October 11, 2023

Calling all volunteers! We are having a Thank You Cookout for all of our LAF Garden and Pantry volunteers in the garden on October 26 from 4-6:30. Gather in the garden for burgers, dogs, chips, slaw, and dessert. Bring a drink and a chair.  We'll gather around the campfire to celebrate a record year in the garden and pantry.  Music will be provided by the Calvary musicians.

On Friday, Veritas Christian Academy celebrated their Salt and Light Day of Caring.  Calvary volunteers participated by providing information about the pantry, activities, and story time for third grade students. The students collected over 200 pounds of personal care and cleaning products for the pantry neighbors. The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy students spent Saturday morning providing our neighbors and volunteers with blood pressure and glucose screenings. We would like to thank Walgreens for sponsoring this event which included flu shots.  With an abundance of boxes of ice cream cones from Manna, our neighbors, after shopping, were offered a cool treat as they left...a cone of chocolate or cookies and cream ice cream.

Steady State will be performing at the Blue Ghost Brewing Co. on 125 Underwood Road in Fletcher on Sunday, October 22 from 4pm to 6 pm. It's a fundraiser for the pantry. On Saturday, we welcomed 136 households representing 456 individuals. We registered seven new families. Joe prepared a savory dish using diced tomatoes and veggies from the pantry. Neighbors had a chance to sample this tasty recipe.

For Thanksgiving, the Pantry will again offer a traditional Thanksgiving Meal. Would you help by providing boxes of savory herb dressing, canned cranberry sauce, turkey gravy or cream of mushroom soup? We will distribute the meal on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

We had lots of donations this week: Bimbos, Panera, and City Bakery filled our bread racks with bread and bakery items. Bright Farms donated 20 cases of salad boxes.  Other donors include: LAF Garden- green peppers, and jalapeños, Flavor-First-tomatoes and peppers, Wal-Mart and Big Lots, misc items and food,  Project Dignity-feminine products, Humane Society- dog/cat food and MilkCo-milk.  Nativity Lutheran, Fletcher Methodist, Calvary Episcopal, and the Tabernacle of Praise Churches and other anonymous donors contributed their time, food, and misc. items during the week.

On behalf of the Executive Committee, thank you to our volunteers and our area churches, civic groups, local merchants, and families for all you do to feed our community helping to reduce food insecurity.  We thank you and appreciate  your food and monetary donations.

News from the lord’s acre, fletcher

HARVEST TIME IN THE GARDEN THURSDAY, OCT 12, AT 4:00

After two weeks, the collards are ready for another harvest, and we need to pull some spent plants in the hoop house to get ready for a fall planting of lettuce and beets. It’s a great time to be outside in the garden! See you at 4:00 pm!

Summer Crop Rows Put to Bed

Someone said that nature is modest and prefers to be covered. In fact, bare soil dries out and loses nitrogen to the air. It becomes lifeless or is overgrown with weeds. That’s why we plant a winter cover crop consisting of winter peas, oats and diakon. It stabilizes the soil, fixes nitrogen from the air for the next crop, and encourages soil life. It looks lifeless right now, but is already sprouting and will grow to a green mat over the winter months, to be tilled in in the early spring.

Remembering the Harvest in the Liturgy

Here’s the offertory prayer used this season at Nativity’s worship. It’s as good a preparation for work in the garden as it is for Holy Communion…

Holy God, gracious and merciful, you bring forth food from the earth and nourish your whole creation.

Turn our hearts toward those who hunger in any way, that all may know your care; and prepare us now to feast on the bread of life, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Work Moves to the Hoop House

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, because of our new hoop house, the growing season is not over. Lettuce and beets that will be planted in the hoop house over the next weeks to provide winter and early spring produce for food pantry neighbors.

Join us Thursdays at 4:00. It may be cold outside, but the hoop house will be pretty cozy and warm.

Thanks, as always, for your dedication to what goes on in the Lord's Acre, Fletcher garden. We literally couldn't do it without you.