Grow Giles has nearly closed out for 2026, and we had an incredible year of learning, fellowship, and growth!  Our final class of the year, Extending the Season, was on August 13th.  As of this class, we have over 600 pounds of harvest from our 17 participants!  I expect that this number could be well over 1,000 by now, and I am hoping this will be confirmed after our next harvest report is submitted!

I am very proud of this first cohort, for many reasons.  First of all, everyone reported at least something had been harvested from their garden.  This is no small feat, I think having that first success of harvest is the proof we sometimes need to hook us in and keep us motivated.  Our gardeners did not have an easy season to reach a harvest in as well.  Drought, wildlife, insects, nature came out in full force this year.  Our gardeners took it all in stride though and made the best of the situation, finding creative ways to deter deer and groundhogs, learning how to deter bugs with companion plants and organic insecticides, and making the most of the rain we did receive in the late season.

This cohort has also expressed great interest in continuing in the program, whether as a second year participant or just as an attendee at the classes again.  I am looking forward to inviting five people from the first cohort back for year two, in which they will serve as mentors in the program.

I think we have built a great foundation in our first year, and I am looking forward to how the program will grow in the coming years.