FALLING UP

Happy Fall, Y’all.

Apart from pulling out sweaters and jackets for Autumn (aka Fall), here’s what we’ve been up to since the last newsletter.

On Solid Ground

Urban Fresh Gardens was featured in a mini-documentary filmed by Solid Ground, part of the University of Connecticut’s College of Agriculture (https://newfarms.uconn.e du/solidground/). Solid Ground’s focus is on new farmers and farms. We’ll share the link to the video as soon as we have it. [By the way, Greg wants you to know that he’s lost a few pounds since the filming 😄].

Pizza Day

The mentees spent a busy Pizza Day on Sunday, September 17th at Walnut Hill Community Church (Waterbury Campus). They set up tables and chairs on the lawn for the event and attended Sunday service. During service, some helped manage the audio-visual equipment. Afterward, they returned to the lawn to watch some of the leaders flip pizza dough, spread sauce, and add toppings. The best part of the day was probably getting to eat freshly made pizza!

Towards the end of the event, the group (with intermittent help from 3 parents who attended) sanitized garbage bins and packed away lawn furniture and grills.

Kale and Collards

The average growing season where we live ends in October, but that doesn’t mean we have to be ‘regular’. We’d like to plant year-round. Or close to it. To meet this goal, we’re planting cold-weather crops and overwintering.

Did you know that you can grow spinach and pak choi (aka bok choi/Chinese cabbage ) in the winter? How about kale and collard greens? Yep, those are cold hardy too.

Overwintering is “…the process of protecting a plant over the winter season.” (https://hortnews.extension.iastate.edu/how-overwinter-plants)

Overwintering is a way to protect crops during winter. How are we overwintering? We plan to double-cover and install heat in the greenhouses. What are the benefits of overwintering? We can provide access to locally-grown food and vegetables and do so when some foods are scarce.

A Lifegiving Verse

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8 (ESV)

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See you next month, God willing.