This Weekend

What to expect at this weekends Growing Summit
Parking : South off Mishawaka Ave on 20th St. Parking lot in front of Student Activities Center on the East Side of campus . Wiekamp Hall is next to the parking garage
here is PDF map of Campus  http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2966157840711046486#template

Lion Club:  Will be giving out  300 Free Tree Saplings

Classes :      21 Free Classes on Lawns, Gardens , and more to choose from . Come for one Class or come all day.

Ask an Expert : Phil Sutton with Purdue Extension, and a crew of Master Gardeners will be there to answer all you Garden related questions and more.

Garden Seeds : Unity Gardens will be selling Garden seeds , Coffee Mugs , and T-Shirts to raise funds for the gardens and events like this

Rain Barrel Raffle : The St Joe Valley Master Gardeners will be holding a rain Barrel Raffle to raise funds Tickets are $ 2 or 3 for $ 5

Vendor Booths
Potawatomi Conservatories : Learn about the new renovations, new membership package, and grand opening event
INPAWS : Learn all about Indiana Native Plants
Ginger Valley : See whats new in gardening
Edible Michiana   Edible Michiana is a community-based culinary magazine dedicated to the growing local food movement in northern Indiana and southwest lower Michigan
New Life Soil Booster : Learn how Asian Carp can help your soil
Purple Porch : Local Food C0-OP and all around cool folks
South Bend Dept of Energy: See what they are doing to inprove the City
Wild Birds Unlimited  
Urban Garden Market
Soil & Water Conservation
South Bend Green Drinks  South Bend Green Drinks is now over 2 years and we are definitely green and growing! What started with a handful of people meeting for a drink has grown into 30-50 people getting together each month for drinks with friends and a chance to learn about what's happening in our community.
Gro Pro Manufactured in Kokomo, Indiana by parent company Syndicate Sales Inc., steadyGROWpro was engineered specifically for the germination, propagation, and growth of ornamental and vegetative plants. It is produced using an aromatic –based system of thermoset carbon based polymers which creates a cell structure allowing for optimal water retention and air flow
Peace Bees    Speading awareness of the Importance bees
Clay Granger Lions Club
 South Bend Chicken Allience
ROC
Unity Gasrdens
Downtown South Bend
Michiana Organic Growers

This Week

Tonight  April  19th 6pm Cooking Butternut Squash
702 Chapin St

This Weekend !! The Big Event , Come all day or come for one class !!
Growing Summit- April 21th 2012
What :
• A full day of one hour workshops: Gardening, Food Preparation, Nature, etc.
• Exhibits from local Nurseries, Greenhouses, Garden Centers, Farms, and more
• Network with area gardeners, educators, and vendors
Where : IUSB Campus

Cost: Event and Classes are free.
lunch available $$.

Event Co-Sponsored by Unity Gardens , Indiana University , St Joe Valley Master Gardeners, Purdue Master Gardeners ,

Registration 8:00 am
Introduction and Welcome 8:30 am
Krista Bailey, Assistant Director, IU South Bend Center for a Sustainable Future
Class Schedule Subject to Check Please Check One Week Before Summit


Breakout Session I 9am to 10am
Classroom A Rain Barrels Rm 1135
Vicky Rydzynski -Purdue Master Gardener
Classroom B Open
No Classs
Classroom C Shade Gardening
Dave Coffman and Carole Coffman Purdue MG Intern
Classroom D Organic Gardening
Greg Leyes/ Ginger Valley
Classroom E Intro to Bees
Steve Lesniak / Peace Bees
Classroom F Garden Planning
Mitch Yaciw / Purdue Master Gardener

Breakout Session II 10:30 to 11:30am
Classroom A Water Conservation
Vicky Rydzynski-Purdue Master Gardener
Classroom B Increase Your Sustainability IQ
Mike Keen / IUSB Center for a Sustainable Future
Classroom C Invasive Spicies
Phil Sutton / Purdue Extension Educator
Classroom D Herb Gardens
Monica Guillaud / Purdue Master Gardener
Classroom E Beekeeping 101 /
Steve Lesniak / Peace Bees
Classroom F All About Soil
Mitch Yaciw / Purdue Master Gardener

