a little fun in the sun

Whew!  We are making the best of the recent heat wave and were happy that some children showed up for our 2nd class in the garden this weekend: Garden Detectives.  Garden member Kristen did a wonderful job, sharing a fun activity where the kids explored the garden with their magnifying glasses and jotted down pictures and names of what they found.  We also read some lovely books and had a snack; another great class and an opportunity for the kids to take part in the garden!

Here are some pictures from this weekend's class and the previous one in June:

sharing some fun stories about insect friends in the garden

picking out nature journals and magnifying glasses 

on the hunt for some bugs

found some!

a lovely honey bee, a beneficial insect

making a list of the things we found

and sharing the joy of discovery

some of the great books we read

And some picture from June's class:

discussing an introduction to gardening and how our garden has grown

planting some new seeds and seeing some previously planted ones  

reading some more lovely books

Thanks to our talented teacher Kristen for all of her work with the children's classes!  We love you! :)

We also love to share current studies and news items supporting a healthy diet including fresh local fruits and veggies, so here's a nice one.  Researchers highlight how infants who are fed homemade baby food made from fresh fruits and vegetables are significantly more likely to include them in their diet when they get older as compared to infants that consume standard jarred, prepared baby food.  (Even babies can taste the difference and seem to remember it!).  It makes seeing the really little ones in the garden even more exciting! 

Click here for link to story.

Hope you stay cool and enjoy your week.

~Marykaye

a little inspiration

Do you ever feel like you could use some new ideas to get cookin' with all of the season's fresh produce?  We sure do.  Well look no further for today; see what we came up with for this week's first tasting in the garden.

It was a wonderful evening and everyone enjoyed the appetizers before, during and after time spent watering and harvesting.  (Our time together in the garden usually consists of as much fun as work but this takes it to a whole 'nother level).  :)

Here are some of the pictures from our evening:

 a gorgeous spread of garden-fresh appetizers

some of the yummy appetizers
(fresh pesto, garden fresh salsa and lettuce wraps with lemon ginger dressing)

iced mint tea is so cooling on a summery day
(we love Numi Moroccan Mint)

and there's nothing like some irresistible
rainbow garden refrigerator pickles 

potatoes and vegetables were our harvest this particular evening

happy veggie tasters

If you are looking for some more ideas for great ways to prepare your local, seasonal produce, stop by the garden and be sure to check out some of Karen's fabulous recipes from the evening:

click here for a link to our "Recipes" page

or click here for a printable version of our appetizer extravaganza.

You can also check out these sites for more inspiration: 

www.smittenkitchen.com

or 

www.101cookbooks.com

Have a great weekend!

~posted by Karen and Marykaye

garden blessings

You meet the nicest people working in a garden.  People who love a little earth and the beautiful things that grow there enough to brave temps in the high 80's and physical labor that most of us don't need to worry about in today's world. (Although at least it does remind you to send out good wishes for all those who do work out in the sun all day, every day!).  It also makes you grateful for friends to garden with to lighten the load...

On the subject of gratitude, isn't it also a gift to have access to all the clean, fresh water that we want whenever we need it?  We are so aware of that as we spend more and more hot sunny days in the garden; watching children playing joyfully in it while we and our plants drink deeply of it feels very abundant.  (Community member Liz just got back from a mission trip to Guatemala and the stories of people feeling grateful to be able to pump drinking water from a local old-fashioned free-standing well makes us feel doubly blessed).

It takes a considerable amount of effort to move water in large volume from the pumps (one is at each end of the 7 acre community garden) and then tote it in buckets to the plants but other than that, most of the heavy work in the garden is pretty much past.  It's been lovely to begin to find vegetables ready for picking and we've found a few zucchini, peppers and onions ready for harvesting.


picking the veggies is so much fun

nice green tomatoes are on some of our plants

our first zucchini from the garden this season

What do you do with all of the squash that start rolling in pretty soon?  One recipe we've used a lot in the past week has been to dip thinly sliced coins of yellow squash or zucchini in olive oil, parmesan cheese and garlic powder and then roast them at 400-450 degrees for 15-20 minutes (turning once).  They are a crunchy, golden side dish or snack and a great way to introduce kids to how easy it is to enjoy zucchini.

yummy quick zucchini "chips"

You are always welcome to stop by out at the garden to pick some fresh, local zucchini once they start coming in in earnest, but if all of this talk makes you hungry, you can check out a local farmer's market or join a CSA like Spiral Path Farm throughout the growing season (more info about them on Facebook or on their website).  We've been enjoying their produce as well and love to support them by spreading the word!

