Rotary Community Garden and Food Forest of Coral Springs

It’s hot, it’s rainy, and the weeds grow – well, like weeds! Gardeners spend less time tending their plants during the summer, so what can you do to suppress the weeds? You can plant summer vegetables, cover crops or cover you garden bed with cardboard and mulch. Click on the link below to view some helpful videos explaining the benefits of each.

People are attracted to gardens by their beautifully colored flowers, lush green plants, and the delightful sightings of birds, bees and butterflies. Taking a walk through the garden helps to ease stress and grounds us to what is real. It also inspires people! Evidence of this is hanging outside our fence. Volunteers attended a morning session of art in the garden, painting and illustrating their favorite garden quotes to display for visitors. Here they are!

Composting is so easy, and so beneficial, that compost is called “black gold!” It’s a treasure for any gardener who is focused on organics and sustainability. Let’s look at some of the reasons composting matters.

1 – it keeps vegetable matter out of landfills and cuts down on methane – a greenhouse gas. Food scraps account for about 22% of landfills.

2 – it improves garden soil structure that allows air and water to move through it.

3 – adds microorganisms and good bacteria that are good for plants, kind of like probiotics are for humans.

4 – compost eliminates the need for expensive fertilizers and includes micronutrients that aren’t available in most fertilizers

5 – healthy organic soil creates healthy plants that are full of nutrition and flavor that benefit the people and animals that consume them.

To learn how to compost and all of its benefits, open the following document which you can choose to download and save.

When the garden was formed, the founding members determined to do something to give back to the community. As a result, the donation beds were created. They are located on your left upon entering the garden. A team of volunteers, led by Satya, do the planting, weeding and harvesting. They grow magnificent vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and beans which are donated to the Food Bank when mature.

Harvesting began in December and so far this season 159 pounds of fresh vegetables have been donated through the efforts of our wonderful volunteers!

On November 22nd the Community Garden held a Florida Wreath Workshop for members and friends. The facilitator was Sheila Gutierrez who very thoughtfully demonstrated the creative uses of Florida vines and plants for making beautiful holiday wreaths. Participants learned to craft beautiful, one-of-a-kind wreaths from start to finish. Sheila showed everyone how to use pliable Florida vines to create the wreath base, then adorn it with a variety of natural elements like pinecones, Spanish moss, and dried seed pods. It was a great opportunity to learn a new skill, connect with local flora, and take home a unique piece of decor for your home. While all the materials were provided, the gardeners only needed to bring one thing – their imagination! Participants were smiling and laughing as they shared their final product

The gorgeous weather on November 1st drew our volunteers to the garden! Everyone was engaged in weeding, watering, mulching and building while the butterflies and bees were also “working the flowers.” After a hot and rainy summer, our gardeners enjoyed the sunshine and mild weather as they prepared for another successful gardening season. Canned goods were collected to donate to the Royal Palm Christian Church Food Bank as well. We raffled gifts after sharing food and stories to make the work day complete. Thank you to all those who came out! The garden looks beautiful!

If you search for herbal teas on the internet, you find that this beneficial flower is available from commercial tea companies and has also been included as an ingredient in herbal tea blends. You may wonder why this little flower is taking the tea world and gardening world by storm! People are exploring butterfly pea flower tea for its potential to support focus, digestion, and stress relief—without relying on synthetic supplements. Butterfly Pea flower It is packed with antioxidants and is safe to drink either hot or cold. It can also be enjoyed blended with other herbal teas. It’s fun to explore it’s color changing properties. Add a squeeze of lemon and the blue tea turns purple! So easy to grow and if you walk through the garden you will see the vines growing in gardeners’ boxes.

Florida weather is not kind to anything that is outside all year – especially anything made of wood! Like our garden boxes. The heat and rain wears down the wood until it is breaking down. Well, thanks to the efforts of a few, those broken boxes have been rebuilt. Braving the heat and humidity, and using a lot of muscle, these awesome volunteers rebuilt 10 boxes! Our thanks go out to them for their hard work.

What a story! One of the gardeners at our community garden was introduced to the power of micro greens this past year. As a chef, Brianne Olivera recognized the value of these nutritional powerhouses and how they could be incorporated into our meals. This sparked an idea in her head and now she has developed her idea into a business! That is how Roots and Shoots was born. She uses a grow to order model-a customer orders what they want and Brie grows it and the delivers to their door. So easy! Researchers are discovering more about the power of Microgreens every day and including them in your diet is extremely beneficial to your health. Click on the link below to order your micro greens from Brianne.

Rootsandshoots.farm

If you would like to learn more about micro greens, visit Microgreens World on the internet.