July has been wet and weedy, but thanks to help from several talented and dedicated volunteers, we've revealed the peppers, chard, celery, and broccoli and cabbages ready to harvest for the food pantry. We appreciate all the help in the St Nick's Community Garden so far this season. Meanwhile gardeners are growing herbs and greens and other delicious veggies at Hillcrest for the pantry each week. Blue Point gardeners are growing, too. Thanks!

Happiness is time spent in the garden, and we're especially happy to welcome volunteers from the Scarborough Garden Club who are helping us harvest every week. Thank you! (Pictured here are Penny & Pat, with 20 pounds of garden bounty!)

And so starts the 2017 planting season! Gardeners from St.Nick's put in the first of our cold crops: green lettuce.  About 100 romaine and green lettuce seedlings were planted, and a dozen or so parsley plants, too. Also lots of marigolds to keep smaller garden pests like mice and voles away and cosmos to attract pollinators. 

Our friends at Keller Williams volunteered for the garden as part of their annual "RED Days". We are glad Keller Williams' Cash Wiseman called Project GRACE to ask how they could help their neighbors on May 11th, a day of giving back nationwide for the realty group. To help us get the garden ready for growing season, they moved a mountain of lovely organic compost from Jordan's Farm, and laid the pathways, too. THANK YOU!

Thank you, Scarborough Cub Scout Pack 47, Bear Dens 1 & 2! We are so glad you could come to Harvest Fest at St. Nick's and help us harvest kale and swiss chard, sample treats and soups, and plant herb pots for the patrons of the Scarborough Food Pantry. Well done, kids. Thank you!

Thank you, Jane, Linda, Sabra, Becky, Pam, Elizabeth and Steffi -- volunteers planted tomatoes, broccoli, peppers, beets, beans, lettuces, bok choy and Asian greens, herbs and flowers, too!

Thank you, Mark, Chris, Cathy, Jane, Becky, and Chris! We raked all the compost and set the paths, even planted spinach and lettuce! Aren't those rows neat!? Also we love our new coconut mat paths. We also had a visit from Kate Irish Collins of the Current-- you can read the article here (PDF).

Today Dennis from Jordan's Farm delivered 6 yards of organic compost "surf & turf" which is locally produced. This, along with the soil amendments put in last fall, will set us up for a great growing season. A few days earlier Chris roto-tilled the seaweed and shredded leaves which were put on as we put the garden to bed last fall. Look what he found: a beet and a carrot! And Jane spied the first garlic scapes coming through.

Terry Reimer (Episcopal Diocese of Maine) and Ellen Parenteau (Scarborough Food Pantry) get ready to cut the ribbon!