Our garden season includes every month of the year, but our peak season runs from spring to fall. This 2023 season was an amazing example of what hard work, team spirit, and trying new skills can accomplish together.
At some point during our garden season, every participant and staff member had the opportunity to be in the greenhouse or tending a garden box. Whether we were assisting each other with tilling weeds, planting a seed to create the seedlings, or watering the plants for nourishment during our hot summer months – we did it successfully together! Some of our favorite moments from the garden season were watching the big blooms from our floral plantings. Sunflowers took off in our boxes, bending toward the light and reminding us of God’s sunshine. We enjoyed the floral arrangements in our classrooms, showing us that all things have a beautiful season. The vegetables and herbs also grew steadily each month and even provided us with a sampling of pesto that we could make in-house.
Our garden could not have grown in all its beauty and bounty without the generosity of our garden expert Sheri, owner of Kentucky 1871 Flowers. She is not only our favorite green thumb but also Cole’s mom! Her eye for our unique gardening processes and her grace as we learn more each month are keys to our gardening success. And she doesn’t stop offering her help leading into the dormant season. Check out her tips for October/fall planting in our NC Piedmont region at the bottom of our post!
Another key element to our garden’s success was our support from Hudson’s Hardware. This local company supplied our garden with soil, plants, and other necessary supplies to help us achieve our goals. Stone Gulley, a Hudson’s manager and one of our Garner Rotary friends, even stopped by our greenhouse one day to check out what was growing.
The close of our peak season brought our biggest surprise of the garden’s year – three new boxes have now been added to the greenhouse, built by our own volunteer Ray. These beautiful boxes will enable us all to till, weed, plant, and harvest with an accessible height and less strain bending down.
Thank you Sheri, Stone, Hudson’s Hardware, Ray, and all of our financial supporters who keep our garden flourishing in 2023. You were truly a part of something beautiful this year!
