GARDEN WORK DAY POSTPONED

Due to weather conditions and soaked beds, (as well as a funeral at church) we will be postponing our work day to Friday, May 9th.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  HAPPY MAY DAY! 

Our 4th growing season has finally arrived and we have been dreaming all winter about these recent days of sunshine & warmth.  Today we met at the garden and decided on the rotation and placement of our crops.  We will also be experimenting this summer with a creative process for growing potatoes using stacked used tires.  We will be asking House of Prayer members to bring used tires to the garden, as well as solicit donations from area tire companies.   We're excited about this new venture and have already made plans for the potato harvest - LEFSE for the FALL FESTIVAL!   More info on that in late summer.  Here's a link to more info on this experiment http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/2009/04/how-to-grow-potatoes-in-tire-towers/

As a member of the Seed Hub, we will be attending a seedling fair and will receive seed packets and seedlings of various varieties.  It's usually a mixed bag, but the non-profit groups provides high quality plants and seeds to community gardeners and food shelves.  Don't forget, we will always welcome your overflow of both vegetable plants and flowers.  We need to keep the bees busy!  Contact Kim or Sandy if you wish to contribute. 

Meanwhile, we have scheduled another garden work day / clean-up for next Friday, May 2nd.  Starting at 9:00 a.m., we will clear some overgrown vines and rake out the bedding area along the wall.  Then the beds will be rototilled and cleared of loose debris.  Another project taking place on 5/2 will be installing new lattice screening around the water barrels & compost bin.  If you're wondering, "How is all this going to get done in one day by so few people?"  IT'S NOT - We need you.  If you can spare a couple hours on a Friday morning to stop by and lend a hand, it will lighten the load greatly.  Just remember to bring gloves and a rake or your favorite yard tool. 

Do you have a "vision" for a garden?  We would welcome ideas and visionaries to lead projects or special tasks.  Contact Kim Houle at 612-869-2481 or Sandy Jenson at 612-869-7043 to become more involved. 

The Son is Up!!! Let's make hay while we can...

Growing in Grace,
Kim

COMMUNITY GARDEN WORK DAY:  Please join us at House of Prayer on Friday, September 13^th.  Beginning at 9:00 a.m. we will work to clean up the garden beds and tend to the retaining wall along the south side of the church grounds.  Bring gloves, a water bottle, and any yard tools you like to use.   MANY HANDS WILL MAKE LIGHT WORK!  Thanks in advance for your support of this year’s community mission garden.  We continue to make weekly donations and will report our total contributions.  Meanwhile, last year SHIP-supported gardens donated over 1 ton of produce to VEAP, so they thought it would be fun to involve the community in a game to guess the weight of produce donations to VEAP this year. The goal is to increase the availability of healthy foods in the community – especially for people with limited resources.

Join the fun in the Growing to Give Guessing Game

Greetings!

SHIP is conducting a fun, guessing game that is good for the community! Please join the fun and share this information with your folks. The online game, with prizes, is open to people of all ages living or working in Bloomington, Edina and Richfield, and it runs from August 1 to October 15, 2013. Share this information in whatever way works best for you; flyers are attached if you would like to use them.

How many pounds of garden donations do YOU think the VEAP food shelf will receive? Make your guess here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/growingtogive

More game information here: http://www.ci.bloomington.mn.us/cityhall/dept/commserv/publheal/ship/events/2013shipevents/growing_to_give.htm  

Growing in Grace

The House of Prayer Community Mission Garden has been donating nearly 30 pounds of fresh produce each week to the VEAP garden gleaning program.  Tomatoes, celery stalks, zucchini, cabbage heads and cucumbers are making their way to the tables of our needy neighbors.  We have been so richly blessed with abundant sunshine and perfect growing conditions.  We will be sharing a garden work day with our gardening friends from Taking Steps Together.  They have been tending one of the garden beds with kids from the apartment complex and helping them learn about where their food comes from.  They are excited to share a recipe and meal with us when they use our blossoms from the squash plants to make callabassa quesadillas.  Yum!   

 

We have also discovered a new herb that is commonly referred to as a pesky weed.  Purslane is a nutrient-rich ground cover that can be used in many ways such as a salad garnish or a pesto sauce.  Go to this website for more information on this hardy “weed” that you can actually use for something good!  http://www.culinarymusings.com/2008/06/purslane-not-a-weed-but-a-wonder/

 

Growing in Grace! 

Kim Houle

Celebrating EARTH DAY 2013 by doing God's Work with Our Hands

 Earth Day 2013 was celebrated at House of Prayer Lutheran Church on Sunday April 21st, 2013. The community garden team hosted an event in parish hall that invited young and old to take home materials and terrariums to start for this year's community mission garden.

Several families will be nurturing their young seedlings and returning them to plant in the garden when the weather is more accomodating.

We certainly are looking forward to that day coming soon!!

We unveiled our new outdoor banners and will be displaying them so that our neighbors know who we are and what we are doing in their neighborhood.

Youth were given a selection of terrariums (cucumber, tomato, sunflower, pink cosmos)

"We will be good stewards of all God's Creation!"

Steve Pierson shared his "grow light" set up with the visitors. 

Several seedlings found new homes as well. 

Jack and Jamie were very eager to help distribute coloring pages, terrariums,

and instructions with others.

Door prizes were great!

Maria Zavala (l) and Maria Regan-Gonzalez (r) share information with visitors about

Taking Steps Together, the Family Partnership project to end childhood obesity. 

 

The leadership development students will be using a section of the community garden to teach young people about healthy foods and outdoor activities.

 

 

 

We are hopeful that the weather will warm up and we can begin to work the soil and prepare it for the growing season.  Thanks for your ongoing support and interest.  



Our 2012 Community Garden Day was hosted by Sandy Jenson and Kim Houle.  Visitors were greeted with ice-cold water and cookies.  We shared our success stories and found out that we were not alone in the battle against Japanese Beetles and this just wasn't the year for pole beans - anywhere.   There were approximately 15 visitors and everyone enjoyed themselves. 

As a thank you to the House of Prayer Congregation, the community mission garden provided "Lemon-Basil-Aid" on Sunday following worship.  It seems that the lemon basil plant donated by Charlie Robbins last year has been trying to invade the entire garden so with this dilemma we decided to make, DI-LEMMA-NADE.   This was enjoyed by everyone!