Coming Soon!

Have you noticed a slight change in the weather? The slant of the sunlight through my kitchen window and the shrinking of glaciers in my yard hints that winter is in retreat. I don't mind the cozy evenings, wearing wool, and reading several books at once. But I am itching to reclaim a patch of soil, warm sunshine, and seed packets filled with optimism.

Well, with Spring just around the corner, look for two important RPCG announcements. First is our logo contest: we need you to choose your favorite from two finalists, starting February 25th. Second is participant applications, which open up March 1st. While we will continue to be a collective garden and to welcome volunteers, there will be changes to promote community ownership of this incredible endeavor.

Pictured top: Spinach Brownie (like quiche). Above: People's Market Seed Swap at Sorensen Unity Center

What January Thaw(?)

Or "What January Saw" depending on your lingual abilities. Looking out at my garden, I'm asking myself, will we get a January thaw? I remember the one from last year because I planted peas and spinach--just in case (fail). I remember a thaw 4 years ago because I had a newborn and my 3 year old left the chicken run gate open. So what was I doing in ill-fitting clothes, flips flops, and with clobbered stomach muscles?--slipping and sliding through the muck, catching hens who were bent on freedom. And my mom watched it all from my kitchen, laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. My neighbor planted peas the first week of February last year and was harvesting by mid-May (in a place where I've seen snow in the last week of May), so I know that a winter thaw is potentially a gardener's godsend. From what I understand, our garden patriarch Ralph has successfully planted peas in a January thaw.

But thus far my garden and the RP Community Garden 'saw no thaw.' However, January saw us (by way of update) officially partner with Wasatch Community Gardens ( http://wasatchgardens.org/community/gardens/rose-park ) who now provide administrative services, gardening education, leadership development, and community gardening-related resources AND we will continue to "nourish and nurture our future through a shared teaching garden that connects people to food, heritage and to the community." Our mission is right in line with Wasatch's mission to "Empower people of all ages and incomes to grow and eat healthy, organic, local food." So we will still grow dozens of varieties of fruits and vegetables, work together and provide a place for community gathering.

Work begins in mid-February and our first community event will be in mid-Spring. So flout the freeze and start planning for spring's garden, because the thaw will come.

A Feast at the Fall Fest

Thank you to our volunteers, garden founders, planning committee, donors and community! We had a nice evening of activities, mingling, and relishing garden food against the backdrop of a blue sky and corn rows. We feasted on breads, soups, chili, enchiladas, ratatouille, salsa, quiche, melon, cookies, muffins, pies and home made ice cream. The Picky Kid Award went to 1st) bread intended for a veggie appetizer 2) my spinach quiche and 3) Nicole's pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. 850 hours of work have gone into the garden this season (600 from 31 regular volunteers, 150 from service groups and 100 from 50 other community members). We have the community garden because of Ralph and Scott Steenblik, the Rose Park Community Council (former fiscal sponsor) and Tesoro. This year's harvest wouldn't be here without Ralph and Scott, who put in their own time and money to guarantee water delivery. Because of serious family obligations, they were unable to attend the event. We hope to pay them back soon, double our community participation in 2013 and get your help finishing out this season and preparing for next.Your support will help community members continue to learn, nourish themselves and their families, and grow their own gardens and community connections.

Fall Fest Potluck Event

please join us for our first-annual

F A L L   F E S T

on

Saturday, September 22nd 5-7pm

871 N. Cornell St. (1525 W.)

Garden Potluck, Activities for Kids & Volunteer Recognition

If you answer yes to any of these questions, this event is for you:

_I love fruits and vegetables

_I hate fruits and vegetables

_I have helped in the Community Garden

_I have not helped in the Community Garden

_I like to eat real food

_Food and culture are important to me

_I enjoy living in Rose Park

_Rose Park needs a lot of improvement

_I enjoy gardening

_I don't like gardening 

_I (and my family) want to grow our own food

_I like trying new things 
_I didn't know we had a Community Garden
_I knew about it, but didn't get around to helping

Help us Grow! Donations are appreciated as well as your help (in 2013).

