Stay tuned!

We heard back from DCNR and they are just waiting to till the garden until after the ground dries up a little from all of this rain!  (We've cancelled this weekend's planned garden opening and classes until we can get out there).  Just wanted to let you know that we are still here!

  Have a great day!
  ~Marykaye

Mechanicsburg Earth Day Festival canceled due to inclement weather

We're sorry to miss the festival this Saturday but it sounds like the funds can be used for other important projects and it may be a pretty thunderstormy day. More refreshment for Mama Earth!

~Take care,
Marykaye

Join us at the Mechanicsburg Earth Festival this weekend!

beautiful image from www.tracysworld.com

We are all chomping at the bit to get back out there for our spring planting but plans are still on hold awaiting tilling of the garden by the township. We have some calls out and are hoping that that may take place sometime in the next week or two!  For now, we're gazing at slender green seedlings and dreaming of abundant harvests... :)

To hold us over, here's some news from around the webisphere that seemed interesting:

We aren't the only ones that think kids and gardening go together well.  It's exciting to hear that the USDA is funding a $1 million dollar initiative to establish vegetable gardens at 70 elementary schools in four states.  The goal of the pilot program is to help educate kids about food production and good nutrition, acknowledging that a garden is one of the best (and most fun!) ways to do that.  You can read more about it here:

 USDA project will fund vegetable gardens at 70 schools

We hope you can join us this weekend for the Mechanicsburg Earth Day Festival from 9 to 3 pm.  It's a great opportunity to enjoy music and fun activities while remembering to honor this beautiful earth, our home!  Our Children's Rainbow Garden members will be hosting a table with kid's activities and helping out at the festival throughout the day.

You can check out: http://www.mechanicsburgearthdayfestival.com for more information.

~Hope your Earth Day (4/23) is wonderful wherever you are! :)

The great leaf compost experiment

We had a great first day out in the garden!  Sunshine+wind+blue skies+friends is a recipe for happiness, for sure (and it sure helps with getting that daily dose of Vitamin D).  Every season brings new adventures and challenges and the most recent one was the discovery that a majority of the community garden is now covered in a pretty thick layer of partially composted leaves (several feet deep in places).  We spent a couple of hours yesterday moving them to the edge of our garden plots while we took turns guessing the purpose of the leafy distribution.  In the final count, we decided that it might have been a case of good intentions tempered by the logistics of composting (ie composted leaves need a lot more time to become healthy, plantable soil)!  The county schedules a pre-season tilling of the ground for gardeners any day now, so we'll see how it goes.  We're hoping it doesn't make it any harder for any of our fellow gardeners to plant but we've left a few of our plots as-is to see how it goes.

an especially large leaf pile on the edge of the garden

In other news, everyone's been starting seeds and here is a little sample of what we've got going: Greek tomatoes, Jalapeno peppers, Red Russian Kale, Lemon apple cucumbers, Kohlrabi, Mache, Leeks and Celery.  We are also planning a great medicinal herb garden and the Feverfew, Chamomile, Echinacea, Calendula, Lemon Balm and Organo are already on their way.  There are so many ways we can be connected to the earth for healthy eating and healing and we hope to highlight that in this year's garden!

chamomile in full bloom (ETA: this summer)

And it seems we keep hearing about more and more research on the benefits of gardening, so here's today's installment.  A recent study indicates that gardeners are more likely to eat fresh vegetables than non-gardeners, regardless of how much time and energy they actually spent out there in a garden.  This particular study focused on older adults, so if you are lucky enough to have one in your life, bring 'em on down to the garden to acquaint them with some yummy veggies!  It just goes to show you that nobody can resist a fresh-picked tomato or carrot straight out of the garden.

Hope you have a great week and get out there for a little sunshine or time with a friend.  We can all vouch for the fact that it definitely makes life so much more beautiful! :)

~Marykaye

We've got a great season planned!

Hello!  We've been enjoying the taste of warmer, sunnier days and hope you are too.  It's easy to feel spring right around the corner and we are getting excited about planting this year's garden!  Part of our planning includes creating a schedule of great events that we'll offer throughout the season at the garden on Elmerton Avenue in Harrisburg.

Our first event will be an introduction to the garden in April and it will highlight healthy fresh flavors you can find in the garden in the Spring.  Other events will include great classes for kids and adults along with some fun festivals in the garden.  We hope you'll visit our blog and Facebook page throughout the season so you can join us and spread the word!  You can always find a list of upcoming events along the right sidebar of this page under "Calendar" along with more details under the "Events" tab at the top of the page.  It's just another way we can all stay connected on this adventure in healthy, sustainable living and building community!

See you soon!
~Marykaye

Join the Meatless Monday Food Movement and Our Rainbow Garden Project!

The fun continues as we plan for our spring crops and the opening day of Our Children's Rainbow Garden. In our garden planning meeting this weekend, we got really excited about the opportunity to offer classes this season filled with information and fun for children, gardeners, and for garden foodies. Watch our blog for the event announcements that will begin as early as April!

Right now is the time to really take stock in why its a good idea to get involved in this garden project. First of all it is a ton of fun, good exercise, and requires just a minimal amount of time to reap all of these benefits. But the benefits of eating more fresh and local vegetables goes beyond personal benefits to directly contributing to reduced greenhouse gases and the preservation of our natural resources. 

Whether you are vegetarian or meat-eating, please check out www.meatlessmondays.com a movement that is now a mainstream!

Just by eliminating meat from your meals every Monday, you can reduce greenhouse gases, water consumption, and fossil fuel usage in very significant ways. Not to mention the health benefits of reducing your weekly consumption of animal products and saturated fat. This is a very "doable" way to move your desire to live sustainably beyond ideas into a very tangible step in your life, and isn't this what its really all about? 

I'm also adding a link to a really nice vegetarian website that offers great suggestions and recipes. Oh yes, the picture I'm sharing is of my grandson Ashton who has a LOVE for cooking and a Love for the garden!

So, if you are inspired, let us know that you are ready to become a gardening member of Our Children's Rainbow Garden. The benefits are endless and the commitments are very practical and doable for most people (whether you have children or not!)

Be Well and Enjoy Life, 

Karen 

karenhunsberger@msn.com 

http://www.101cookbooks.com/heidis_favorites/

We're back!

Hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful new year!  How funny that our first garden meeting took place on another snowy day.  It was so much fun to contemplate warmer, sunnier days in the garden!

We are planning some exciting things for this year's garden, including expanding the children's area to include a "Discovery Garden" and many new plants and themes. We are hoping to open the garden up to more volunteers and partnerships with local groups, so if you or someone you know might be interested, please share news of the garden!

Believe it or not, it is already time to order seeds and soon we'll be starting them for a spring planting. Did you know how many crops can be planted right after the first frost?  They include spring greens and herbs as well as radishes, cabbage and potatoes (peas and onions even sooner)!  Here's a great link from Mother Earth News with more info.

We'll post more as we meet, but here are some pictures from today. Garden planners and yummy treats were the flowers in our garden today! :)

Gotta' have the treats

Garden members Kristen and Jane

Chris

Julianna

Karen and Llenay

Have a wonderful day!
~Marykaye