Both gardens have been producing a wealth of produce this summer, including yellow squash, cucumbers, kale and lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, and fairytale eggplant, amongst others. The butternut squash, watermelon, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes are nearing harvest, and other fall vegetables have just been planted.
The first Saturday in August, another crew of volunteers harvested produce at the 8th & Gilmer garden, assembled small produce gift packages, and then went door-to-door along Loudon Avenue handing them out to our neighbors, similar to our effort along Gilmer Avenue last month. A note was attached to each bag describing the availability of produce and the hours when each garden is open to the public for volunteering and for distribution of produce.
The first Tuesday in August, One Valley participated in National Night Out, in conjunction with the Northwest Neighborhood Environmental Organization’s event held at Loudon Park. Information was available regarding the community gardens, along with promoting good heart health with good eating and exercise, Amazetta’s soil therapy to get kids in touch with the earth, and free produce from the gardens.
The last session of our Garden Seminar series was held on August 1oth, with Master Gardener Betty Shideler presenting on “Warm Tomato Salads”.
The next week saw a round of planting transplants and seeds for our fall vegetables. Transplanted vegetables included cabbage, kale, napa cabbage, buttercrunch and red oak leaf lettuces, and spinach. Vegetables planted from seed included spaghetti squash, carrots, beets, turnips, and radishes.
On Saturday, the Carver Garden held a “Garden-to-Go” event, sponsored by the Virginia Cooperative Extension. This event was targeted to SNAP-eligible youth and families, who each received a planting kit to grow their own greens at home.
One Valley recently received a grant through the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, which supports monthly donations of fresh produce to two local food pantries – the Hope Center and St. Mark’s Lion’s Share. During the first 2 months of our grant, we have provided approximately 660 lbs of produce to these two organizations. Together with weekly donations to the McCray Court Senior Center and RAM House, our donations amount to almost 85% of the produce from the 8th & Gilmer garden.
As a result of our various outreach efforts, we are beginning, gradually, to see more neighbors stopping by the gardens and taking advantage of our local produce, as well as volunteering at the gardens.
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