Circle of Service

Have you ever experienced "coming full circle?" Yesterday was one of those moments for me. On Saturday, September 8th, 2001 I volunteered at Wasatch Community Garden's Tomato Sandwich Party. How did I learn about it? A professor who later became my boss and friend at the University of Utah suggested it because we had been studying community gardens as part of a course in environmental psychology. A component of our grade was service learning. In 2 hours I learned to love pesto and tomatoes, know the difference between homegrown and Health Food store tomatoes, and I also saw what community gardening could do for struggling youth, neighborhoods and families. Three days later much of the world would watch helplessly at the destruction by a few to an international community. It doesn't feel like coincidence that eleven years later, on Saturday September 8th I stood in awe as 50 students from the University of Utah's service learning program descended cheerfully onto our community garden, a member of Wasatch's network. They accomplished in 2 hours what would have taken our regular crew 6 weeks to do. They weeded, harvested, hauled leaves (prep for next year's garden), and harvested alongside 17 members of Rose Park. I stood and watched, not helplessly, but humbled by what a few could do for my community.

We still have tomatoes, squash, beets, cucumbers, beans, corn, egg plant, chiles and onions. Our Fall Fest is Saturday September 22nd at the garden, 5-7pm. Bring a garden potluck to share and if you can, give a little "green" to help us grow.

Share and Share, Alike

Have you ever heard the old cliche, "what goes around, comes around?" Giving and sharing work the same way, when done without thought for oneself. I call it investment. Above, Chloe gives a "free face painting with purchase" from last week's yard sale. Thank you Chloe for helping us earn $230 at our yard sale. Pictured on top is a share I received this past week. It's enough vegetables to feed my family for a week. I don't know that I fully grasp the expression "share and share alike," but I like to think of it in terms of our garden. Those who share time and energy into the garden enjoy abundant shares from the garden. And in this case, when giving gives back, wouldn't you say that "share" and "share" are alike?

Invest in the community this month! Tomorrow we have plenty to harvest, some weeding, etc. Wednesday Sept 5th at 6pm join community members walking from the Library to our garden for BreatheUTAH's Smart Trips Rose Park (http://www.breatheutah.org/). On Saturday Sept. 8th, a crew from the UofU is coming to help in the garden, 8-11am, so let's show them that we know how to work! Best of all, let's celebrate the harvest! First annual "Friends, Fresh Food, Funds & Fun" Fall Fest on Saturday Sept. 22, 5-7pm in the garden. Open to the community, whether or not you've gardened with us before. Garden-inspired potluck items and donations appreciated, but not required. So come help the community continue to "learn, nourish, grow," from our shared teaching garden.

Little Gardener with a Big Heart

Do you ever wish you could make a difference in the world? One of our young gardeners is turning that wish into reality. Chloe of Rose Park is just ten years old, but already she wants to influence her community for good. I met her at the Rose Park Community Festival in May. A week later she and her parents and sister came to help at the Community Garden. I knew she had real gardening background when she commented that a plant looked like "an asparagus gone to seed." Now how many people know what that looks like? She says, "I like going to the garden because it helps me learn how to garden. It also grows and produces different and new vegetables that I can try." A few weeks into helping at the garden she told her mom she wanted to do a charity yard sale. Together they chose us as the beneficiary of this endeavor. Our goal is to raise $1100 for a drip system installation that will reduce our water usage. Why would she want to work in the heat, when she could spend Saturday mornings watching TV or sleeping? Because "I like helping my community. This can have great rewards, besides the fact that it is also just fun to garden and help out." Sounds like Chloe not only has a good head on her shoulders, but has a mighty big heart!

Yard Sale will be on Saturday Aug. 25th at 1194 Brigadier Circle from 8-11am. Please spread the word that we are taking donations that are clean and in good condition. Look for flyers and a reminder email this week and next week.

Contact: Christina at christinacounts@gmail.com