It’s Strawberry Time

Our first crop of strawberries are starting to ripen and we should be picking them all week!

The new “Critter-Proof” garden fence is almost complete. We are now making the five garden gates.
Special thanks to the Faith and Grace Hawk who took guard of the garden while we worked to get the fencing in place – We viewed this beastly bird as a godsend.

Next we will start laying the drip irrigation system to keep our plants watered during the hot months of July and August.

On Thursday we welcome back our friends, the garden volunteers from Bhutan and Burma.  Through our partnership with LSI we will have 13 refugee volunteers in the garden from 9am – Noon on Thursdays through mid-August.

WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!!!! CAN YOU HELP?
Keeping the garden humming requires more that just people helping in the garden.
We need help in the following areas:
Deliver produce – Produce picking the previous evening needs to be picked up and transported to the food pantries the next morning.
Small engine maintenance – Like to tinker with engines? Our tillers, mowers, etc always need a little love mid-season.
Waters – Until the drip irrigation system is in place, our thirsty plants need some attention.
Childcare – Watch children on the playground while their parents help in the garden.
And of Course: Weeding, Watering, Planting, and Harvesting
Please let us know if you would be able to help!

Here are our volunteer times if you can give us a hand:

M-W-F  6:30pm – 8:30pm
Sat  10:30 – Noon

The Faith & Grace Garden is using VolunteerSpot to organize our upcoming Volunteer Sign-ups.

Here’s how it works in 3 easy steps:
1) Click this link to see our Sign-Up on VolunteerSpot:
http://vols.pt/kWyw79
2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
3) Sign up! It’s Easy – you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on VolunteerSpot.
Note: VolunteerSpot does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.

Harvest Results to Date:
Asparagus        – 25 pounds
Kale                 –   50 pounds
Onions            –  215 pounds
Radishes        –   25
Strawberries   –  20
Total                 325 pounds

For more information about the Faith & Grace Garden
Tim Goldman -745-9842 – timothyjgoldman@gmail.com
Mark Marshall -998-5381 – wdmmarshall@msn.com

So far we have 415 tomato plants and over 500 pepper plants in the ground. The onions, peas, and beans are up about 6 inches and we will be cutting lettuce next week.

We will start planting melons, squash, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli next.
Sweet potato plants will arrive on Friday so we hope to get our potatoes in over the long weekend.

Here are our volunteer times if you can give us a hand:
M-W-F  6:30pm – 8:30pm
Sat  10:30 – Noon
Other times available by appointment

U.S. beekeepers lost 44% of their colonies in the last year.
That’s a near-record loss and WAY too high for colonies to keep up. We must help. One way is by planting more pollinators in our yards, gardens and flower beds.

Weather permitting, tomorrow at 6:30 we will be planting 17 different kinds of pollinators in the garden flower beds with the help of the Polk County Conservation Commission.

Here is a picture of the butterfly weed we will plant tomorrow night

Harvest Totals To Date:

Asparagus – 25lbs
Kale – 50lbs
Onions – 105lbs
Total -180lbs

Tim Goldman 515-745-9842 – timothyjgoldman@gmail.com
Mark Marshall 515-998-5381 – wdmmarshall@msn.com

Welcome, Spring & Welcome Garden Volunteers!
Garden Opens on Monday, March 28th 2016

The Faith & Grace Garden is using VolunteerSpot to organize our upcoming Volunteer Sign-ups.
Here’s how it works in 3 easy steps:
1) Click this link to see our Sign-Up on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/kWyw79
2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
3) Sign up! It’s Easy – you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on VolunteerSpot.

Note: VolunteerSpot does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.

Nathan Dickerson sits atop his Eagle Project:

Shelving for the high tunnel at the Faith & Grace Garden.
Great job, Nathan, and Boy Scout Troop 202!!

A Garden Wish List

Urban Farmer with little income needs help (we struck those items where you have helped, thanks!!)

Small hand tools,
1. 6 foot or taller fence poles,
2. any food grade bucket or pails;
3. a small garden tractor in need of fixing up (we could use one with a front end loader),
4. small generator, water pump,
5. hand washing station,
6. a 200 gallon and several 350 gallon plus water containers,
7. fence panels, hoop house/ green house,
8. heating pads for plant trays

Finally, if you know of anyone that has Boy Scout clothes that will fit a 10 year old. We sure would appreciate the help. I have a little money, but can’t afford any of that stuff brand new.
If you can help contact Tim Goldman 515-745-9842 – timothyjgoldman@gmail.com

News from our friends at The Lord’s Acre……

Nutrition for Older Adults: Tufts University, in partnership with the AARP Foundation, released an updated MyPlate for Older Adults.  It reflects the latest nutrition science and is intended to target the unique needs of the 50+ community.  See here for the release. And here for a new website with tips, recipes and more.

For consumers who are trying to understand the concerns about GMO foods:  Here’s a great article in Civil Eats by veteran Reuters reporter, Carey Gillam, about how FDA plans to start testing for glyphosate residues in food. Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide (thanks in large part to genetically engineered crops designed to resist the chemical in various formulations including Monsanto’s RoundUp herbicide), recently linked to cancer.

For more information about the Faith & Grace Garden

Tim Goldman 515-745-9842 – timothyjgoldman@gmail.com
Mark Marshall 515-998-5381 – wdmmarshall@msn.com

2016 Faith & Grace Garden Spring Meeting

Sunday, March 13
Parish Hall, St. Timothy’s
1020 – 24th Street in WDM
(corner of 24th & Ashworth Rd)
2pm – 5pm followed by potluck supper
Note: Please reply to this message and let us know us know if you plan to attend to aid in our space planning.  No charge.

