Check out Straw Bale Gardening....

This looks interesting... anyone have a few bales I can have to try it out?

Straw Bale Gardening is simply a different type of container gardening. The main difference is that the container is the straw bale itself and is held together with two or three strings. Once the straw inside the bale begins to decay the straw becomes "conditioned" compost that creates an extroardinary plant rooting environment. Getting the straw bales conditioned is an essential part of the process, and should be started by the first week in May for most parts of the country. This gardening technique works anywhere in the country or the world for that matter.

http://strawbalegardens.com/

Attention Community Gardeners... (thats everyone)

If you are interested in becoming a Community Gardener, please contact me at 281 508 3040 or email bethlafata@hotmail.com.  We'll pick a date & time to meet and you can pick out your spot. 


Volunteer Opportunities

Help organize and build new gardens.

Assist in garden clean-up, programs, and social events.

Work with skilled leaders to assist with children's and classroom gardens.

Connect with prospective gardeners.

Help with the bi-monthly newsletter.

Assist with public relations, fundraising, and grant writing.

Specific skills needed: irrigation, carpentry, landscaping, gardening, and fruit tree care.

Ground is broken... fruit and veggies are growin

Oh man.. what a great day! We got fruit trees planted, 3 small garden squares formed and planted... everything is watered... now nature can take over.  I'm beat! Below are pics of todays festivities...  Thank You ALL!!

Friday status...

Hello fellow gardeners.... I'm so very excited that tomorrow morning we'll have food in the ground growing. 

Patty has offered a few times to let me use the MOW debit card to get anything I might need ASAP, but I'd rather get this garden started without taking from the Meals... prefer to add to that program with our fruits and veggies.  So donations donations donations

Heres my plan for tomorrow and if you can help please do so...

I plan to be at the garden at 9am, and will start digging holes for the 4 confirmed fruit trees that will be there, and any more I discover they are coming.  I have only my shovels and hopin the ground is not too too hard.  I also need to mark a few garden squares and maybe thro one together real quick, I have assorted lumber to make borders.  I need black paint to write "The Garden" on a wooden sign I picked up today.  It may be a temporary sign, and it may stay till it rots.  Callie Evans is coming out to handle the lemonade stand. Celia Dunn is picking up balloons from Whataburger, just be festive.

Things I've collected so far...

Callie donated a water hose and a soaker hose
Patty has a rake and a shovel at MOW
Assorted lumber next to the dumpster at MOW for borders

Things I still need to pick up...

bricks and assorted lumber in a lady's back yard, approx a pick up truck load
                                                                               (call me if you can pick this up)

Things I'm working on... (if you know these people or anyone else that might help do haller at them, and myself)

Called the number on the storage containers out near the hospital, and left a message, want to see if they will doante a small one for us to keep garden supplies in

Called Brogden Landscaping to get advise about irrigation, haven't heard back from him yet.  Will call him again.

OK I'm off to work... cannot wait to meet you all!!!

Beth

Email sent out

Meals On Wheels, The Garden, A community porject benefitting OUR community


Hello, I'm Beth Pilkington LaFata and I am taking off with Patty's idea of a community Garden, with your help of course. Roy & Celia Dunn are working on plow/tilling the land, and Lyn Butcher has done her research and is planning the first row of approximately 10 Garden Squares with the local Garden Club. And this is only the beginning... The Garden is/will be located at 1410 Martin Luther King Jr Street in Mineral Wells (just north of the Jr High and east of Travis). There is a 3 acre lot next to the MOW building we are using. The purpose as stated in our Mission Statement below is, in short, to feed the hungry of Palo Pinto County. We will build raised 3x6 and 4x8 Garden Squares starting at the north end of the property and working our way south till the whole 3 acres is full of bloomin fruit & veggies. We are starting with the first row of fruit trees, the second row is 3x6 garden squares and row 3 is 2x6 squares of tomatoes. Once those are full we will start row 4.

We will be seeking sponsers for each to cover soil and seeds to get each square going. Anyone can build a Square & plant what they wish or just finance a square and we'll plant what they wish.

Currently seeking volunteers to help build & maintain the garden.

