We're Up and Running...How Much to Give?

Many thanks all of you who came out for our work days during Spring Break. We had over 30 helpers in the garden, and together we dug, planned, planted and prayed Alliance Community Garden into existence! So far we have 20 beds for individuals/families with only two remaining beds still open. We have a pumpkin patch, a blackberry bush area, a communal area for eggplant and squash, and a gorgeous new spiral herb garden.

We were also able to plant our new trees: two figs, two persimmons, two plums and one peach tree. We're working on our irrigation so we can easily water our gardens (right now we're dragging hoses, but it's all good...) and we're still raising funds for a shed to house our tools. The missional giving Sunday in April goes to the community garden, so the opportunity for AUMC to further support the garden's mission is just around the corner.

Speaking of giving, many of you have asked what percentage of your crops you should donate to the food bank. My answer is: as the Lord prompts you. We want all of our gardens to produce a healthy bounty not only for our gardeners, but for those around us who are in need. Keep in mind that the donations we've received from TAFB and TCPH were given so we can be a part of the solution in educating folks on better nutrition and giving them access to healthy vegetables they wouldn't otherwise be able to afford. We'll have a station soon where you can drop your crops for donating--it will be so exciting to see how much we can give!

Additional warm-season plants are on the way including squash, okra, beans, melons, cucumbers, lettuce and snap peas. So, for those of you who haven't completed your beds, you might want to save a little room for these crops. I will let you know when they come in.

We're expecting a heavy dose of rain this evening, so I'm thankful for the refresher for our plants. I'm still a novice to the world of gardening, but I'm learning new lessons every day...

Today's good word is from Oswald Chambers in his devotional, My Utmost For His Highest. Chambers writes, "A life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles' wings, but a life of day-in and day-out consistency; a life of walking without fainting." Together, may we walk this life of faith, in and out of the garden, with consistency and grace.

Cheers,
Britta

Garden Update: Plans and Prayers

Hello Gardeners!

We've had some more good news for the garden!

Here's what's happening:

• Katey Rudd finished our garden plans and Jack and Kern are headed to the HOA meeting tonight for final approval. We have a contact on the board who thinks the garden is a good idea, but we appreciate prayers that all will go smoothly tonight.
• As many of you know, we've had wonderful donations from church members and area businesses, and we've been blessed with grants for supplies from TAFB and TCPH. We're expecting a shipment of building materials and tools, hopefully to arrive later this week—possibly February 23.
• Gardeners are stepping up with ideas and donations—we've got contacts for free mulch, a possible greenhouse, and two free tillers so far. Thank you, gardeners!
• Will and Ellen Neff attended a class and have thoughtfully shared their notes with us to help us in the garden. We'll hand out copies of this at our next garden party.
• We received packets of seeds for our seed-starting efforts. If you're interested in free seeds, please contact me. I'll have them through build-out days and beyond! (Cue Buzz Lightyear.)
• Kern contacted Dig Tess and they'll be marking our lines this week, so we don't cut off electricity or phone lines while we're tilling. I'm sure our AUMC office staff will be pleased with our efforts.
• Ben and David have been in contact with Al Shave who is generously allowing us to use his front-end loader to move dirt.

Here's what’s next:
• Cash donations for the garden are coming in nicely (many thanks to all who have given!), but we're still a ways off from the slab and shed we need to house all these new supplies.
• WORK DAY! Once we get confirmation that our supplies are arriving, we'll send word about a work day (possibly for this weekend.) Kern and I will be doing prep-work this week, starting this afternoon. Jack and the Boy Scouts are camping on the land this weekend, and will be able to continue with the prep work. Once we schedule the workday, we'll need all hands on deck. So once you hear the call, please grab your teenagers, your neighbors, and your work gloves and be ready to go.

Here's what we need:
• Newspapers and cardboard for lining the bottom of new beds
• Vegetable and fruit scraps for compost
• Prayers for HOA meeting and new shed
• Donations for shed and other common areas
• Laborers for work days

Thank you all for your hands and your hearts as we work together to create this garden. Please continue to pray—God is moving and it's so much fun to be a part of the journey!

Cheers,
Britta Coleman

Garden Party This Sunday at 2:00 AUMC

Hello Gardeners!

