Vermont Community Garden Network
September 2014 Newsletter
"The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. 
To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul.
- Alfred Austin

September is an exciting month for gardeners all over the state as we celebrate the summer growing season and enjoy the delicious harvests. Join VCGN's Garden Harvest Party at the end of this month or host an event at your garden to share the bounty! In this issue of our monthly newsletter we have updates from gardens around the state and tips for receiving feedback about your garden before the end of the season. We hope you enjoy the final weeks of summer and those beautiful crops!

Upcoming Events
EATxNE -Sept 19-21
Oakledge Park, Burlington
 
This FREE 3-day celebration of VT Food includes music, seminars, and kids events. Its also a fundraiser for local organizations - including VCGN! More info and tickets
VCGN Harvest Party - Sept. 28
Celebrate the end of the season with fellow gardeners and friends, Sunday, Sept 28, 3:00-6:00pm, at Winooski Valley Park District's Ethan Allen Homestead.  There will 
be free veggie burgers and Ben &Jerry's ice cream, kids' activities, bike smoothies, trail and garden tours, and more!  All gardeners and friends welcome. Bring your favorite garden side dish to share or a suggested donation of $5.  Event put on by Vermont Community Garden Network in partnership with Burlington Area Comm unity Gardens, Winooski Valley Park District, VNA Family Room, New Farms for New Americans, Grow Team O.N.E. and City Market. More Info

Join community and school garden leaders from your region for this unique training series. Learn strategies to support growth, boost your garden programs, share stories and ideas, and celebrate this growing movement.

Fall Workshop Dates and Locations:
  • Burlington, Sept. 23 - Ethan Allen Homestead, Winooski Valley Park District: 1 Ethan Allen Homestead, Burlington, VT 05408
  • Pittsford, Sept 29 - Lothrop Elementary School: 3447 U.S. 7, Pittsford, VT 05763
  • Bellows Falls, Oct 2 - The Retreat House: Immanuel Episcopal Church: 20 Church St., Bellows Falls, 05101
  • North Bennington, Oct 8 - The Village School of North Bennington: 9 School St., North Bennington, VT 05257
*All locations take place from 4:00-7:00pm and include a light meal
 

For more information, contact us at (802) 961-4769 or email Libby at libby@vcgn.org.  Click here to register.

The Toolshed: Tips for Garden Leaders

September is a great time to gather information from gardeners, volunteers, and others about their experiences before the cool weather starts to push garden thoughts out of focus. Here are a few tips to learn how your garden is doing and to help shape your plans for next year:

  • Celebrations: End-of-season potlucks or gatherings are a great way to bring people together and to share favorite memories, accomplishments, stories, and ideas for next year. 
  • Surveys: Anonymous surveys invite open and honest feedback about the season. Take a look at an example of a post survey.
  • Interactive Evaluations: Come up with your own fun and creative ways to get feedback from visitors along with those involved in your garden. 
  • Plan for next year: Consider working assessment into your season's plan in order to see how your garden is doing in the beginning, throughout, and again at the end of the season.
Whenever and however you're collecting this valuable information, don't forget to celebrate the season, your gardeners, and all of the great things you've accomplished this year!

For the full  "September Toolshed Tip" and more info,
Garden Spotlights
Morgan Spring Community Garden - Bennington 
 

This summer we spent several days visiting community and school gardens in Southern Vermont. After chatting with site leaders at the Morgan Springs Community Garden, we were impressed with their work to bring together community partners and passion to improve food security and food education. Read more about their story here

 

New Discovery Garden - Burlington

The New Discovery Garden is located at the Winooski Valley Park District's Ethan Allen Homestead and is one of 14 gardens managed by the city of Burlington's Parks & Recreation Department. This garden, previously focused on children's education, underwent a major renovation throughout this spring and early summer to increase the garden's size and number of plots. New features include: a significantly larger fenced in area, inclusion of smaller half plots, a new compost system, plots specifically reserved for the food shelf, and even two cherry trees! Read more...
New Discovery Garden - Burlington

The New Discovery Garden is located at the Winooski Valley Park District's Ethan Allen Homestead and is one of 14 gardens managed by the city of Burlington's Parks & Recreation Department. This garden, previously focused on children's education, underwent a major renovation throughout this spring and early summer to increase the garden's size and number of plots. New features include: a significantly larger fenced in area, inclusion of smaller half plots, a new compost system, plots specifically reserved for the food shelf, and even two cherry trees! Read more...

Since 2001, the Vermont Community Garden Network (formerly known as Friends of Burlington Gardens) has worked with community and school groups to start, sustain and grow gardens, building strong local food systems and vibrant educational sites.

The monthly VCGN Newsletter provides garden-based news, resources, and events to more than 2,000 gardens and garden leaders all over the state.

We welcome your comments and suggestions. Send your garden news and events to info@vcgn.org. For even more current information and updates, connect to VCGN and other gardens on Facebook and Twitter.

We'd love to hear from you!

Jess Hyman, Executive Director
Libby Weiland, Program Manager
Ann Pearce, Volunteer Coordinator/Admin
Denise Quick, Community Teaching Garden Instructor
Dory Cooper, Communications Intern/Newsletter Editor
 
In This Issue
Seeds For Gardens 
By The Numbers:

Thanks to the generosity of High Mowing Seeds, Clean Energy Collective, American Meadows, and Depot Home & Garden, VCGN distributed 10,722 packets of seeds to garden groups all over the state this year. Wow!

Here's where the seeds went:
 

133 garden groups including: 

  - 84 schools
  - 16
community gardens

  - 12 childcare centers

  - 11 workplaces

  - 4 senior centers

  - 4 food pantries

  - 2 libraries

 

145 garden leaders at Grow It! workshops

 

100+ low-income gardeners in Burlington


To donate seeds or funding to support the 2015 Seeds for Gardens program, please email  jess@vcgn.org.

   

Lead Testing For Your community or Home Garden
 

Middlebury College's Environmental Studies Program is conducting research on whether the soil of community and home gardens may be a potential pathway for lead exposure in Vermont.  If you are interested in free soil testing, contact Diane Munroe at dmunroe@middlebury.edu or (802) 443-5925.

 

See the VCGN  website for
& from around the state.

 

Newsletter Archive

 August 2014 

Vermont Community Garden Network
Vermont Community Garden Network | 802-861-4769 | info@vcgn.org | http://www.vcgn.org

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