“Church, community take garden concept to next level”

Check out this article written by the  Methodist conference on the Parkway Tedder Community Garden and its partnering church, Parkway United Methodist.

E- Review Article

http://www.flumc.info/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000062/006200.htm

February and March BIG EVENTS– meanwhile plants keep growing

Parkway Tedder Community  Garden is bursting with activity right now. Between (1) the “Tea in the Garden” fundraising event coming up February 27th (see below and on our Facebook group) and (2) the “Leadership Workshop” coming up March 20th (see Leadership Workshop tab for details) there are lots of ways to get to know us!

Sign up soon for one or both,  meanwhile, here are a couple pictures of flowers this week in both  the community garden and the food forest.

Tea in the Garden Fundraiser

Potting tables, Banana trees, Planning Meetings

Things keep moving forward at the Garden!  Pastor Jim and his crew were busily sawing two by fours into custom artisan potting tables (check out the pictures). These  outdoor tables will be set up for working with seeds and potting seedlings.  Stop by some time and take part in getting some of your favorite seeds ready for gardening.

With the recent cold snap the banana trees had some dry leaves they were done with (banana leaves are pretty big!) and so Pierre, one of our community gardeners, led our efforts to give them a shave & a haircut.  With swift slices soon the dry stuff was in the middle of the banana circles ready to compost into a fresh round of banana leaves.

In yet another corner of the garden, the planning committee for the “Tea in the Garden” event, February 27th from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm, gathered.  (Sorry no pictures on this one–pics a bit boring, bunch of folks sitting around- ha!)  But the event itself will be exciting so– Save the date!

And don’t forget the food pantry garden plots…they just keep growing!

Leadership Workshop Postponed until March 20th

Dear Friends,

The Leadership Workshop has been postponed to a likely date of Saturday March 20. Between the cold snap which disrupted the garden prep work, and the recent disaster in Haiti which has taken much time and attention from key workshop planners, we felt this change was needed. Thank you for your understanding.

You are welcome to stop by the Garden any Saturday for a glimpse of all that God is doing. Send us a message or make a surprise visit, we will be glad to see you!

The Garden Team

ps–save the date! Tea in the Garden on Feb 27 5:30-7:00pm

Meanwhile, enjoy some pictures of our sunflowers getting ready for tomorrow’s visit by the Tedder Elementary School kids.

High School Community Service Volunteers

High School volunteers do great in the garden, over winter break three volunteers helped put fertilizer around citrus, water, and prepare a new food pantry patch, thank you volunteers! Volunteers are always welcome at the Parkway Tedder Community Garden, contact us if you would like to help out!

Leadership Workshop

Discover new ways to Celebrate Creation and Build Creative Communities

A One-Day Workshop at Parkway United Methodist Church

Pompano beach, FL on Saturday, January 30th 2010 from 8:30 AM – 1:30 PM (including lunch)

Leard how a small struggling church thought beyond their pews, developed their vision of expanded community and grew a transformative ministry designed to bear fruit for generations.

Our community is growing closer together and new relationships are being nurtured across economic, cultural and racial divides. Soon we will help supply food pantries with fresh local food to feed people in need, and the garden will be able to do so for years to come. Those coming here grow their own food, develop new skills, listen to stories, watch butterflies, see trees grow taller, flowers blossom, fruit ripen…and rediscover God’s creation.

This workshop gives new insight to those looking to Celebrate and Care for Creation in new ways.

You should attend if you are:

A Pastor or Church Leader, a “Creative Visionary”, a gardener, an outreach ministry leader thinking about new ways to celebrate creation and reach out to neighbors, a church member who wants to promote dignity and nutrition in hard times, a ministry leader concerned about food security, a trustee worried about the cost of “mantaining the ground” and facilities rental, a youth minister looking for creative sustainable ways to involve youth…

Participants will:

Hear the story of the PTCG and how it’s changing a community

Become aware of key factors/principles that make a church-community-nonprofit garden successful

Apply these factors/principles to construct a basic plan for Creation Care in their own context

Be knowledgeable about resources available from PTCG and other organizations

Return home able to “think beyond their pews” and take action

Visit the “Leadership Workshop” tab for more information and schedule! RSVP is required via email!

Food Pantry Greens after the Big Rains

The week ending in December 19th was a momentous one in terms of rain! 7+ inches in two days! Fortunately our food forest and garden plots loved it! No major flooding, just lots of happy plants.

Next time we will have rain barrels arranged to catch the abundance!

In addition, this Saturday marked the 1st time garden produce was officially given out through the on-site church lead food pantry.  Nothing like locally grown organic food!  We are working at upping the fresh to can ratio, it’s a start!

Tedder Elementary School 2nd Graders Experience “the garden”!

On the morning of Tuesday November 17th 110 Second graders from Tedder Elementary lined up at school and tromped 2 blocks to the south gate of Parkway Tedder Garden.  Excited to be on a field trip and excited by so many new things literally on their doorstep the fun began!  Five Different stations hosted classroom groups on their discovery path–

• Comparing soils and planting sunflower seeds
• Learning about compost (broken down vegetables that become fertilizer) and worms!
• Native Plants and the new site for a natural kid’s playground
• Ladybugs, ladybugs, ladybugs!!!
• Snacks and a tour of the fruit trees.

From the great experience of gardens, bugs, and trees this should be the first of many field trips and the start of a partnership with our local school Tedder Elementary.

Celebration a Big Success and a New Step in Growing

We would like to thank everyone who came to our celebration this past Saturday!  Though the weather was incredibly hot and humid for October,

many of you showed up to drink lemonade under the fruit trees,

plant a food pantry garden,

put your handprints and decorations in cement stepping stones,

Ceremony

help honor those who made this possible

and help ladybugs fly into the banana trees.

Best of all, many of you signed up to join the garden community by taking a plot for this winter’s growing season!

Sign Up

new plots

We would like to welcome our many new members to the gardening season and to community.

For those of you out there who want to be part of a lively and diverse group of folks, come grow with us!