CROPS August 2009 Newsletter

Community CROPS August 2009 Newsletter

Community CROPS Updates

What's been happening at Community CROPS in the last month?

Established an herbal spiral at the 46th and Pioneers Community Garden

Held 5 great farmers' markets on Thursday evenings with demos and music

Provided farm program participants individual technical assistance

Provided 49 families with a box of fresh vegetables each week through the CSA

Had 5 media appearances

Held an awesome event at the Ross for the opening of The Garden movie

Worked with dozens of volunteers at the gardens, farm and market

August brings lots and lots of summer vegetables. At the market we have a wide variety of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, sweet corn and much more. This is also the time to be thinking about planting a fall garden! There's still time to raise quite a bit of food before frost hits, and many of the plants will survive even longer. One easy way to find space for a fall garden is to use the area where you dug garlic or potatoes. Types of crops you can plant now include root crops (carrots, beets, radishes, etc.), brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, bok choi, kale) and leafy greens (lettuce, arugula, spinach, etc.) If we have an early frost, you can easily protect your plants with a blanket, or set up a more permanent structure -- bend a wire frame over the bed and cover with any type of clear or translucent plastic.

Join us for a class on Fall Gardening on Saturday August 29, location and time TBD. Former CROPS staff Brad Kindler will be teaching all about growing a fall garden.

Fall Gardening Nebguide -- how and what to grow in the fall in Nebraska.

First Annual Garden Gala

Saturday, August 15th from 9am-noon 46th and Pioneers Community Garden Come visit Lincoln's largest community garden and enjoy a morning of fun activities for all ages.

Curious about what the community gardens really are? What do people grow there? What vegetables grow well in Nebraska?

Enjoy some delicious food, kids activities, tours and much more.

More details on the Garden Gala

We've also updated our Community Gardens Page with new photos and descriptions of all our gardens.

Gardening in the News

There's been a lot of great articles about gardening this past month -- and a lot of it focused on Community CROPS.

The Daily Nebraskan recently featured CROPS in a good story about our gardens.

Ingrid Kirst, CROPS Director, talked about the gardens while some great shots of them show on the screen, on this Backyard Farmer special

Amy Brt, Community Garden Program Manager, was recently featured on Channel 8 news.

Local foods were the feature in a KOLN news feature, with plenty of shots of the CROPS Farmers' Market.

Another feature on KOLN introduces some of our community gardeners

Another local garden (not part of CROPS) was also just in the news. Read this article on the garden at the Community Correctional Center

New CROPS T-shirts

Our newly designed CROPS T-shirts are ready for you -- you'll definitely want to get one to show off your support of CROPS. Made of 100% recycled cotton or 100% organic cotton, shirts are just $16 each. Available at the CROPS market or click here for ordering details

Community CROPS Pentzer Park Farmers' Market

Thursdays, 4:30-7:30pm at Pentzer Park

One of the best ways to enjoy local food is to get to know the person who grew it (besides growing it yourself.) At the CROPS Farmers' Market, the relaxed atmosphere means you can take the time to talk to the farmers and find out more about the vegetables they are growing, while the kids enjoy the playground.

Summer vegetables are in full swing. Right now, there lots of tomatoes, including some unusual varieties, potatoes, zucchini, corn (really fresh!), peppers, cucumbers and much more. We also have delicious sour cherry jam, whole wheat bread and garlic. Stop by and get some great food every Thursday!

New Way to Support CROPS

You can help us to develop all the awesome community gardens and farms in Lincoln. Now, you can sign up to do monthly donations -- $5, $10, or whatever amount you can afford per month will really make a difference to us. Through Network For Good, donations come straight to Community CROPS and make a real difference in our work. Click the button below to get started:

Upcoming Events

Sunset Community Farm Tour

Friday, September 11, 5-7:30pm Save the date for a fantastic celebration at Sunset Community Farm. It's a great time to come out, see the farm and find out what is happening with our farm training program. Our farmers will be on hand to tell you about everything they are growing, there will be kids activities including chickens to pet and much more. More details will be out soon.

Canning Class

Saturday, September 12, Antelope Church of the Brethren, time TBD CROPS will be holding another one of its popular canning classes to talk about water-bath canning methods. You'll take home your own jar of canned tomatoes.