New Garden Visitor

This Beautiful Hawk Has Been Visiting The LaSalle Square Unity Garden Everyday

Weekend In The Garden

It was just a few short years ago where a Saturday volunteer day at the LaSalle Square Unity Garden was a lonly affair for me. Most Saturday's one or no volunteers would show up in the garden. Well that sure has changed. On Saturday we had several volunteers in our main garden, we had our Jr. Master Gardeners Kids class, we had garden leaders stopping by to pick-up plants, and we had gardeners working in our new Garden to Market Educational Area. What a busy day. On Sunday I had several people stop by just to check in , Peace Bees came out to teach me some beekeeping tips, and we had Cyndi working in her plots. Oddly enough after I left Sunday Sylvia worked on her edible weed plot, Jim dropped off grass clippings, and we had a random bee box donation. Yes the Gardens are teaming with life....Summer is here.

Great Beginnings

Today was the Garden opening at The LaSalle Square Garden. For me its a day to reflect on where we have been, and to look forward to where we are going. in 2009 when we started the garden on this plot of land I never envisioned we would progress as fast as we have our as fast as we have. Its home to me all summer long planting everyday to feed our community. But it is much more than that. Its a place for people to gather, to grow relationships. This year I look forward to all the new projects . The partnership with Peace Bees, The Native Planting Area ,and The Garden to Market Educational Area. None of this could be done without the support of our volunteers , garden leaders, interns , and project leaders. The Peace Bees Group putting bee hives in that were built by Washington High School students, and cultivating future bee keepers. Myles and his vision for a Native Planting area that will serve as a research project for students at IU South Bend. A new fenced area where neighbors can have there own plots, and we can teach them about growing a garden. We have come so far and we are just getting started. Come watch us grow !

New Bee Hives

Come out to our Garden Opening this Saturday May 12th 11 am to 1pm at The LaSalle Square Unity Garden 3701 Prast Blvd. , See the cool Bee hive Created by these fine folks at Washington High

Carpenters

Mr. Dave Mette - Teacher
Montel Green
Kyle Plecner
Lavondale Reid
Jacob Strasser
Austin Thomas
Artists
Mrs. Sherry Sprouls - Teacher
Omar Alonso
Leo Galvez
Monica Moore
Diana Robles
Chailyn Thomas
Demetria Verse
Keegan Wesolek

This Week

May 12th from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., South Bend Unity Gardens, Inc. will have its Grand Opening for the 2012 season. Held at the LaSalle Square Unity Garden, located at 3701 Prast Blvd., South Bend, the event marks the beginning of the growing season and the abundance of food that will be available for our respective communities throughout the summer and fall.
Mayor Pete will be cutting the ribbon for the new educational area at noon to kick off the 2012 Gardening Season. The new educational area includes Peace Bees Hives, a Native planting area, Garden-to-Market Plots, a composting teaching area, and more. The Junior Master Gardeners Tree planting will take place at 11:30 a.m. There will be activities for the kids and light refreshments will be provided.
Also on Saturday, the Annual St Joe Valley Master Gardeners Plant Sale at Kate's Garden will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and a variety of perennials will be available for purchase. Master Gardeners have donated their best perennials so you will be sure to go home with some great plants for your garden! Kate's Garden is located at 1122 Lincolnway West in Mishawaka.

Growing Summit

Lions Club Gives Away 300 Trees at
Growing Summit

Phil Sutton handing out advice

First Growing Summit: A Huge Success!!!!
by  Doug Simpson, St Joe Valley Master Gardener
Where else could you experience 23 one-hour long classes taught by 25 different instructors all about one broad subject matter - GARDENING --- and, all in one day between 9am and 3pm, Perhaps most amazing, it was open to all interested gardeners free of charge.
Well, it all happened at IUSB on Saturday, April 21, 2012. The fi rst Growing Summit was truly a highly successful experience for more than 150 attendees. In addition to the classes there were more than 20 vendor stations relating to various aspects of gardening. They displayed a wide selection of timely subjects from Prairie Wind Farms to Green Drinks to Soil Boosters by the Fish Guys and much more. It appeared that most of the vendors, if not all, were in a happy mood when they left. As for the folks who attended this fi rst Growing Summit, it can be said that as a group they were excited, serious and eager to learn more about the subject of gardening. Many of them came with questions to be answered, and new ideas to be discovered as they eagerly anticipate the 2012 growing season. Incidentally, we were pleased to greet several members from the Michiana MG group from Elkhart County. Three SJVMG members presented over 10 of the 23 classes. Mitch Yaciw set the record that will be hard to beat. He taught four classes, each with a different subject relating to vegetable gardening. Vicky Rydzynski taught her popular class on Rain Barrels, and then led a new exciting offering of hers’ entitled Water Conservation. Monica Guillauds’ class was about Herb Gardens. The St. Joe County MG Class of 2010 was well represented: Besides Mitch and Monica, Sue Lowe taught a class on Native Plants, and Cara and Jim Lupa led two classes on Container Gardens, a subject that they have excelled in. And not to be left out, three members of the St. Joe County MG class of 2011 signed up to teach two more of the 23 classes. Dave and Carole Coffman taught a class on Shade Gardening, and Cyndi Kingma’s topic was Edible Flowers. Finally, in typical fashion, Sara and Mitch were already planning improvements and taking notes for a second in a series of Growing Summits in 2013. Our hats are off to the both of them for bringing this extremely well planned and executed event to our area gardeners.

IUSB Sustainabilty Award

The IUSB Center for a Sustainable Future has chosen to honor Sara Stewart and Unity Gardens with this year’s Organization of the Year award.

The award, one of four given annually by the center, recognizes individuals, groups and businesses that make significant contributions to a more sustainable future in Michiana.

Unity’s focus on local food production, all within a framework of strengthening and empowering communities and their leaders, has grown in its fifth season to include dozens of gardens. Unity Gardens connects people to healthy food, and each other.

But Unity’s emphasis on educating both children and adults helps to promote a sustainable future through changing lifestyles, by improving community health and fostering a love of growing and connection with nature.

Among the latest Unity projects is a native planting area at the flagship LaSalle Square garden on South Bend’s west side. The introduction of the plants, education about their role in the ecosystem and the introduction of bees to improve pollination go beyond the backyard tomato.

Countless volunteers, donors, agency partners and officials have helped to further Unity’s success. Sara’s thank-you remarks at the awards ceremony graciously expressed the true vision of Unity when she stressed that really, all we can ever hope to grow is each other.

Other award winners included Myles Robertson, IUSB student extraordinaire who won the student award; Carl de Bruyn, assistant director of facilities, for campus staff contributions; and Charlotte Wolfe, who was recognized with the Community Individual Sustainability Award for her sustainable farming and native landscape restoration at Prairie Wind Farms, her home north of Lakeville.

For more information about the center and the awards, visit https://www.iusb.edu/csfuture/index.php

To learn more about Unity and find ways to connect or donate, visit http://theunitygardens.blogspot.com/