Community CROPS March 2009 Newsletter

Spring is right around the corner, and we're getting ready for it as quickly as we can. Now's the time to be planting your tomato, pepper and eggplant seeds so you'll have plants ready to put out in May. Remember to keep them warm and moist until the seeds come up to get the best germination. It's easy to start your own seedlings--see this Mother Earth News article for details.

We've started our farm training program sessions for our new farmers. This year's group is quite diverse, with people originally from Vietnam, Peru, Sudan, Kenya and the US, plus our returning families from Mexico. They are busy planning out their seed starting, and some are planning the details to raise chickens, for both meat and eggs. Watch for more information about how to purchase all these great products, besides the CROPS CSA, which is now taking registrations.

In addition, we're planning further ahead -- preparing for the Community CROPS Plant Sale in early May, planning out garden openings throughout May, and beginning work on advertising the Community CROPS Farmers' Market in June.

Community CROPS Sustainable Agriculture Movie Series

There are many great movies out there on sustainable agriculture and we've picked out three of the best to show during March. Join us for each one. Movies include Broken Limbs: Apples, Agriculture and the New American Farmer on Tuesday, March 17 at 6pm, Sustainable Table, Wednesday, March 25 at 6pm, and Heifer International's Seeds, Hope and Concrete, Sunday, March 29 at 4pm.

Visit the Movie Series page for full details.

Community CROPS CSA

Many people have already signed up to get a share of the vegetables grown by Community CROPS through our CSA. Let us grow you fresh vegetables all summer long. We'll give you a newsletter each week with cooking and preparation tips. Pick up locations are spread throughout Lincoln. New this year: we have two options -- a Veggie Lover's Share that will have lots of standard vegetables plus many things you may not have tried before, or the Standard Share that will focus on the basic vegetables. Read more and sign up on the CSA page.

Novel Idea supports Community CROPS

This spring, A Novel Idea Bookstore is promoting Community CROPS through their Thank You Tuesdays. They'll contribute 3% of their gross sales to CROPS each week. Be sure to stop in and visit the store on a Tuesday or any other day to pick up some great used books.

Community Garden Applications Now Available

It's time to get ready for the garden season, and that means time to sign up for a community garden plot! We have applications now available on our Community Gardens Page. We have five new locations this year, so we have a garden near you! Applications are due back by April 20th, but it's best to get it back earlier.

Gardening Classes

Community CROPS has one more class scheduled this month -- March 24th will be Laying out Your Garden, to cover everything on how to get started actually planting your garden. Visit our Workshops Page for more information. Miss a class? We've posted handouts from recent classes on that page, too.

There are other classes happening all over Lincoln, Finke Gardens will have a variety of sessions every Saturday morning including multiple sessions on vegetable gardening.

Community CROPS Job Openings

With spring's arrival, we have posted three job openings to work at Community CROPS. We'll be hiring a Community Garden Program Manager, an Outreach Coordinator and a Farm Intern. Full details and application information on our Job Openings page.

Join the CROPS Mailing List

To get regular e-mails from CROPS when we have news to share, sign up for our monthly newsletter to hear about classes, events, job openings and much more. You can also choose to get notice of volunteer opportunities. Sign up at our Newsletter Page.

Community CROPS on Facebook

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