The Giving Garden of Carrollton

Tuesday night Daisy Girl Scout Troop number 5269 visited the garden to release 1,500 ladybugs!  My plants were definitely being affected by aphids so we should see that problem subsiding.  Thanks to Cindy Baxley for coordinating this visit and hosting the girls.  The little scouts were so excited to see the vegetables as they scrambled around discovering cucumbers and ripe tomatoes. We pulled a couple of onions and a garlic pod to show them.  Their scout leader said they told her later that this was the most fun meeting yet .

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The larkspur or delphiniums are just beautiful and attracting so many bees!  Laura and Willie sowed the initial seed last year and they came back full this year.

Today we were awarded a generous grant from Home Depot in Carrollton to build the educational pergola we have been dreaming about for the last couple of years.  We have had fundraisers and worked hard to make this a reality.  Soon we will be setting a date to break ground and we can look forward to a wonderful ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate this new addition to the garden. THANKS HOME DEPOT!

We had an early harvest today and delivered 24 lbs. of a mix of radishes, onions, collard greens, peppers, Swiss chard and lettuce, and lettuce and more lettuce (did I mention we had a lot of lettuce!).  It was also our last Saturday of month work day and we had students from Hebron High as volunteers moving compost to raise levels in most of the beds.  There were a total of 26 people buzzing around the garden between 9:00 and Noon and some of the men (Willie, Will, Joe and Gary worked hard to get double hose hangar poles installed).  The garden is looking fabulous and we are off to a great start.

Hopefully you all were able to cover your garden plants and all the tender new plants will make it.  This will be a history making freeze if it gets as low as the weathermen are predicting.

Your Giving Garden board will be meeting from 6:30 pm until 7:00 pm this Thursday, April 10th.  You are invited to join us at 7:00 pm that night to ask any questions, raise any concerns and share any ideas you have for our garden.  We are all excited as the growing season is beginning and our first harvest delivery is coming up on May 3rd. The cold is over, the rains have come and the garden looks great! (Yes, that’s my sweet granddaughter, Emma, helping me harvest lettuce!)

Be prepared to bring your donations to the portables at the garden this Thursday and Friday evening from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.  The sale will be Saturday from 8:00 – 12:00 in the church parking lot with setup beginning at 7:00 am.  We can use your help!  It’s lots of fun and one of our best fund producing events to benefit the garden.  Invite your neighbors to come shop!

Saturday, February 22nd was a gorgeous day to get the mulch laid down in the aisles to curb the Bermuda grass at the garden!  Fourteen high school student volunteers worked to weed, mulch and clean up trash and it all looks fabulous.  Thanks to Angela Glover for arranging for a free truck load (yes I said FREE) of mulch. And thanks to Laura Margadonna for meeting the truck to direct the delivery on Tuesday.  Gardeners were out to work in the beds and get some plants in the ground.  Hopefully we won’t have another freeze and our Spring plantings can go in soon.

This Saturday, February 22nd we will will have our end of month all gardener work day.  A truck load of mulch is being delivered and all hands are needed to wheelbarrow it and spread it to the aisles to control bermuda takeover.  Some high schoolers are expected to help out but would love to see everyone pitching in.  This picture was taken at our last work day and we want to send out a big thanks to the Hebron National Honor Society students who volunteered.

Then the following Saturday, March 1st at 10:00 am we will have a season kickoff/orientation for new gardeners and all gardeners are invited.  There will be informative talks, refreshments, a door prize and fellowship with fellow gardeners.

Hope to see you there!

It was a chilly morning to begin our All Gardener Work Day but it warmed up nicely.  We had 12 Hebron High National Honor Society students volunteering for four hours and they got so many things cleaned up in the garden — the shed, the blackberry patch, dead plants from the freeze, etc.  It was also great to have some of our new gardeners participate — Jill, Karen, Will and Andrea — welcome to The Giving Garden.