Get 'yer volunteer hours and help raise money for CGC!

Hello CGC Gardeners!

We are in need of your help to raise funds for the garden, and each of you have volunteer hours to complete - PERFECT! 

Here is how you can help:

Dig and pot plants - 

this weekend (Sat 5/3, Sunday 5/4), 

next weekend (Saturday 5/10 and Sunday 5/11) 

And the final two days for the plant sale transport, prepare and sell plants! 

Friday 5/16 and the day of the sale Saturday 5/17!

We are in need of volunteers to dig perennials up in gardens (donated by local residents) and pot them in preparation for the South Portland Land Trust Plant Sale! The sale is on May 17th so it's going to be tight with this late spring!

Please contact Crystal Goodrich if you have an hour or two to help!

207-671-6393 you can also text. 

Or email crystalgoodrich@gmail.com

We have a lot of plants to dig and pot and we need help!

You can call early or late or anytime during the day and she will let you know where to go and what you can do to help! 

It's easy - just call and I'll let you know where to go: to either Helen Slocum's house at 12 Smith Street (just off of Preble Street) where the potting takes place or to one of the yards where the digging is taking place. 

Please bring your own gardening gloves and a shovel if you have one!

The Annual South Portland Land Trust Plant Sale is the biggest fundraiser for the Land Trust every year. It is powered entirely by volunteers (many of whom are on the CGC board) and since the Land Trust is our fiscal sponsor, we share the profits with them, half of the funds raised goes to the Land Trust and half goes to SPLT! 

This will keep the Hamlin School Garden in great condition and allow us to operate and create other gardens in other parts of the city in the future!

Please give us any time you have - the late spring has caused plants to come up much later so that means we have all of the plants at once! 

We will also need help on the Friday before the plant sale (Friday May 16) and the day of the plant sale (Saturday May 17). There are many tasks to perform. More details will be sent in a future email. Right now we need diggers and potters!

If you have plants of your own to donate please dig them and if you can pot them and bring them to Helen's house at 12 Smith Street. If you can't pot them at your home bring them to Helen's on the weekend and you can help pot them there!

If you have other questions you can call or text Crystal anytime: 671-6393.

Thanks for your help! And here's to a beautiful spring season in Maine!

Garbage to Garden, Curbside Pickup

Half of all municipal trash is compostable food products. If you want to have your food scraps taken away curbside click on the following link:

GARBAGE TO GARDEN LINK

Keep the SoPo Food Cupboard Full With Your Donations on 9/11

Hello Gardeners,

Does anybody have Community Garden surplus they'd like to donate in person or have us pick for them tomorrow evening between 4:30 and 6? We¹ve hit a lull in the harvest until reseeded crops kick in.

Just email Linda at lskinner@maine.rr.com with your bed number and what you would like to donate and we will harvest it for you!

We always can use more volunteers for Tuesday nights. Meet up with us tomorrow, 9/11 between 4:30 and 6 at the garden to help!

Thanks,

Linda

Updates and Harvest for Hunger Event Tonight! 8/14 from 4:30-6ish

Harvest for Hunger Tonight 8/14: Volunteers needed: 
The ongoing Harvest for Hunger will take place tonight: Tuesday, Aug. 14, from 4:30 till 6 or so. We’d love to see you there. We’d also be happy to harvest surplus veggies from your gardens — just say the word!

Thanks — and have a great week!

Linda (lskinner@maine.rr.com)
Rachel (ramasonb@yahoo.com)

An article in The Sentry about the CGC Harvest for Hunger, click below to read: 
http://sentry.mainelymediallc.com/news/2012-08-10/Community/Gardens_provide_for_those_in_need.html


More information about the University of Maine Cooperative Extension: Maine Harvest for Hunger program:
http://umaine.edu/harvest-for-hunger/


UM Cooperative Extension on Facebook: 
http://www.facebook.com/UniversityofMaineCooperativeExtension?ref=nf

For 2012 the Extension's goal is for 300,000 pounds of produce to be grown and donated to the Harvest for Hunger Program across the state!

Add to your calendar: Next week another Harvest for Hunger event: 8/21 from 4:30-6 ish

Update from Harvest for Hunger Collection on 8/7

Greetings Gardeners:

Well, those of us who were hoping for some rain got our wish! Wonder if the mushrooms in my garden are the edible kind?
Peas, spinach and lettuce look to be pretty well spent (good time to reseed for a second crop), but the kale and chard just keep producing — and the squashes have taken off (if only the squash beetles would!). Have you noticed the beautiful pumpkins? There’s a huge specimen in Ben’s garden (#33) and several in Jed’s (23). Do yourself a favor next time you’re in the garden and take a tour to see what’s happening in your neighbors’ plots. Flowers are blooming in several beds — everything from giant sunflowers to zinnias and glads.