Please join us for our first Alliance Community Garden Party this Sunday, January 22, at 2:00 in the Family Life Center at AUMC. This will a time of celebration and planning as we take the second-step in our journey with the community garden. If you like to garden, to pray, to build things, to create artwork, to plant seeds, or just like to eat--we want you! We'll share ideas, discuss design, and pray for the future of the garden. This will be your opportunity to reserve a bed for spring planting. We will have Katey Rudd, a Tarrant County Garden Coordinator, on hand for expert advice. We'll also have a taste of the garden!

Hope to see you there!

Cauliflower as Big as Your Head

The Alliance Community Garden has continued to produce delicious vegetables, in spite of it being January. We recently harvested cauliflower and broccoli, and were able to offer it as an altar arrangement for Sunday Services. What a joy to share! The Archibalds and the Fitzpatricks each took home samples, and report that AUMC vegetables are awesome. (That's an official term, folks.)

We've set a Garden Party for January 22, at 2:00 p.m. in the Family Life Center of AUMC. Whether you like to garden, pray, build things, create artwork, or just like to eat--we'd love to have you join us and share your ideas. This will be a time to pray, brainstorm, and celebrate what God is doing in the garden.



We've spoken with the Keller Storehouse and we're setting up plans to donate a portion of our future harvest. So, the efforts of our gardening will be a blessing throughout our community and will help feed families and children in need, right here in our area. Who's excited?!

Happy Plants and Happy News

This Sunday, Pastor Jim announced the joyful news of our garden in all three services at church, and several folks expressed interest in building beds and helping in various areas.

Viv has signed on to be our treasurer, and Kim will be our note taker. Colleen and Russell are pioneering a winter bed, and we have plans to build a compost bed with some donated pallets from our sister garden in Arlington. Thanks, Willie!

You can check here for the latest news, and I'll start putting information in the church newsletter and weekly bulletins. We'll also reach out to our neighborhood association and nearby communities to make this a true community garden.

Also, we have happy news from the TAFB Garden Coordinator, that Tarrant County Public Health is interested in funding a portion of our project. So, please add that to your prayers, that the funding would go through and that we'd see continued support and leadership throughout the process.


Yesterday, I walked our dogs up to church to water the garden. I was able to water the plants with our new, ginormous hoses, and the dogs enjoyed playing in the sunshine. I even saw a dragonfly enjoying our marigolds! I tried to catch a picture, but the dragonfly sort of blends. I promise, he's there.





Also, this week's happy plant award goes to Cauliflower. Doesn't it look pleased to be part of our new garden? (The plant isn't actually upside down, that's just more of my spectacular photography skills.)

The Test Bed is Born!

Today we built the first test bed for the Alliance Community Garden. We met at the church at 8:15 a.m. and had the planter built, full of soil, planted and seeded by 12:00 p.m. Way to go, teamwork!



For supplies, we used:

*52 cinder blocks from Home Depot
*3 yards of premium soil from Silver Creek
*5 bags of concrete-grade sand from Home Depot
*2 bags of mulch from Home Depot


We built the beds in a rectangular formation (4 blocks wide, 9 blocks long, 2 blocks high), lined the bottom with newspaper (free--the Colemans are proud Star-Telegram subscribers) and added a layer of sand to help thwart the weeds. We had additional bags of sand available in case we needed help for leveling the first row of blocks. Thankfully, the patch of land we picked was fairly level, so our sand use was minimal.

For plants, we brought several starters we had planted at home and transplanted them into our new garden. Though we're a bit late in the season to start, we wanted to see how far we could go with radishes, beans, okra, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, and spinach. To help ward off unhelpful bugs, we planted a row of marigolds to surround the bed. For fun, Dan added a few sunflower seeds to the very edges: that boy has grown sunflowers since he was itty bitty.

For irrigation, we attached two super-hoses to our existing waterline, and have plans to build a water-saving rain barrel soon.



Many thanks to David and Beth Fitzpatrick (and helpful pooch Romo), Kern and Dan Coleman. We hope this test bed will be "a sign unto us" and an encouragement to those who would like to join us for spring planting. We'll have details on how you can reserve your spot in the garden soon.

And for those attending the AUMC Lord's Acre Festival on October 29th (you're all invited!), we'll have special opportunities for future gardeners.

Again, if you'd like to participate in the garden, please let me know!

Cheers and Blessings,
Britta