming lots of electrolytes to get the job done.
We started back up with our planting parties in preparation of our Fall Plant Sale which will be held on Nov 14th. Over 700 seeds have been sown that are taking off like rockets. All cell trays are currently occupied but many will soon be ready for transplanting so we can start the process all over again with new seeds. It is always so enjoyable to sit down with members to plant the seeds of our future. Our semi-annual plant sales raise over 50% of our annual operating budget and are highly sought after events for our local community who have come to know us as a purveyor of quality plants specifically curated to thrive and produce in our growing area. Folks who purchased plants at our Spring Sale frequently pop by to share with us how excited they are that the plants they purchased are still producing for them this late in the summer.
For a month that started out a bit painful with the bed replacements, it ended on an exceptionally high note with lots of brand new members, excited Junior Gardeners returning to keep learning and an exceptional start on our plant inventory for our Fall Plant Sale. Thank you members and volunteers for making August such a smashing success.
Sincerely,
Teresa Hall, Director of Marketing and Events