Its been a busy week, and its coming together alot quicker than I expected so...Save the Date... Saturday, April 3, 2010... The Garden, A Community Project to benefit our Community is having an informal ground breaking/meet n greet from 11 am to 1pm. We are soo very excited!! At Noon we will plant our first Apple Tree, now since fruit trees need to be planted in pairs I'm hoping someone will show up with another. (Last time I went thru Walmart they were about $20). Check my blog below to get the current "goings on"

So if your interested in gardening or even if your not, there is always something you can do to help feed the hungry.

To raise the $600 needed for soil for the first row of Garden Squares we will have a Donation only Lemonade Stand ran by Callie Evans, do give me a ring if you wish to give her a hand with this on Saturday. If you bake and want to bring up cookies or muffins to put at the stand please do.

Our Mission is to... Improve the quality of life for the elderly, disabled, and needy, in our community by producing home-grown nutritious food, reduce food budget, and eradicate hunger in our community one person at at time.

As with any project, there are immediate needs to get us started, this project has no budget and is run solely on donations to get it started...

listed are a few things we need... if you can bring any by please do.

there is a donation box at MOW for cash donations

someone to order/make us a sign one for each end of garden

garden soil- small/large bags.. give me a call if you can do a truck load

seeds

fruit trees/bushes/ vines

all garden tools

tiller

lanscape fabric

tomatoe stands

lumber

bed borders - boards, bricks, etc

small shed for garden tools

water hoses

someone to plan, advise, install irrigation

someone to plan, advise and make bed signs for sponsers

large clay pots



future needs...

soil & seeds

lawn mower

weed eater

lumber

someone to mow/weedeat between beds

someone to plan, advise, build a green house

someone to plan, advise, build a fruit/veggie stand

daily volunteers to keep gardens watered and weeded





I thank you for your time, and hope to see you Saturday

The Garden - MOWPPC Community Garden: Mission Statement-

Our Mission is to... Improve the quality of life for the elderly, disabled, and needy, in our community by producing home-grown nutritious food, reduce food budget, and eradicate hunger in our community one person at at time.

Wednesday's Garden Progress

I feel good about today's progress... as slight as it was. 

Made and posted an initial "Needs" list

Thanx to Lyn's research, found out we need approx $600 for dirt for the first row of garden squares.

Reviewed Home Depots grant programs.  We can apply in May.

Rec'd a bag of seeds from Patty and a few small garden tools, and I mean REALLY small... toys.  So bring your lil ones out and let them plant something.  She also has a few bags of potatoes with eyes, that we can thro under some dirt and see what grows.

Left a message for Chester Brogdon about irrigation, hopin to hear from him soon and meet up to get an idea of what we can do to water the first couple of rows, and be able to add on as the garden grows. 

Found out there are no pipes and such underground except right along MLK Jr Street.  He advised we stay a good 30 ft from curb.

Spoke with a friend that works for Acme Brick, to see if we can get a truck load of bricks donated for Garden Square borders.  He's checking into that and will get back to me.

Stopped by to see Dave at Discount Lumber south of MW along 281, he has garden boards for less than $4 for an 8 ft log.  Dave wasn't there but he's always been good to me and I'll see what he can do.  I'll stop by again tomorrow.

Stopped by Whataburger before work and while telling one of the managers about our Garden... she is givin us balloons (helium) to make our ground breaking more festive.  We will have to pick them up at 10:30 Saturday morning.  She is also going to check into how to get donations (a check) from Whataburger, I will check with her next week.

Found out most fruit trees need to be planted in pairs to produce fruit. So I have one Apple trees, hopin someone else will come up with another.

Having a Lemonade Stand to raise a few funds at the Ground Breaking... will do this on several Saturdays to raise some funds.  My daughter Callie Evans has volunteered to man this stand this Saturday with one of her friends.

My mother wants to finance/plant a square of those lil flowers that you plant around tomatoe plants to keep the bugs away... I've forgotten what they are called AND 2-3 tomatoe plants.

On my agenda still to do before Saturday...

Decide on signage for each Garden Square

Order/obtain banner "The Garden, A Community Project Benefitting OUR Community"

Finish Donation Box, started making one today

Hit up Shires for whatever they can spare

Get irrigation advice and estimate of cost

I'm sure theres more that I'm just not thinking of at the moment...

I thank you all for the emails, keep those ideas, thoughts and advice coming

Beth LaFata

cell 81 508 3040

bethlafata@hotmail.com