Oh yes, a new year, hopefully more fun and productive for all of us than 2020! This also begins a new season at The People’s Garden. We will be ready to start seeds this month and begin planting in the garden beds in March. Michelle, Greg and I have been planning and organizing, sorting seeds, maintenance in the Learning Center, gathering supplies and other jobs that can be done indoors. We have coffee makers, snacks, and heat in the building if you want to come by and check it out.
We will be taking a trip to Plain City to look at a new small barn for the brand new mowers that were bought by Legion Baseball. We have a small tool shed but need bigger storage for the mowers. Be on the lookout for information about a fund-raiser for this! This garden provides hundreds of pounds of produce for the Agape food pantry so it is a very good place to support with your generous donations.
We have arranged for two new volunteers to begin work starting seeds this month, and one of them is planning a herb garden. We have had more people messaging us about how they can help at the garden and if you message us, we can give you the fifty-cent tour! There will be others, friends and organizations that will help start tomato, pepper and other plants for us. Nursing homes, S&H products, friends and relatives have helped in the past. If you are interested and maybe skilled or even a beginner at gardening, contact us for how you can help. We honestly have a job for everyone. We have a Facebook page so “like” and “follow” us for updates, pictures, and messages or announcements.
Each year we see more interest in volunteering and renting the 4-foot by 8-foot raised bed garden plots. The garden has been blessed since the beginning in 2013 with donations of all kinds, from tools, soil, plants, seeds, etc., and now two brand new mowers, desperately needed. We do not waste anything that we receive, even if we didn’t plan on getting 100 tomato plants! We are very resourceful in using donations. Almost everything we have ever needed has been by donation. We wait for God’s timing and expect that we will be able to find or receive items and help from volunteers just when we really need it. Then we always make use of whatever we receive. We give extra plants that we can’t fit in the garden beds to pantry shoppers to take home, so it all gets used. We keep extra tools and gloves for the gardeners to use. We have even received soil from farmers and leaf mulch from the city of Sidney and chicken wire for fencing from the Soil and Water Conservation Office.
We have been looking for an outdoor sink for washing vegetables and hands. We found one but it is in Illinois. This was a little too far to go so we continued to look in this area. It didn’t take long because it is something that we really need. Greg saw our announcement on Facebook and since he travels to Illinois, and goes by this place on his way to visit his parents, he offered to pick it up for us. So you see, things don’t happen just by accident around here. God has a plan for this garden and it is for the good of the community and to provide a way for people to work together for the good of all. There is nothing like the feeling of helping others when they need a helping hand.