This past Tuesday (8/7) we had a nice turnout for the Hunger Harvest — Thanks to Steve, Shay, Tammy, Paula and Luke! The Hunger beds are ready for some resowing, which accounts for a lower haul for the Food Cupboard last week. We delivered just 44.5 pounds. Still, that puts our 4-week total at 209 pounds! And the CGC got some media attention in the latest edition of the Sentry. There was a nice article on page 16 by Jack Flagler, who took a great shot of Tammy in her garden while he was onsite Tuesday evening, and a letter of thanks from Sybil, who heads the Cupboard. Our garden will also be mentioned in a feature on community gardens slated for an upcoming issue of the Current.

The ongoing Harvest for Hunger will take place this Tuesday, Aug. 14, from 4:30 till 6 or so. We’d love to see you there. We’d also be happy to harvest surplus veggies from your gardens — just say the word!

Thanks — and have a great week!

Linda (lskinner@maine.rr.com)
Rachel (ramasonb@yahoo.com)

Help Harvest for Hunger Program On Tuesday Evenings (We Do It Every Week)!

What's going on - A SUMMARY...

Harvest for Hunger - harvest and donation of veggies weekly - every Tuesday

The next date for this volunteer time is: Tuesday, July 31 from 4:30-6:30. Show up for any time you have available.
The time you donate for the Harvest for Hunger program counts toward your 6 hours of volunteer time you are required to give to the garden as part of your contract.

Volunteer Opportunity: Every Tuesday Night - Harvest for Hunger - for updates check here on Blogger, on our Facebook Group, with Linda Skinner at: lskinner@maine.rr.com or Rachel: ramasonb@yahoo.com.

What you do: Come to the CGC garden on Tuesdays between 4:30 to 6:30 to help harvest, clean and sort veggies from the garden beds for the Harvest for Hunger program. Get the food ready to be donated to the South Portland Food Cupboard. Maintenance of the three Harvest beds can also be part of your volunteer time.

For more information contact:
Linda (lskinner@maine.rr.com) or Rachel (ramasonb@yahoo.com)!

More information:

Post from Linda Skinner, CGC Board Member and Harvest for Hunger Coordinator

Hi CGC Gardeners:
Thanks so much to those who donated their much-appreciated labor, produce and coolers toward our second Harvest for Hunger. The bounty on Tuesday 7/24 was a nice mix of squash, cabbages, chard, kale, lettuce, beans, broccoli and herbs totaling 52 pounds. Rachel and I delivered the produce to the South Portland Food Cupboard the next morning — bringing CGC’s 2-week total donations to just shy of 100 pounds!
While we were there, Sybil, the head of the operation, gave us a quick introduction to the facility and procedures. It’s an impressive place, and run solely by energetic and dedicated volunteers. The cupboard currently provides food weekly to 80 families, whose eligibility is income-based. Most of the food they distribute is shelf-stable (nonperishable), along with donated perishables like bakery goods from Hannaford. Fresh vegetables are in very limited supply, since collecting discards from local stores is too difficult and labor-intensive. That’s where we come in.

Our washed, sorted and weighed produce is a most welcome addition to the pantry. Sybil and her crew divide the food into bins and refrigerate it until Thursday morning, when the pantry doors open for business.

After collecting their allotment of staples, clients are allowed to take what they want from the produce section — and the produce is consistently in demand. It’s very clear that the small part we play in supplying the cupboard does make a difference. And we’ll be doing it again next Tuesday evening 7/31 from  4:30 to 6:30 pm. Please show up for as much time as you can! 

Extra hands and surplus vegetables from your gardens are always welcome during our Tuesday sessions! Also, please remember that your Hunger Harvest efforts count toward your 6-hour yearly commitment to the Community Garden, so please shoot us off an e-mail whenever you attend so we can add that to your time; no matter how small the increments — it all adds up. 

Thanks again!
Linda (lskinner@maine.rr.com)
Rachel (ramasonb@yahoo.com)

SPLT Plant Sale / Bake Sale and EPIC Raffle!

When: Saturday, May 19th, 2012

Time: 8-9 open for members of SPLT, get your membership renewed or become a member at the door, open for the general public from 9-1!

Where: American Legion Hall in South Portland, 413 Broadway. 

Annuals, Veggies, Herbs, Hanging planters, Perennials, Perennials, Perennials!

Ample parking, great prices and the best volunteer staff service ever!

THIS YEAR HALF OF THE PROCEEDS RAISED FROM THE PLANT SALE WILL BE DONATED TO THE CGC GARDEN!

Come to the SPLT Plant Sale first and buy your veggies for your garden bed at the CGC garden!

We will have high quality herbs and vegetables at a reasonable price for you! Come on down and make us your first stop!

Make a new garden in your yard, add to your garden or redesign your garden, the SPLT Plant Sale makes it so affordable! Now is the time to add "CURB APPEAL".

Many perennials are low maintenance, when they are local they are hardy and provide years of enjoyment and we have a wide selection so you can choose plants for the soil conditions and amount of sunlight in your garden space!

We have very experienced gardeners on staff for the entire day, so now is the time to learn how to get plants in the ground and have success with a garden!

Please contact us with any questions - 

Crystal

CGC Secretary

communitygardencollective@gmail.com