Victory Peace Garden Open House

Garden marigolds

Marigold

Garden visitors

Zenia

Last Saturday I hosted visitors to the Open House at Victory Peace Garden.  We were one of over 50 community gardens on the tour sponsored by Gardening Matters.

As you can see, in addition to vegetables we planted some flowers to add a bit more beauty to the garden.  Over 50 pounds of produce has already been distributed to the food shelf at PRISM, with much more on the way!

Victory Peace Garden update

Cedar mulch being brought to garden site

Summer switched into high gear yesterday in Minneapolis. We had a record high of 103 degrees fahrenheit.  The hot weather didn't stop the Victory-Robbins 4-H club from work on the garden.  They watered, planted and added cedar mulch to the walking paths around the raised beds.  Seems some of the water accidentally (or not) got onto some of the workers too.

Water for plants and people ;-)

I was pleased to see the raised beds and fence we installed still holding up.  The plants really seemed to be loving their new environment on the south facing slope.  This garden is organized utilizing the Square Foot Gardening method, which puts plants in a high concentration, rather than simply by rows. I must confess that this garden is far more advanced, and organized than my home garden. Way to go 4-Hers and parents! Pretty impressive start for a new garden.

Mom and daughter working together

It was also nice to have a visit yesterday from Kelsey Barale and Rebecca Harnik from Gardening Matters, the organization that is facilitating the funding which helped to establish the garden.  Gardening Matters helps to promote and preserve community gardens, while also providing a wealth of networking and educational opportunities.

Adding mulch around raised beds

Great start for veggies!

Community gardens on the grow!

Valley of Peace

I'm researching community gardening for our church, Valley of Peace Lutheran.  We were awarded a grant from Hennepin County to develop a small garden, in conjunction with a local 4-H group.

As a part of my research I went to a potluck supper with folks from Valley Community Presbyterian, who have developed a community garden this past year, with great success. They ended up with more produce than they knew what to do with.  A good problem, but something of a problem none the less.

One of the participants attended a training sponsored by Gardening Matters, where it was noted there are at least 300 known community gardens in the Twin Cities area.  Wow!

Valley Community Presbyterian garden sign

There is a strong movement toward growing food locally and in a sustainable way that doesn't require too much fossil fuel, etc.  Unfortunately, here in the USA so much of what we purchase in the way of fruits and vegetables come from a tremendous distance.  As the economy has worsened and severe food shortages have become prevalent around the world I'm excited to work with people turning grass lawns into productive gardens.