From the Delivery Coordinator:   Our last tally of produce on 8/29 was 181 pounds from the pantry and gardeners plots. Vegetables from the pantry plots were picked through 9/21. In less than a month, we gathered 176 pounds of produce for a total of 357 pounds! Yeah!

Most of the vegetables were for the Northfield Township Food pantry and we donated 40 pounds to the Methodist Church Tomato Project to benefit the Northfield Food pantry and the Chicago Food depository. The Lake County Food pantry was the recipient of 40 pounds of tomatoes. A special thanks to Jim Brooks for organizing the tomato donations.

We also had 2 gardeners buy Dominick gift cards that were donated to the NFP.

I'd like to thank all of the pantry drivers for signing up to care for the plots, pick, weigh, water and drive. I know there were so many more volunteers, that are not named, who tended the gardens and drove pantry produce and their own vegetables over to the pantry. Thanks for being a "garden angel"!

A heartfelt thanks to all,

-Colette 

From a Community Gardener: In late June Colette, who organizes the deliveries from our garden to the food pantry, sent an email to the gardeners asking them if they would volunteer to pick, deliver, weed and water the five pantry plots. Within a day eight people had signed up for all 43 days on Colette's list. In fact it went so quickly that some felt they had missed the opportunity and offered to help in other ways. As it turns out, we will have eight people harvesting food grown by fifty people to feed hundreds over a period of 43 days. Only three years ago we didn’t even have a garden. - George Miller

From the Garden Coordinator:  What an amazing deluge we received last weekend! Not only did our soil get a good soaking, but the Civil War reenactors at The Grove had to sleep in the pavillion because their tents were soaked. I just visited our garden and saw what 6-8 inches of rainwater can do for a garden. The plants look beautiful and they seem to have grown several inches in just the past couple of days! In addition to our vegetables looking lush and green, the sodded area also looks greener and more healthy. Thanks for all of your attention to the sod and to the pantry plots.

Kudos to Debbie and Colette for leading the way again to ensure that food pantry donations are collected and delivered on regular basis. Thanks for bringing the cooler to the garden also, Colette.

I'm not a big fan of weeding, but I'll tell you that after that elephant gourder we just had, the weeds almost pull themselves out of the ground. I can't tell you how satisfying it is to yank a dandelion out of the soft earth and get the entire 10-inch root.I usually have to settle for an inch or two and the pesky weed comes right back.  You'll have to try it yourself to discover the joys of weeding!

I hope you're all enjoying this beautiful, less humid July Monday.

Keeping it Green,

JB

From the Delivery Coordinator: We have picked and donated 181 pounds of produce from 7/19-8/29! From green beans to zucchini and yellow squash, green and red peppers, cucumbers and of course many varieties of tomatoes. A bunch of donations have come from individual gardens with the bulk of the donations coming from the food pantry plots. Thanks to all of the garden pickers, pantry drivers, expert watering crew and all of the garden angels that pull weeds, straighten tomato vines and keep the gardens growing strong! Newspaper wanted: Recycle your paper in the grey bin next to the education building. We need a lot of paper to spread on the newly weeded plots at the back of the garden. Drop off your newspaper and we'll put it to good use.