Hello!

Despite a rough beginning, our community gardening program is  growing!   Currently, we have tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash,  three varieties of green beans, cabbage, kale, broccoli, beets, radishes,  hot peppers, herbs, chives, onions, and swiss chard, all growing in our garden! The gardening community decided to use this bountiful harvest in three different ways. First, as participants in the ‘plant a row for the hungry’ program, we donate some of our harvest to Food Gatherers; (we have made two donations, so far). Secondly, there are days when we  collect the harvest and put it in the Ann Arbor CIL’s ‘gathering place’, so that it can be enjoyed by the community as a whole.  Finally, we use certain vegetables in our nutrition classes and healthy cooking demonstrations.

Needless to say, there is a real gardening community forming at the Ann Arbor CIL.  Community gardeners know each other’s names, greet each other with smiles, and inquire about the well being of other gardeners. Furthermore, most of our gardeners are also active participants in our gardening program. Some of them have even led classes on gardening or facilitated other social gardening events.

Sound like fun? The weather may be cooling off, but you still have opportunities to get involved with our community! We will be doing some fall planting, (date/time TBA),  so it isn’t too late to get your hands in the soil and grow some veggies!  You can also get involved in our community by just stopping by our garden, or  participating in an event. On the calender right now is a Rain Barrel workshop (August 25th); a Potpourri workshop, (September 10th); and a Drummunity workshop and circle, (September 22nd).  We also have weekly garden work days and nutrition classes! Please check out the Sports and Rec calender for more information about these scheduled events and to see if we have any new events coming up!

For more information about our gardening program, contact Ava HaberkornHalm at ava@aacil.org, or by phone at (734)971-0277 ext. 55.

Here’s to happy community gardening!