Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Springtime at Crabtree

Seedlings grow in the greenhouse at Crabtree Farms. You can purchase some of these very plants at Crabtree's spring plant sale.


The Crabtree Farms spring festival and plant sale is the perfect way to kick off this year's growing season - and it's right around the corner! On April 16 and 17, you'll be able to buy from more than 180 varieties of plants, including heirloom tomatoes, yummy herbs, berry bushes, and beautiful annuals. All of these plants are cultivated in the greenhouse at Crabtree using sustainable methods, which result in healthier and more highly productive plants. (For a full list of plants available, click here.)

In addition to the sale, guests can attend workshops where they'll learn more about composting, container/raised bed gardening, and rain barrel making. And master gardeners will be available to answer specific questions local gardeners may have.

For more information about Crabtree Farms, or for directions to the sale, visit their website at http://www.crabtreefarms.org/. See you at the sale!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Hands needed to help with harvest


"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
- Matthew 9:37-38

He sat at a table all alone at the Community Kitchen. He was wearing a dirty shirt and holey jeans. His face was aged by the years he had spent living on the street. When he saw the large basket full of cabbage that I was carrying in the door, his blank face broke into a beautiful toothless smile. At that moment I experienced a connection with this man I had never met before. I saw Jesus in him. I saw life. I saw life in mid-May when we came upon a bird's nest with eggs in the middle of the cucumber plot. We carefully picked around that nest making sure we never touched it. By June there was a small featherless bird and in July we watched that little bird fly away for the first time. These are just a couple of the many memories that I have from the past two years of being a part of the Gardening for God ministry. This garden brings life to our community and to our church.

Spring is just around the corner and this is going to be an exciting year for the garden here at Christ UMC. If you want to do something exciting and simple this summer with your family, along with giving to those in need in our community, then please think about joining the Gardening for God ministry. We are looking for hands to help harvest. This is a great opportunity to meet and fellowship with other members of the church. We will harvest every Wednesday and Saturday at 9 a.m. from the middle of May until August. Harvesting takes only 30 minutes and you do not even have to commit to coming every week. Our goal for the garden this year is 1600 pounds of fresh vegetables. Come and help us reach our goal.

If you want to help but don't want to get dirty, we are also looking for volunteers to help deliver the food to the organizations that we give to. If you would like to be a part of this ministry, please call Emily Dykstra at 933-4440.

Come sow seeds with us too:
  • Saturday, March 12, 10 AM - Planting of cool season crops
  • Saturday, April 23, 10 AM - Planting of warm season crops
Emily Dykstra
Gardening for God Ministry and CUMC Green Team