Hello everyone! March is the start of our workshops for a whole new cohort of gardeners.  Our first workshop is this Monday, so we are busy busy bees. We will have 50 gardening families this year – 20 returning gardeners and 30 new gardeners. We will also be providing resources to Carver Peace Community Garden and Tree Streets Community Garden. As it often goes with the beginning of a new season, I am reflecting on last season and all the joys past gardeners have brought to the program. While I am very excited to have so many new gardeners to make connections with, I am also sad to say goodbye to families I have worked closely with in the last two seasons. One of which is the Dezta family. They have grown so much in their growing abilities and practices, so I wanted to share their story with all of you.

 

The Dezta Family Story:

“This is our second year gardening as a family. The kids planted the flowers we grew this year – sunflowers, four o clocks, marigolds, nasturtiums, cosmos and amaranth. We had so much we gifted to friends and neighbors. It also made for a great pollinator garden and we were even visited by some monarchs, hummingbirds and goldfinches.

It has felt really rewarding to be able to share our Sungold, Roma, Plum, Beefsteak, and Cherokee tomatoes with neighbors and friends. We had an abundance of fresh salads with our cucumbers. We continue to have delicious sautés with our kale and bok choy seasoned with our freshly crushed garlic from our garden. Garlic was our pride and joy because we were able to grow so much of it in our front yard. We were able to grow without any pesticides and control what we were putting into our garden. Our children harvested their own strawberries for a whole month. This year we grew sweet potatoes again and it appears we are on our way to having another large harvest.

We can’t forget the herbs sage, parsley, cilantro, and thyme. We have used them to season and marinate our meats and for our homemade pizza sauces. And even to heal our chickens!

Another highlight was the abundance that we were able to give our extra harvest to our chickens. They of course thoroughly enjoyed that.

We weren’t as successful growing potatoes this year but we did get a a small batch. The kids joyfully cut them up to bake them as french fries. The boys felt so accomplished. Another challenge we had was with cabbage moths and harlequin beetles. They were a challenge last year as well but the difference this year was that we had many predatory insects patrolling the area thanks to the pollinator garden, which kept their numbers in check for a good portion of the dark leafy green season of Spring.

We continue to be inspired by how much abundance can be created in just the front yard of our house. Hopefully this will inspire others to create abundance and empower them to take control of their health and make a powerful statement right where they are in life.”

                             

To a new year of growth, passion, learning, connection, and yes, abundance!