Well folks those sunny days of summer with flowers blooming and veggies growing faster than we could harvest them are over, at least for this season. 2008 has been a FANTASTIC year at the McMinnville Community Garden. I contribute our success to a great bunch of dedicated gardeners and lots of donations and hands on volunteering from many wonderful people and organizations in our community. The Salvation Army Food Pantry has benefited from nearly 3,000 pounds of fresh produce from the Community Garden plus lots of additional donations were very generously provided from personal gardens throughout the county. Helping the hungry grow healthy is certainly what we all accomplished this year. On the top of my thankful list this Thanksgiving shall be: I am very thankful for each and every person and organization who has helped the hungry grow healthy through the McMinnville Community Garden at The Salvation Army!!

Our summer crops may be over for the season, however, the winter crops are in, have been covered with horticulture fleece to keep them warm, and we expect to have some fresh veggies ready for harvest by January or February 2009. The crops include; autumn Romaine lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and kale. Thankfully winter gardening is a lot less labor intense so the time we save is spent on planning for next year. I sincerely hope that we continue our success next year and that we can encourage more communities to start community gardens.

Blessings to everyone this holiday season ,

Garden Angel (aka Bev)