July 31, 2024
News from the Pantry – July 27, 2024
A special "Shout Out "for our extremely dedicated volunteers who were at the Pantry on Saturday! When 137 neighbors arrived throughout the morning, many of you stayed to ensure all had an opportunity to individually shop for food. An apology for excluding our stats on June 20, however it will show you the difference in what a week can make. June 20 we welcomed 114 neighbors representing 410 household members and ten new families. This past Saturday 137 families representing 504 household members and twelve new families were welcomed. Thanks to the Lords Acre of Fletcher, our garden and Tractor farm's produce, we distributed over 2,000 pounds of healthy produce to our neighbors this past Saturday.
On Tuesday, Bill from WLOS was on campus to record four segments for the Carolina Kitchen. Chef Martha primarily prepared recipes using food from the pantry and garden. Look for these segments on the local noon news. One of the flavorful recipes was pickled vegetables. The big takeaway was you don't have to can them like Grandma did back in the day. Vegetables used were squash, green beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes and pickling juice. Other tasty veggies from the garden were used for a savory squash and tomato pasta. To top off the morning, Chef Martha assembled a mouth-watering Lime-Icebox Pie.
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.
For The Executive Committee
Kathy Noyes
News from The Lord’s Acre of Fletcher – July 30, 2024
Fire it up! Thanks to Dan Vining for completing the first of three fire pits in front of the shed at the garden. We look forward to gathering around them for fellowship and hotdogs when the evenings cool off in the early fall.
Buckwheat in the beds We just cut down buckwheat in six raised beds to break down in place. It's a cover crop that is a great nectar source for bees and when cut, becomes a "green manure" for building soil in the raised beds. As we slowly increase our planting space, it will allow us to slide in various cover crops such as clover, winter peas, and buckwheat to attract beneficial insects, suppress weeds, and build up our soil in between crops. And it's pretty, too.
Circumambulating the Garden It's a fancy word for "walking around". And it's a spiritual practice suggested on a gardening blog call "Sparks in the Garden." The author suggests walking with intention around the garden, just soaking it in with an attitude of gratefulness for what God is doing. Definitely DON'T worry about the weeds or pests. Just take in the gift of it all. You can do this at the Lord's Acre Fletcher garden any time you wish. Most of the time you'll have the garden to yourself. It would take you no more than ten minutes to circumambulate the garden, even at a slow process-down-the-aisle pace. Or, go outside at your own home, or a local park or trail. The point is to do nothing but take in the giftedness of all that's around you. Have you heard of forest bathing? It's a thing. It's kind of like that. Click here to read the original post. (Note: she calls the clockwise movement a Buddhist tradition. Clockwise “rounds” at holy sites is also a Celtic Christian practice.)
Doug Kearney, Garden Manager
