"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven...a time to plant and a time to uproot…" (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)
Our summer season begins this month with a garden full of many fruits and friends! We have been blessed in abundance and welcome the plantings of so many new members this year along with the replanting of past members! We have lotz of kidz attending our Wednesday night “Kidz Thyme” now led by Debbie Cook (thank you Debbie!) as they engage in an hour of garden themed activities full of crafts, dancing, singing, snacks, and yes..gardening too! Thank you everyone for your help and support! It is never too late to join the garden! Come grow with us!!
Some of our spring plantings have begun to final with flowers while many are still producing. Our long awaited peas, broccoli, garlic, strawberries, and onions were well worth the wait and we look forward to our beans and blueberries later this month. Our tomato plants are in ground with more planned…looking forward to that first tomato sandwich!! Lots of peppers planted too with eggplants following soon. Many cantaloupes and watermelons seeded and praying for no squash bugs!
The garden girls are very happy in their new home and playground (Thanks John Galloway and Tim Cook!) Our 10 chickens are fed a menu of organic feed with garden greens daily and will return their gratitude with fresh eggs to share in the fall! We also look forward to welcoming many butterflies into their new houses built for them by Bruce Pederson (thanks Bruce!) and painted by the many hands of our kidz! Bruce has also planned and will be building our garden shed later this month (thank you again!)
This past month we celebrated Mother’s day with our annual flower sale with many plants purchased in support of our garden (thank you!). We also enjoyed our 1st Annual First Fruits Potluck Lunch as we showered Eric Prenshaw and his fiancé Carley, with gifts for their upcoming wedding along with thanking him for all his help in the garden through his internship. Thank you everyone for your help and support towards both of these events.
Following on our successful summer series last year of learning how to cook with our harvests, we have planted three workshops this summer designed to nurture our knowledge on nutrition and learn about why all this good food we grow in the garden (and buy locally) is so good for us. We begin with the class, "Learn How To Make Cultured Vegetables" led by Denise Kennedy, a natural chef and certified nutritionist (also one of our garden members!) on June 11th from 2-4pm in the fellowship hall. There will be a talk, hands on demonstration, door prizes, and product purchase opportunities. The cost is $10.00 per person. See Donna Poe for signup and details.
In July, we welcome Ron Veitel, the general manager and chef from Saxapahaw General Store on Sunday, the 31st from 2-4pm with a presentation on nutrition and the benefits of consuming healthy, organic, and locally grown foods. In August, Jessica Oswald, from the county extension office joins us on Saturday, the 20th from 12-2pm for a two hour lecture and hands on demonstration on preserving our food through canning, drying, and freezing methods. We will provide more details soon on both of these events. Save the dates for our super summer series!
Looking forward to growing with you this summer…it WILL be good!
-Donna Poe
The Garden of Concord
