Friday, June 26, 2009

WNIT , WNDU & SB Tribune

Hello Gardening friends and partners!
There has been more and more attention to the Unity Gardens now that harvests are being reaped. Although the strawberries, dill, radishes, lettuce, peas, and spinach are all great, the most exciting "harvest" has been in the community building processes. I have witnessed the Monroe Park neighborhood come together to keep their garden beautiful in both food and aesthetics. It is truly a great place to relax and enjoy. The communication to coordinate the garden activities is being handled within the group! They are growing the Unity philosophy.At LaSalle Square, neighbors and curious passer-bys are more actively greeting and visiting one another. People have stopped by to offer plants and inquire about other needs. Most people are still surprised that the food there can be openly shared. Thanks to WNDU for airing a follow-up story to the one last month.The Center for the Homeless and their exisitng community garden held a very successful open house. It is a beautiful garden that inspires the future vison of what all the Unity Gardens can look like with formal gathering areas, water fixtures, and open tool sheds. The generosity and success of the donors for that garden have directly led to the current generosity and support of the Unity Gardens within our community.The Portage Community Garden, our most recent addition, is beautiful also. The gentleman at the Department of Corrections has labored in this heat to till and plant. A few residents of Portage Manor offered me the tour of "their" garden. The enthusiasm for the garden and anticipation for fresh strawberries reminded me of last year when some of the folks "outside" shared their memories of family gardens of the past and the flavors enjoyed long ago.The Robertson's container garden is something to see. The containers have been placed in ways to create gathering areas on their patio. Many thanks to The South Bend Tribune that ran a wonderful article last Sunday covering their story.The garden of Saint Therese has served as an inspiration for those businesses and residents in the surrounding area (LincolnWay West and Olive). The Market across the stree on Prast actually cleared some land to plant their own vegetables as well! They were so welcoming and excited to get the updated Unity Garden Flier.Please tune in to WNIT, channel 34, to see the discussion regarding the Unity Gardens Initiative and how our community is stepping up as a leader is solving global food issues! The show will air at 8:30pm tonight and Monday in addition to 12:30 on Sunday.We still need: volunteers on Saturday ams for the LaSalle Square Unity Garden and tomato cages for a number of gardens. We did receive some tomato cages in response to the original e-mail, but we are growing so much, we could use about 50 more.Thanks to all of you for helping sprout the seeds of sharing! At the risk of being redundant.........We are growing more than vegetables here!Sara Stewart U. RN MSNcwww 574-315-4361

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Plant and weed; Sat 10:30am LaSalle Square Unity Garden

Hello Unity Gardens friends and partners!

The Unity Gardens are all "growing" now. It is so good to see everything sprouting with this unseasonably late growing season. Pictures from last week and earlier this week are forthcoming. I'm so proud of the community initiative. The week of planting, Memorial weekend, I had a terrible flu. Without any notice I was taken out of the loop, but the gardens were all planted regardless! The seeds of sharing have indeed been sprouted in our community.

This Saturday around 10:30am to 1pm, a group will assemble to plant the remaining section of the LaSalle Square Unity Garden. Volunteers are welcome. The neighborhood participation and enthusiasm continues to build there. For those of you that have not visited the site, it is something spectacular to see. Bob Schmoke, "the tiller man" is actually "the engineer man" and has donated his time, materials, and expertise to design and build an irrigation system.

Please join us for the morning and help build our framework of sharing. Accessible, healthy food for all benefits the entire community and saves public dollars in health care and lost productivity.

See you Saturday!

Sara Stewart U. RN MSNc
574-315-4361
www.theunitygardens.blogspot.com

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Education For Michiana Community Gardens

For Immediate Release



Contact Information: Krista Bailey Start Date: June 4, 2009

Community Gardens of Michiana End Date: September 12, 2009

P: 574/233/1055

E: sbgardens@yahoo.com





Gardening Workshops Announced



Community Gardens of Michiana has announced a series of gardening workshops for 2009. They will take place at a variety of Community and Unity Garden locations in the greater South Bend area.



All workshops are designed to provide information and hands-on experience. Presented by Purdue Extension educators, Master Gardeners, and area gardening experts, the hour-long sessions will highlight a variety of topics appropriate to each stage of the gardening season. Workshops will be held either in the garden or indoors for seasonal food preparation.



All workshops are free and open to the public, including events held at service agencies such as the Center for the Homeless, The Salvation Army, and Broadway Christian Parish.



“We are excited that our guests will be able to learn about gardening and for the public to learn about the garden and our guests,” said Stephanie Brauer, an executive assistant at the Center and one of the staff who works with the garden.



“Having presentations on how to make our container gardens pretty and provide food and culinary herbs will help parishioners accept the idea of having a new garden at the church and be able to learn from it, too,” said Nancy Nichols, Pastor of Broadway Christian Parish.



The workshop schedule so far is:



Savor the Flavor: Grow an Easy Herb Garden

Wednesday June 10

6:00pm

Center for the Homeless Community Garden

813 S. Michigan St.



Composting 101

Monday June 15

10:30am

The Unity Garden at The Salvation Army

Chapin & Western Ave. ( 303 Chapin St .)



Cooking from the Garden
Tuesdays at 10:00am

June 16, July 21, August 18, September 15

Ric's Garden of Hope at Broadway Christian Parish

Broadway and Carroll St.

(2 blocks East of Michigan, corner of Carroll & Broadway)



Cooking from the Garden
Wednesdays at 3:00pm

June 17, July 22, August 19, and September 16

Center for the Homeless Community Garden

813 S. Michigan St .



The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Garden Bugs

Tuesday July 14

10:30am

The Unity Garden at The Salvation Army

Chapin & Western Ave. ( 303 Chapin St .)



The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Garden Bugs

Tuesday July 14

6:30pm

Greenhouse Community Garden

Potawatomi Greenhouse

2105 Mishawaka Ave.

(north of building near Kids Kingdom parking lot)



Community Gardens Open House

September 12

Times and Locations TBD





All workshops are free and open to the public. Late summer and fall workshops will be announced soon.

For more information, contact the gardens at sbgardens@yahoo.com or see the website at www.sbcg.org for garden phone and email contact information.



Community Gardens of Michiana provides gardening and educational opportunities that help connect people to each other and to the natural world. Gardens are designed to meet the needs of the neighborhoods where they are located. Community Gardens, which are open to a set group of gardeners each season, and Unity Gardens, which are open to the public to plant and harvest as needed, are both represented in the organization.