Cycles of Life

Our first seeds have sprouted! Broccoli, Kale, Collards, Kohlrabi! How exciting! And how humbling. We simply placed seeds in soil, ensured they had access to water and light... and nature took over!

On Tuesday, a few folks gathered to make a compost pile in the garden behind the office - using horse manure, leftover greens from the field, and brown leaves.  Everyone pitched in and our pile grew and grew! Thanks to everyone who helped out! Here's an image of the sun setting on our lovely compost pile. Time will tell, but hopefully the compost will help our soils grow beautiful and delicious plants!

Let the Planting Begin!

Spinach. Carrots. Corn. Tomatoes. Green beans. Potatoes. Brussels Sprouts. Kohlrabi. These are just a few of our favorite vegetables that we hope to grow in our gardens this season!

Earlier in February, youth and adults reminisced about last year's gardens and offered ideas for this growing season. This year, our plan is to engage youth and volunteers in growing food to give to families, sell at the farmer's market, and donate to local organizations. We also hope to have some youth cooking classes when we start harvesting!

Our first project together was to build cedar flats to start our seeds in! We can reuse these year after year and mimimize our use of plastic. During our first gathering, we successfully built over thirty flats! Everyone worked really well together. Some holding wood together. Others hammering. Teamwork was certainly a necessary ingredient in our task!

Now the planting can begin! We are fortunate enough to have space in the greenhouse at Wilkes Central High School. We've started our first round of the cabbage family: broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, kale, collards, cabbage, and of course, brussels sprouts!