The St. Francis Sustainable Garden Project supports the hungry, at-risk children and their families in our area. We use a garden plot in front of the St. Francis rectory where we grow and harvest herbs, vegetables and flowers. In past years each harvest has produced over 180 lbs. of produce- all delivered to the pantry at Foundations Preschool of Ann Arbor, - child care center for at-risk, low-income families.

The St. Francis Grounds & Botanical Gardens: Several gardens surround the St Francis of Assisi campus of buildings, including, but not limited to, the church, school, rectory and/or parish offices. These gardens need to be a beautiful expression of hospitality, in particular, the entrances, to our fellow parishioners and visitors as well as reflect a statement of our appreciation for God's creation and nature.

Questions? Contact: Scott Wright (734-821-2121)

Garden Update (Yeah!! the first of the year)

Hello All,

1) The Sherrys stopped by the garden this morning after church to get some seeds started. We cleared the leaves and needles from John (i.e., one of the four named beds in the main sustainable garden) and planted two rows of spinach, one along each long edge of the bed. This bed will be followed up by tomatoes in May, by then the spinach will be finishing up.  We marked the rows of spinach with the black plastic markers

2) The mulch (leaves and needles) we dumped in Luke (i.e., one of the four named beds in the main sustainable garden) for now. Currently that is the designated potato bed (with other potato companions). Potatoes are okay with a more acidic soil which we believe pine needles can cause. PLEASE DO NOT remove the "mulch" from this bed yet. I'm still trying to decide whether to use this natural mulch as just mulch for the potatoes instead of buying straw or use it for the potato bag. My intention is to remove the leaves and needles from the other beds and collect it for LUKE or the potato bag.
 
3) We planted half the crop of peas in Matthew (i.e., one of the four named beds in the main sustainable garden), the side with the good board so that fixing the broken board will not disrupt the crops. Patrick Sherry has pea plants started at home with the intent to translate these in Matthew when we get the board fix (which should be soon I hope) We will need to come back (possible next week) and erect the supports so that they will be there when the peas start growing.  We put a temporary fence up where the peas were planted. 

Rose

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