Eat local and have a great week! :)
~Marykaye

Thanks for a fantastic grand opening festival in the garden!

Is anything better than gathering outdoors with good friends and delicious food?  (From all of the smiles in the pictures, we sure don't seem to think so!).  Our garden grand opening was graced with lovely weather (just enough clouds to keep it from being too hot and sunny) and a great turnout.  We were happy for a wonderful mix of new and old friends (some had found our event on Facebook or in Central Penn Parent magazine) and many stopped by for the food and kid's activities.  One of the most delightful activities was the creation of the fairy garden, but the face painting, wagon rides and play in the rainbow garden all seemed to be a lot of fun for the kids, too.  (The adults also had a great time hanging out and taking tours of the rest of the garden!).  As usual, it was a wonderful day!  

There were so many beautiful pictures from the day that we've created a little (ok, enormendous) ;) slideshow.  Click below to check it out:

Don't worry if you missed it!  Save the date for our Fall Festival coming up in September and between now and then you can look forward to many other days together in the garden; as always, please be welcome!  What's next in the garden?  Check out our Events page for upcoming classes including more details on our next one on creating "Garden Fresh Appetizers", Wednesday, July 13th at 6:30 pm in the garden.  

See you soon!  Happy Summer! 
~Marykaye

Join us for Our Grand Opening Festival and Potluck 6/25/11!

Exciting times ahead in the garden

The garden is looking great; it is amazing how quickly things come together with so many people helping!  Another fabulous donation of cocoa mulch from Hershey Nursery was laid out this past Wednesday by our lovely volunteers and all of the plants are looking pretty happy.  There are quite a few unique areas of the garden this year and the mulch highlights them beautifully!

We are also very excited for two great events coming up in the garden in the next couple of weeks and we hope you can join us.  If you know any kids who might be interested, please spread the word to family and friends.

June 18th will be our first class in the garden: an introduction to gardening for children.  It will be a wonderful opportunity for kids to experience the garden firsthand and will include a story, activity and snack.  The class is free and begins at 9am (a great time in the garden before it gets too hot).  If you are interested in attending or would like more information please call Karen Hunsberger at 574-2654 or post a comment on this blog below or on our Facebook page.  Please RSVP right up to the last minute if you can so we make sure to bring enough supplies for everyone...

June 25th will be the 2nd annual Grand Opening of our garden, and we are planning to celebrate and build community with a festival and potluck from 3pm to sunset.  Expect great food, kid's activities and lots of fun, with plenty of space for the kids to play.  Musical instruments also welcome!  Click here for pictures from last year's opening festival in the garden.  You can also click here for a link to a printable flyer for this year's festival.

Here are some pictures from this week to show you what we've been up to:

fragrant mulch lined up and ready for the garden

two of our wonderful volunteers

working on tomato stakes

the finished product

laying out that great mulch

Isn't it gorgeous?  This will be a fun place to play for the kids...

Thanks so much to everyone for their help!

We'll be out at the garden again this Wednesday getting ready for our guests, so as always, please be welcome then, too!  See you soon!

~Marykaye

Happy Memorial Day!

Greetings! We wanted to let everyone know that we did ok with the storms that blew through our area at the end of the week and the garden is doing well.

We were very blessed that no harm came to the garden but are sending prayers to all those affected, some in our area who are still without power and so many others around the country working together for healing and struggling to get things back to normal.

Hope you have a wonderful holiday spent with family and friends. It's such a gift to be together. :)

~Marykaye