Gardeners In Community Development

Ever Growing
Summer 2008
Gardeners In Community Development 901 Greenbriar Lane Richardson, TX 75080 www.gardendallas.org

Dallas Area Community Gardening

Dallas Area Community Gardening

Our Saviour Participates in Cinco de Mayo Parade

On May 3, gardeners, GICD supporters, members of Our Saviour Episcopal Church, special guest Mike Everett mile parade route. The group tossed flower decorated carnival beads and seed packets which included information about GICD, Heifer International, ACGA, Church of Our Saviour, and Our Saviours Plot Against Hunger garden to the excited by-standers. Our Saviours float won 2nd place with their entry theme "growing community through community gardening." Special thanks go to Amanda Brown and members of Our Saviour Episcopal Church for putting together such a colorful display and for reaching out to the community.
Cinco de Mayo float

In this issue:
P. 1 P. 1 P. 2 P. 2 P. 2 P. 3 P. 3 P. 3 P. 3 P. 3 P. 3 P. 4 P. 5 P. 5 P. 5 P. 5 P. 6 P. 6 O.S. Parade 20th Anniversary Plant Sales East Dallas Market Support GICD Our Saviour Blessing Reduce Carbon Footprint GICD Featured in Book A Bountiful Harvest Harvest Donation Carbon Footprint Reduced Garden Gleanings Water Wise Tour Pioneer Gardener ED featured on KERA-FM Interested in volunteering Papayas in Dallas? Dont Forget

from Heifer International, and even a dog, horse, and pet goat took part in the annual Southeast Dallas Chamber of Commerce Cinco de Mayo parade. Dressed as farmers, some participants rode in a colorfully decorated float and others pushed wheelbarrows along the 2.3

Asian Gardens 20th Anniversary

GICD WISH LIST:
garden benches garden tool shed new lap top computer wheelbarrows gardening tools canning jars Mantis tiller Kubota tractor with loader and tiller friends with trucks volunteers

Celebration Sept. 6
Plans are currently underway for the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the East Dallas Community Garden to be held on Sept. 6 from 10:00-3:00 at the garden. Tentative plans include entertainment, speakers and food. Join GICD as we celebrate two decades of great gardening and other contributions to the Dallas region. Conceived as a project to assist refugees from Cambodia and Laos, this garden flourishes as a much appreciated haven for new immigrants, visitors from around the world, and long time Dallas residents. This is a Dallas treasure. An exhibit of the East Dallas Garden and refugee experiences will be on display during August at the Casa View
Former Mayor Annette Straus at opening ceremony in 1988

Branch Library, 10355 Ferguson Road, Dallas 75228.

Mission: improving the quality of life in neighborhoods through community gardening

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Summer 2008 www.gardendallas.org

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Plant Sales Draw GICD Supporters

Beautiful weather and the opportunity to buy flowers, herbs, and vegetables drew many GICD supporters and area gardeners to the April fundraising plant sales at the East Dallas and Our Saviour Community Gardens. Many thanks go to the volunteers who helped grow plants and work the sale, and to area businesses and nurseries who generously donate plants and supplies. When you visit these businesses, please take time to personally thank them for supporting GICD.
Plant Sale at East Dallas Garden

Plant Sale Business Supporters

Y-C Nurseries, Inc Bruce Miller Nursery Casa Flora, Inc. Vickery Wholesale Greenhouse Green Lake Nursery Ruibals A very special thanks goes to Barbara Heuerman, Don Lamberts sister, who has come down from Seattle for several years to help with the sale and who is a fantastic raffle ticket salesperson. It is volunteers like Barbara, who are willing to take working vacations and give of their time and talents, that makes GICD and community gardening so special. Rohdes Nursery and Nature Store Jimmys Food Store NorthHaven Gardens Calloways Waltons Nursery Aggie Feed Store Brothers Tree Service

Left to right: Barbara Baughman, Tiah Lambert, Barbara Heuerman

How To Support
Fresh From the East Dallas Community Gardens Market
For the freshest, most locally grown produce available in Dallas, come to the East Dallas Community and Market Garden, 1416 N. Fitzhugh. Now that the weather is hot, hot, hot, look for all those specialty tropical Asian crops such as bitter melon, water spinach, Asian eggplant, long beans, taro stem, etc. For those of us wondering how to cook with some of these vegetables, check out archived issues of Growing People News on GICDs website for recipes.
Bitter Melon

Community Gardening Painlessly

As with many non-profit organizations, our nations economic situation is taking its toll. With the price of gasoline, seeds, supplies, postage, etc. increasing dramatically, just going from garden to garden and conducting GICDs everyday activities has put a considerable dent in GICDs yearly budget. Executive Director, Don Lambert, has been an excellent steward of GICDs money; and GICD has been given an award from Heifer International for Accountability. Still, we need your help!! So here are some suggestions for painless ways to donate to GICD: 1) Use your grocery store reward cards, community partnership cards and numbers to donate money automatically to GICD. You can request an Albertsons and Kroger card from Don Lambert at (972) 231-3565. GICDs Tom Thumb number is 6714. 2) Use matching funds opportunities from your employer to match your donation or volunteer hours. 3) Buy Carbon Credits (see article on page 4) 4) Match our pounds of produce donated to the food pantries with a dollar amount (even a half penny per pound will do!!). Of course, cash donations of any amount are also most gratefully accepted.

