Slow Food Utah has graciously awarded the Garden Group a microgrant for $850. The money will be used to repair both the fence repair and main water line repair. We also have money to purchase a rat proof composter and a wheelbarrow.
Slow Food is an international nonprofit organization that was founded to counteract fast food and fast life. It is “an approach to a way of living and eating that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment”. Their organizational goals include counteracting both the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat. They also seek to promote an understanding of the ways that our food choices affect the rest of the world.
You can find out more about Slow Food Utah at http://www.slowfoodutah.org.
Jason Thornton of Seeds of Hope donated two flats of heirloom tomatoes for planting in our garden. This is part of a larger project sponsored by Slow Food Utah. This project is designed to preserve our agricultural heritage and biodiversity by replenishing seed supplies of rare tomatoes in a “Seed Grow-Out” . For those who accepted starts, remember to save some tomatoes at the end of the year to regenerate new seeds (we can show you how to do seed saving later this year).
THANK YOU to everyone who helped with the garden on Saturday, May 9th.We had a fantastic turnout.We’ve gotten all the basics in place to get us up and running.We’ve also got lots of early garden starts…looks fantastic!
WATER SUPPLY – Allison, John, and Janette evaluated the existing drip system on Wednesday and made plans for upgrades.John very kindly purchased supplies and fixed our leaky main water line – THANK YOU ALL for your expertise.
Sue, Kathy, Linda, Ikue, and Ross stepped up and laid out the drip line irrigation—some impressive pinch hitting!Rick came by to troubleshoot…he put a lot of time in on that system last year.
We now have a drip system in place!While we expect to work out some kinks (we certainly did last year…), this is a HUGE first step to creating a dependable water system that will save HOURS of watering by hand.
COMPOSTING – Tom and Pat previously created an open compost bin from old wooden pallets.This is so much more effective than our old system.Ross and Ikue emptied and moved our old composter (it’s seen better days…).They also filled Tom’s new open compost bin—garden gold in the making.Julie purchased and assembled the ratproof, closed compost bin now located by the red tool shed.Be careful –tighten the lid firmly before you “tumble” it!
WEEDING – Linda, Ikue, and Ross dug some mean dandelions on the house front lawn.Joan and Julie had earlier worked on the dandelions as well.We are now ready to till (and then plant) the donation bed for Friendship Manor!
DOUBLE DIGGING and TOMATO PLANTING – Jonathan, Jaime, Sue, Julie, Joan and Cynthea helped double dig and plant our community tomato plot.
