It's been another busy weekend with The Growing Project!

Our gardens are producing abundantly--volunteers pluck huge zucchinis off the vine, cabbages ripen into doll-like fullness (I can't help think of my cabbage patch kid, circa 1982), and snap peas get popped right into mouths for instant enjoyment.  What a summer this is turning into!

Last year, TGP took on a few gardens throughout the city.  This year, we have more than doubled our gardens and the interest in starting a garden with TGP has swelled to the point where we have now started a wait list for the future seasons.  We simply don't have the wo-man power to continue to take on the gardens of all those interested.  What a great problem to have!  So for now, we're focusing on the gardens we've started and weighing and logging the abundant produce that we've been able to get to families in need.  And, we're working our dirty little garden stained butts off to get a grant approved so that we can hire a full-time director and therefore expand exponentially. 

For this year, each garden host has been asked to contribute efforts to making their garden a communal or community space, and next week, Brandi Palmer of the Oompa Loompa Fairy Food Forest will be hosting a neighborhood party event in her garden.  She set the date for Aug 2 to pair it with the National Neighborhood Night Out Campaign.  There will be info about the growing project, a bird painting booth, grilled food and fresh veggies donated from local producers, and more!  More to come on this soon.  

Tomorrow night from 6-7 pm, The Growing Project proudly hosts our first "get to know us" event, which will be held in the Community Room at the Council Tree Public Library.  One could think of this as our first..."coming out party"...and indeed, we have matured immensely over the past couple years, growing from an eager adolescent organization full of great ideas, into a legitimate, productive, and grown up non-profit.  I won't say "fully grown", because we are still just beginning to blossom, and we have many bright seasons ahead with grand ideas for further evolution .  But we are ready to show our stuff and share what we have to offer our community. :-)

Attendees will be given a chance to hear the story of how we have grown, and to watch a short slide-show illustrating our current projects and goals.  Refreshments will be provided, with food donations provided by The Food Co-op, tasty sweet treats provided by Happy Bee Bakery, and beverages provided by Starbucks. Thanks to all these businesses for your generous support...it wouldn't be the same without you! 

We would also like to thank Pixels and Press for their ongoing support and donations of printing for invitations and brochures, and so much more!

The RSVP deadline has expired, but if you are very interested in attending and did not receive an invite, please contact us directly.  Either Megan at megan@thegrowingproject.org, or Chris at bod@thegrowingproject.org.   If you miss this one...don't worry!  We plan to host these Meet & Greets at least twice a year, so just contact us to let us know you're interested, and we'll get you on our list!