Breakout Session III 12:30 to 1:30pm
Classroom A Native Plantings
Sue Lowe / Purdue Master Gardener
Classroom B Plant Cloning
Dan Biggs / Steady Grow Pro
Classroom C Worm Farming
Purdue Master Gardener
Classroom D 11 Tips To Make Your Lawn Look Its Best
Dave Millar / Red Hen Turf Farm
Classroom E Open / No Class
Classroom F All About Vegetables Part I
Mitch Yaciw / Purdue Master Gardener

Breakout Session IV 2:00 to 3:00pm

Classroom A Container Gardens
Jim and Cara Lupa / Purdue Master Gardeners

Classroom B Edible Flowers
Cyndi Kingma / Purdue Master Gardener

Classroom C Landscaping to Attract Birds
Wild Birds Unlimited

Classroom D "Odd, weird, and dumb things about lawns."
Dave Millar/ Red Hen Turf Farm
Classroom E Open / No Class
Classroom F All About Vegetables Part II
Mitch Yaciw / Purdue Master Gardener

AG Days

Last week it was AG Days at the St Joe Co.Fair Grounds . Its a weekend to raise awareness about 4H and agriculture in general. It was a busy weekend Friday it was non-stop students on field trips, and Saturday, and Sunday was about the biggest crowds I've seen at AG Days. We teamed up with Peace Bees at our booth celebrating Bees and to new hives coming to the Unity Gardens. We also had a Tomato planting activity for the kids. They planted Tomato seeds in small pots to take home with them. We went through 400 pots, and the kids loved it. It was a great weekend to build awareness of both Honey Bees and Unity Gardens

Free April Cooking Classes

Too Cold to Garden ..Then Cook ! Tonight Thursday April 12th
Monica Esquivel, ROC's registered Dietician will be doing the cooking demo tomorrow night at the Unity Gardens. She is going to prepare a cauliflower mac and cheese (Yum-o!) See everyone at 6pm, 702 Chapin St. South Bend, IN 46601.
Classes are free Every Thursday in April at 6pm  

Double Duty Day

Saturday was a busy day for us we had two great events . First was Peace Bees doing a Beekeeping 101 class. This year Peace Bees is putting Hives in one of our Gardens , and maybe more at a 2nd garden. As gardeners we all know the importance of Bees to our food supply, as well as the health benefits of Honey. So this may BEE the most exciting project we have taken on yet. Our mission will be to train future beekeepers. Steve gave a great intro class and anyone wanting to learn more can have hands on instruction at the LaSalle Square Garden.

      We also had several groups of ND students, and a Group of Saint Mary's girls come out to the LaSalle Square garden to do spring cleaning. A special thanks to our Volunteers that helped manage the students , Sue, Connie, Gabby, and Laureen we could not of did it without them. This is the 2nd year Notre Dame has come out on Communiversity day to help in the garden. Its a great way to kick off spring in the garden after a grey winter. Mulching Paths, cleaning out an area for our new Bee hives , making an area for our growing hoop , and spreading gravel were just some of the projects. All I can say is the season is upon us and we are ready.

Jr. Master Gardeners Program

The Winter / Spring series of Jr. Master Gardener Classes went great we had a great core group that kept coming back. Saturday was the last week of this series. The summer series picks up May 12th on site at the LaSalle Square Unity Garden 3701 Prast Blvd , Saturday's at 10am

Open House

On Thursday we had our open house at our new office space in the Food Bank of Northern Indiana . It was a great day . Best guess is 250 people showed up to see the new place, and over 100 toured the Food Bank which kept Richard pretty busy giving tours. We love the support we received, and also loved the fact that people are so interested in seeing the Food Bank. Most people really do not know how many lives the Food Bank touch. We even had one of our Garden Leaders set up a food drive. So Thanks to everyone for showing up !!