Buy really local !! Produce that travels ZERO MILES to reach its market !!

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Summer 2008 www.gardendallas.org

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GICD Featured in Book on Community Gardening

GICD is one of several gardening programs featured in the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens All-Region Guides: Community Gardening by Ellen Kirby and Elizabeth Peters, eds. The following is a review of the book from www.amazon.com: Today, more and more people are thinking greenand theres no urban activity greener, in every sense of the word, than community gardening. This allregion guide, filled with hands-on tips, offers a snapshot of todays vibrant North American community gardening movement. Whether you are already a member of a community garden, want to get involved in one, or are just curious, this guide will inform and inspire you. Models include vegetable gardens, aesthetic and art gardens, childrens and youth gardens, and several others. Using real-life case studies from around North America, the expert contributors show how community gardening produces safe, eco-friendly food; brings neighbors together; offers valuable lessons for children; and gives each participant the personal satisfaction that comes with cultivating the land and making things grow. Like all Brooklyn Botanic Garden handbooks, this entry features sustainable and organic gardening practices. The book can be ordered on line from Amazon or perhaps found at your neighborhood book store. Give a copy to all your gardening friends. At $10.00, it is the perfect stocking stuffer to help spread the word about community gardening.

Our Saviour Garden Blessing

On May 4, Rev. Canon (Bishop-Elect) Paul Lambert of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas and Rev. Wylie Miller officiated at the blessing of Our Saviours two gardens, Plot Against Hunger and Just Greens. Special guests who gave readings during the service included Don Lambert, Executive Director of GICD, and Mike Everett, SW Regional Director of Heifer International. After the liturgy
Rev. Canon Paul Lambert

and sermon in the church, the congregation and guests walked to the pavilion to conduct the mass and garden blessing. Canon Lambert was very supportive of

the garden, the churchs mission, and its ability to give back to the community. As a show of support, he has already reserved a plot in his name. Following the ceremony, the congregation and guests had a wonderful potluck lunch served by the women of the church.

Want to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint?

Are you concerned about your carbon footprint and have you thought about purchasing a carbon offset? If so, your volunteer and/or financial support of GICD meets that requirement. GICD has calculated that in the East Dallas Garden alone over 27 tons of carbon is sequestered in the form of mulch and compost in the garden. Since all GICD projects use environmentally friendly practices (mulching/composting/ growing appropriate plants/planting trees/ use of organics/growing locally/etc), supporting community gardening is a perfect way to reduce your carbon footprint.

2008 HARVEST DONATION

A Bountiful Harvest
Our Saviour Garden in DMN
Were a little-bitty church but doing a pretty good ministry said Our Saviour Community Gardens coordinator, Rebecca Smith, in a front page article written by Sam Hodges about the garden in the June 25, 2008, edition of the Dallas Morning News. The article recounts how the garden has revitalized the small church, reached out to the community, and has donated over 18,000 pounds of produce to the food pantries since beginning in 2003. For a copy of the newsletter article plus a a letter to the editor about the article, go to GICDs website, www.gardendallas.org and click on GICD in the News.

2165 Pounds
donated to area food pantries from January-June

Ever Growing Gardeners In Community Development

Summer 2008 www.gardendallas.org

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Garden Gleanings:
Talking Harvest Time Blues***
Well, it starts with a catalogue that comes in the mail in the middle of the winter... And there on the cover sits THE juicy, red, ripe homegrown tomato youve had dancing in your head. Never mind you said last August that youd had it up to here with the hoeing and the weeding-thats what you say every year! Then its on to peas and carrots, lima beans and beets and kale. And youve never tried kohlrabisay the lettuce is on sale! Well, the days turn to weeks and the next thing you know theres a robin at the feeder and the last patch of snow disappears bout the time that a UPS truck backs up to your house and you stand there, awestruck as 47 Perishable-Plant Right Away- marked boxes are unloaded on your porch as you say, Are you sure? Yes, maam, need your signature here Looks like someones gonnna have em quite a garden this year! Well, you watch him drive away, then you sink to your knees cause you feel a little woozy: 47 boxesPlease! God I knows Ive got a problem and weve had this talk before, but help me this one last time I wont order anymore! .some months later after unexpected freezes/etc ..and even when the rabbits take your lettuce and a fungus coats your kale cause its rained for two weeks solid do you falter? Do you fail?

Yep!!
You throw the hoe down, stamp your feet and call it quits Declare to all the neighborhood that gardening is the pits and youll never plant another and this one can bloody rot, then suddenly the sun breaks through the clouds and, like as not, you see a couple of weeds you must have missed the last go-round and shake your head and meekly pick your hoe up off the ground; and hoe and keep on hoeing till your romas dangle red, ripe and juicy on the vine, sweet corn towers overhead. Beans hang from their trellis, big orange pumpkins sprawl about and you get that satisfying feeling once more when you shout:

Harvest time (Break out the canning jars!) Harvest time (Man the pressure cooker!) Harvest time (you have to take zucchini were related!)

