Big Garden

What a weird and wonderful summer!  As I type this, it is about 61 degrees in Omaha, NE. Our garden plants are dying off and we are gleaning as much produce as we can before the freeze. It seems only appropriate to reflect on this summer.

A huge thank you goes out to Fiskar's and Orange Thumb for the amazing support of our community garden initiative in Omaha! Thanks to your generosity, all of our interns were able to carry a set of garden tools for our gardeners to use this summer. And the are sporting bright, orange shirt--- which have come to be almost a coveted item here in the office!

Despite the wind storms, the rain storms and the no rain months, The Big Garden had a bountiful summer, with 8 delightful college aged interns, one fantastic master gardener and over a hundred community gardeners. We did great children and youth curriculum this summer and worked with neighbors, teaching them about heirloom plants and encouraging them to try new vegetables. 

Thanks to everyone who took the time to follow The Big Garden this year! 

 So after the June 27th storm, Omaha has not had a drop of rain--- until yesterday! We in The Big Garden world were getting desperate. Most of the college interns had to go back to -- gulp--- college... so there are 4 of us coordinating harvest and watering.  The rain yesterday morning was fantastic. We were able to wash all of the tools off in rain water and sit in the garage enjoying the downpour. 

 Later that day we were able to harvest LOTS of vegetables. Here are a few pictures of the small tomatoes and okra we are picking-- oh and eggplant, too. 

 On Friday, June 27, we had a huge wind/hail/rain storm sweep through the county in 10 minutes. Although not a tornado, winds were measured up to 110 MPH. Three of our 23 gardens were destroyed-- although we are vowing to re-build. Omaha as a city had downed trees, much property damage from trees falling on houses, cars, streets, and power lines. Several driveways and sidewalks were destroyed when the trees were uprooted.  Please keep us in your thoughts this week as we work to assess damage and continue to clean up after this very, very scary storm.      

 Whew!!! It's been a stormy couple of weeks here in Omaha!  We are slowly drying out--- with more rain in the forecast. 

 The Big Garden is an initiative of United Methodist Ministries, which has direct ties to the United Methodist Churches in Nebraska. Part of the added benefit the relationships is the opportunity to work with junior high and high school youth not from urban Omaha.  Last week we had a group from the middle of the state come to Omaha. Part of their experience was building a path for the residence at JC Wade for the garden (slippery muddy path+ older adults= disaster). They did such a great job on the path! What's more, they feel that starting a community garden in their 300 people town would be a great way to create a sense of community and get vegetables in the summer.  YEA!!!!! We love to spread gardens!!!!!!!

 The garden at JC Wade is completely ready to be planted! Our interns have been hard at work tilling all the gardens and the weather has finally cooperated! It has been a mostly sunny week in Omaha, finally. It's great to see the progress made on the gardens. The  community is very excited to start planting!

JC Wade is a low income senior housing complex. The Big Gardens are working with residents to plant a community garden... And boy are they are excited!

 On April 26th, we had over 20 youth from around Nebraska working to help build the garden. It's a series of mounded beds in a great, open space. The residents of JC Wade pulled out their chairs and watched the kids do the garden building. They loved it! The residents are so excited and already scheming ways to get their neighbors 

involved!

The Big Garden is a series of community gardens located in the metro-Omaha area focused on empowering neighbors to grow nutritious food, build community partnerships, improve their health and start small businesses. Each community garden site is specifically designed for the needs of the neighborhood.  The Big Garden is not just about growing vegetables.  Additional programming at each garden sites focuses on the garden as a centerpiece for not only growing fresh food but for building communities, creating safe neighborhood spaces and development of a healthy lifestyle.  New programs to be launched in Summer 2008 will include garden yoga classes, health and nutrition classes, public art displays and literacy and art events. 

The selected Big Garden site for the Orange Thumb Award is located within a neighborhood that has witnessed generations of poverty, a decreasing sense of community pride and overwhelming feelings of despair.  The community garden is located near low-income elderly housing and is designed to bring all generations together in a rebirth of the neighborhood by building a community showpiece that provides healthy food, visual evidence of success and a safe place to enjoy neighbors.  

thank you