The Giving Garden of Carrollton

Saturday, March 21st was one of the first days of Spring and we had a wonderful turnout for the kickoff orientation and workday in the garden.  We had a great group of students from Hebron High School who were participating in the school district’s Big Event to volunteer throughout the community. They cleaned out the pergola beds, placed mulch and weeded the aisles and also helped beautify the rose bush beds at the church.  Many gardeners, both new and existing, worked to get their bed plantings started.

RESCHEDULED DATE – Mark your calendars — Saturday, March 21st at 10:00 am in a portable at the garden we will have our annual kickoff/orientation meeting for all gardeners.  We’ll have refreshments and lots of important information to help you get your gardening season off to a great start.  We’ll have the seeds that Strong’s Nursery donated for you to choose from and please bring any seeds you would like to share.  Make a list of any questions you may have for the garden board members. This also our first end of month “All Gardener Work Day” and we’ll have student volunteers joining gardeners to work hard to get the garden ready for the season. So, bring your work gloves and put in some time before or after the orientation.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Leaders cut a ribbon November 15 at the dedication of the new Veterans Memorial Garden at the Giving Garden of Carrollton . Left to right are former Aldersgate UMC pastor Woody Weilage, Mayor Pro Tem Bob Garza, Aldersgate UMC Pastor Lyle Benson, Marshall Reeves of Christian Community Action (CCA), Giving Garden Board members Martha Grizzel and Willie Lane, Tim Herrel, American Legion and VFW, Cathy Henesey of Keep Carrollton Beautiful, and Kevin Falconer, Councilmember Place 5.

It was a cold and blustery day on Saturday, as nearly 100 community leaders, veterans, church members, sponsors, garden members, and others gathered for the dedication of the new Veteran’s Memorial Garden. Willie Lane, Giving Garden Board member, explained that the new veteran’s memorial garden was made possible by The Home Depot Foundation which provided the grant to build the new pergola, that will provide much needed shade and a meeting place for the garden. Other speakers, including Mayor Pro Tem Bob Garza and Marshall Reeves of the CCA , participated in recognizing the veterans and also, the Giving Garden for its contribution to the Community.

On behalf of all veterans, Tim Herrel, of the American Legion and VFW, officially accepted the dedication and spoke to the sacrifice made by veterans and the freedom we have in America because of these efforts.

At the end of the program everyone really appreciated the hot chocolate and coffee provided by Keep Carrollton Beautiful and the delicious cake provided by Kroger.

By now you may have received the evite for the dedication of the Giving Garden Veterans Memorial Garden and pergola.  If you did not receive an evite see the link below and be sure and call to RSVP.  Can’t wait to see you there!

The Giving Garden Dedication Flyer 2014

Throughout the last school year and through this summer we have been blessed with great student volunteers!  Here’s a shout out to all of them with a great big THANKS and we hope to see you again this Fall!

We appreciate Lisa Ingalls’ efforts to coordinate the student volunteers with the high school counselors and those gardeners who helped supervise their work days.

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.