Harvest time (Now THIS is a tomato!!)

*** abridged from lyrics by Stephanie Davis, www.stephaniedavis.net

Ever Growing Gardeners In Community Development

Summer 2008 www.gardendallas.org

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Hope Garden Participates in Water Wise Tour

For the third year, Hope Community Garden participated as a demonstration garden in the annual Water Wise Tour sponsored by the Dallas Water Utilities. Over 38 visitors viewed the front native and adapted plant xeriscaped flower bed, were envious of our fresh vegetables, and learned about community gardening and our harvest donations to the food pantries. Kudos go to the gardeners and GICD volunteers who braved the heat and little shade to show off the garden to the public; to Dana McGuire who took pictures of the gardeners, mounted them on cut out vegetable shapes and posted them throughout the garden; to Hope Garden Coordinator Nancy Wilson who painted the large Hope Gothic sign; and to Linda Seidel, Hope Gardener and Dallas County Master Gardener intern, who was the coordinator for this years tour.
Don and Tiah Lambert, Hope Gothic gardeners

Pioneer Gardener Remembered

Our Saviours beloved church and garden member, Jack Boedeker, departed this life and was memorialized at a service at the church in late April. A longtime church member and one of the founders of Our Saviours garden, Jack, in spite of disabilities from polio, tirelessly worked to see that the garden ministry became a reality. Known for his love of family, the church, the Boy Scouts of America, gardening, computers, and his friends, he was passionate
Jack Boedeker

about everything he believed in and loved. Jacks final project was to help design a handicapped accessible garden at Our Saviour. It will cost about $10,000.00 to complete this project. If you would like to help make Jacks vision a reality, please send a donation in Jacks memory to GICD.
Gardeners in Community Development A 501 c (3) Non-Profit Organization Board of Directors Cathi Haug, President

Support Community Gardens

East Dallas Garden Featured on KERA-FMs Morning Edition

The East Dallas Community Garden and its upcoming 20th anniversary were featured in the North Texas segment of KERAs Morning Edition. Producer Rachael Dunlap interviewed several of the gardeners including
Savorn Touch

Amanda Brown, Vice-President Carolyn Bush, Secretary Nancy Wilson Helen Harrell Azenath Wright Gerald Askew Paul Thai Don Lambert, Executive Director Rebecca Smith, Education Assistant Support Community Gardening Your tax-deductible donation will support GICDs community gardening programs. Any and all donations are gratefully accepted!! Please make your check payable to: GICD and send to 901 Greenbriar Lane, Richardson, TX 75080

Savorn Touch and Nuon Chun with translation by Lt. Paul Thai. They talked about fleeing from Cambodia and the importance of the garden in maintaining their heritage, culture, and providing supplemental income. To read a copy of the radio transcript go to GICDs website, www.gardendallas.org and click on GICD in the News.

Interested in volunteering?
East Dallas Community Garden: contact Don at (972) 231-3565 or grower@flash.net Hope Community Garden: contact Nancy at (214) 348-1126 or nhw-home@swbell.net Our Saviour Community Garden: contact Rebecca at ( 214) 564-5801 or jim.becky@sbcglobal.net

Ever Growing Gardeners In Community Development

Summer 2008 www.gardendallas.org

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Papayas in Dallas?
Though normally considered a tropical fruit needing a very long growing season to ripen, it is possible to grow papayas here in North Texas and even eat them. Three years ago, Hope gardeners (and bee experts) Susan and Brandon Pollard found a papaya seed sprouting in their compost pile. On a whim, they planted it in their plot at Hope Community Garden.
Green papayas at Hope Community Garden

them to ripen, but an internet search showed that green papaya salad is a favorite dish in Thailand. So, if you want to grow an unusual plant and eat its fruit, you might try:

Dont Forget: 20th Anniversary Celebration

at the East Dallas Community Garden

Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad)

Ingredients:
2 cups green papaya, grated 1 cup green cabbage, cubed 1/2 pound string beans, julienned 3 garlic cloves, minced 3 dried red chilies, chopped 1 Tablespoon sugar 3 Tablespoons soy sauce 3 Tablespoons lime juice 3 small tomatoes, cut into wedges 5 Tablespoons peanuts, roasted and crushed 4 Tablespoons cilantro leaves, chopped Preparation: On a large serving platter arrange in layers the cabbage, papaya, and beans. In a small bowl, mix together the garlic, chilies, sugar, soy sauce, lime juice. Just before serving,

Sept. 6 10:00-3:00
pour the dressing over the salad and garnish with the tomatoes, peanuts, and cilantro. Yield: 4 servings Recipe Source: Delightful Thai Cooking by Eng Tie Ang (Ambrosia Publications)

To everyones surprise, it grew into a beautiful six foot very tropical looking tree that actually produced papayas along the stem. Unfortunately, our growing season was not long enough for

Papaya plants recently seen for sale at Jimmys Food Store on Bryan!!

Gardeners In Community Development 901 Greenbriar Lane Richardson, TX 75080

Ever Growing

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