Raised Beds Project

To all FEED FANNIN VOLUNTEERS (No, you don’t have to be on the Gardening Committee to handle this!) and those among the MASTER GARDENERS who have expressed an interest,

As announced at our most recent FF meeting, all those interested in working with the Raised Bed Gardening Project will meet at Family Connection this Wednesday, February 29, at 11:30.  PLEASE RSVP TO THIS NOTICE SO THAT WE CAN HAVE AN ACCURATE COUNT FOR PLANNING PURPOSES. 

Target Goals for the Meeting:

·        Identify skills and areas of interest for all volunteers—building the beds, mixing the soil, tilling, mentoring the clients.
·        Identify those select clients whom we can reasonably serve—likely a maximum of 10 given our budget constraints. 
·        Establish a timetable for implementing the project—mid April through mid-May

Our over-arching goal, of course, is to teach folks how to provide for themselves rather than remaining dependent on the Food Bank for much of their produce.

To members of both groups, FF and MG—each of you is essential to the success of the project; each of you brings special skills/knowledge to the process.  I am hopeful of seeing you next Wednesday.

I don’t envision a long meeting—we’ll determine areas of skills/interests, divide up the various tasks for completion later in the spring, then break. 

Garden Day on Moonday 10/17

Reggie says we will have a work day on Monday, in conjunction with the picking (9am).  We will pick the peppers more heavily than we have been, picking the larger green peppers as well as the red.  The main work that needs doing is to pull out the rest of the tomato cages, put all the rebar that is holding the cages up under the shed, clean and pile the cages.  All tomato plant remains should be removed from the patch and piled.  There is already one pile at the far end of the patch.  The garden should be scanned for rock we piled at the ends of rows, so it won't get tilled in again, milk jugs with bags in them and any other items that shouldn't get tilled in.  If anyone wants to save seed from zinnias or cosmos or elephant head amaranth, now is the time as they will get mowed and tilled very soon, if not Monday.  Also pick any flowers you want, or green tomatoes.  See you Monday. 

Sheila

Garden Work Day

Well rain nor sleet nor...well okay, we did get rained out but a few necessary tasks were accomplished before the deluge was released upon us. Always a good time...even in inclement weather! Soaker hoses were removed from the tomato rows and cages were pulled out. Many are still left! Come on out for the next workday which looks like Monday at this point.

Trucking for Food!

The food pantry needs truckers! People who can drive their truck and pull the family connections trailer to Atlanta, Chattanooga or Dalton to the large distribution food bank once a month. Tracy Summers will accompany whoever goes to show them the ropes. 

If you can do this once a month or just once, call Linda Mahan at 706-632-6063 or e mail her at lindamahan@etcmail.com. We have three truckers already! If we enlist 4 more trucker volunteers, then each person would only need to drive two times a year! And Family Connections will reimburse for gas. 

Thanks Jane

Work Day in the Garden - From princess Jane

To All Gardeners:

We are having another work day. If you missed the last one you still have an opportunity to work putting things right for the end of the year. The day is Thursday Oct 13 and the time is 9:00. You can bring a lunch and we will all eat together. 

I am including the last e mail from Reggie because it was so entertaining. 

hey everyone,
it's that time again. garden clean up in preparation for fall cover crop. this is the premier social event of the year. this years games include speed tomato cage cleaning, three legged irrigation pipe carry, and that old staple at all good clean up parties; "organize all the crap that was randomly tossed into the garden shed all summer". prizes will include damaged, unripe tomatoes that are too bad to make the grade at the food pantry, an old boot from one of the scarecrows that got tilled up last fall and just discovered in the compost pile, and best of all an eighty pound bag of hardened concrete that didn't work as part of the damn in the creek. in the spirit of inclusion even non-winners "i.e. losers" will be given their choice of either a Kudzu root to transplant in their personal garden, or a packet of seeds from everyone's favorite invasive," thorny amaranth."
so come on out around 9am Thursday.  we should be done soon after lunch. but just in case we aren't bring a sandwich or some snacks and we'll commune just east of the porta potty at the enchanted garden shed shaded picnic area. can't wait to see u all. ur deevoted servant. his immaculacy and highest of the subaverage reginaldo.