Agenda
2pm Welcome
2:15 – 3:15 Food Practices and Climate Change Discussion
Sarah Paulos, Program Coordinator of Iowa Interfaith Power & Light will get us thinking about how our food practices affect climate change and then lead us in a discussion.
3:15 – 4:15 Faith & Grace Garden Planning Discussion
Share with us your thoughts and ideas. Some discussion points:
· Taking care of our soil to help reduce climate change.
· What we will grow and where we will donate.
· Major projects in the garden this year.
4:15 – 5pm Pollinator Program Discussion
This year we will be celebrating pollinators in the Faith & Grace Garden. Erika Schoenberg of the Polk County Conservation Commission will introduce the program and we will talk things we will be doing this year in the garden and at home to remedy the decline of pollinators.
5pm Potluck
Bring a dish to share and table service. Drinks will be provided.
A – I Salad
J – P Main Dish
Q – Z Dessert
News from our friends at The Lord’s Acre……

Good Reads:

Take a trip down into the microscopic world of fungi, bacteria, nematodes and more and to learn about the “soil food web”. If you like science, you will like this book. ISBN: 13:978-1-60469-113-9

Author Kristin Ohlson argues that we can not only heal the land but also turn atmospheric carbon into beneficial soil carbon―and potentially reverse global warming.: 978-1-60961-554-3

A Business Solution for Smallholder Farmers.

Smallholder farmers living in remote places need support in more than one area. We provide a complete set of services within walking distance of the farmers we serve. Our service bundle includes:

1. Financing for farm inputs

2. Distribution of seed and fertilizer

3. Training on agricultural techniques

4. Market facilitation to maximize profits from harvest sales

Farming is the dominant economic activity of the world’s poor.One Acre Fund makes that activity significantly more productive. We are growing as fast as possible to capture an incredible opportunity.

Plantable Coloring Book – Kathryn Curtis, a recently graduated masters student at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy, is raising money to publish a plant-able coloring book in partnership with Brazilian artist, Rogério Fernandes. Coloring books now account for 17% of book sales in Brazil and the iconic

“Secret Garden,” which started the coloring book trend, has now sold over 1.4 million copies world-wide since it’s 2013 release. The goal of Ms. Curtis’ book is to offer suggestions for how individuals can make reasonable lifestyle changes to ensure water security. Even the pages of the book itself, made with biodegradable seed paper that readers can plant, will remind readers that everything is part of a cycle of life and death, including our possessions. Ms. Curtis has previously published a book on health and wellness called “ChooseYour Health”

Regards, Tim – For More Information about the Faith & Grace Garden:
Tim Goldman 515-745-9842 – timothyjgoldman@gmail.com
Mark Marshall 515-998-5381 – wdmmarshall@msn.com

YUMMY!  COME CELEBRATE!
Second Annual Harvest Celebration Dinner
Saturday, September 26
Serving 5pm – 7pm
Parish Hall, St. Timothy’s
1020 24th Street, WDM
(corner of 24th & Ashworth)

Join us for a wonderful Fall dinner featuring fresh produce from the Faith & Grace Garden Sat., Sept. 26, from 5-7pm at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in West Des Moines.  Take a look at this fabulous menu!

Harvest Time Lasagna
Winter Squash Lasagna
Roasted Turnips, Apples and Dried Cranberries
Roasted Root Salad with Horseradish Vinaigrette
Sweet Potato, Apple, Cilantro Slaw
Corn, Peach, Tomato, & Onion Salad
Green Beans Vinaigrette
Coconut Bread
Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Guest Speaker: To Be Announced
Freewill donations gratefully accepted

 7th and Final Hope for the Hungry Conference
(note link to full brochure)

The final Hope for the Hungry Conference will be held November 7 from 9a.m. to 3 p.m. at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates in Des Moines. The conference topics include, current hunger issues, current work to alleviate hunger, volunteering to alleviate hunger. The conference will include panel discussions and a keynote address by Matthew Russell of Drake University.

Registration is $40 (before Oct. 23) and more information can be found athttp://www.hopeforthehungry.blogspot.com/

Download a full brochure for more information

Is It Time to Thin Out Your Flower Beds?

The Faith & Grace Garden needs spring and summer perennials for sun: Tulips, Daffodils, Daylilies, Siberian Iris, Black Eyed Susans, Coreopsis, Daisies, Salvia, Lavender, etc.

Are you thinning your flower beds and wondering what to do with all those extra tulip, daffodil, day-lily, allium, etc, bulbs? Or do you have some native flowering plants?

The Faith & Grace Garden is in need of spring and summer perennials, transplants, etc. Must tolerate full sun. Please sort by color and print color and variety on the container along with some planting instructions. Just drop them by on the picnic table by St. Tim’s.

What’s going on in the garden now?

We are harvesting tomatoes, beans, peppers, kale, turnips and radishes.
Soon we will plant garlic for harvest next June.
We have some cover crops in; a mixture of rye, hairy vetch and clover with more to plant.
We will be planting spring bulbs in the flower beds as soon as the ground dries out.
We are marking off fence line for our new “critter proof” fence. We hope to get the posts up yet this fall.

Regular Garden Volunteer Hours

Mon–Wed–Fri: 6:30pm–until dark | Sat: 10:30am-Noon
The Faith & Grace Garden is using VolunteerSpot to organize our upcoming Volunteer Sign-ups.

Here’s how it works in 3 easy steps:

1) Click this link to see our Sign-Up on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/pzbrtF
2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
3) Sign up! It’s Easy – you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on VolunteerSpot.

Note: VolunteerSpot does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.

Garden Production through September 12

Tim Goldman – 515-745-9842
Mark Marshall – 515-998-5381