Hello Friends of the Gainesville Organic Blueberry Farm!

We will be having work parties tomorrow and Tues morning and afternoon @ 10am and 5pm. I will be by the gardens with hand tools at 10 and 5 both days. Please bring water to drink, gloves and long sleeves. Kids are very [...]]]>

Job well done. ges patch Thanks!

Hello Friends of the Gainesville Organic Blueberry Farm!

We will be having work parties tomorrow and Tues morning and afternoon @ 10am and 5pm. I will be by the gardens with hand tools at 10 and 5 both days. Please bring water to drink, gloves and long sleeves. Kids are very welcome but please leave pet friends at home. We will be working out by the covered cart across the first foot bridge, cutting vines and trees out of the rows. If you dont know where this is, please arrive on time or you wont find us. If you come after 10:30 am or 5:30 pm the gate will be closed but not locked. Please close it behind you again when you come in, and join us in the rows!

As I mentioned in earlier emails, the berry crop was hit very hard by the late freeze in April and there wont be anything near the bounty we saw last year, but there are some patches where they are getting fat and juicy, and when you come out to help I will show you where these are. It wont be long before they are ripe, so c’mon out and help keep the berry bushes happy and healthy – it is an investment in a healthy and organic future for our community – and the work is hard but fun! It feels so good to see the progress we’ve made after a couple of hours in the rows and what a great way to sweat out the toxins in our bodies!

Lets honor the sacrifices of our soldiers and predescessors this Memorial Day by doing work that with any luck will benefit the ones after us for 7 generations to come!

And read on about how you can help with another great project that is spreading gardens all over Gainesville!

Hope to see you in the rows!

maureen

Earthday Celebration

Come celebrate Earth Day with Gators for a Sustainable Campus (GSC), Wednesday 4/22, in the Plaza of the Americas from 10 am to 3 pm. The day will be fun-filled, with everything from free plant giveaways, to carnival-style games, face painting, food, and other fun activities and giveaways.

*10:30 am — President Machen [...]]]>

Earthday Celebration

Come celebrate Earth Day with Gators for a Sustainable Campus (GSC), Wednesday 4/22, in the Plaza of the Americas from 10 am to 3 pm. The day will be fun-filled, with everything from free plant giveaways, to carnival-style games, face painting, food, and other fun activities and giveaways.

*10:30 am — President Machen will give his annual State of Sustainability address. Sustainable Solutions awards winners will be honored directly following the address.

*1:00 pm — Local officials, including Mayor Hanrahan, will discuss “The Role of Local Governments in Solving the Climate Crisis.” GSC, Campus Climate Solutions, and Focus the Nation will host this solutions-oriented, nonpartisan forum on climate and energy policy.

GSC will also host a personal (non-UF property) household hazardous waste round-up, as well as a gently-worn clothing exchange.

Visit http://sustainablegators.org/events/come-to-earth-day-on-the-plaza/ for more details.

Thanks to all who came out to our last workday and to Mother Nature for the wonderful spring rain. Please read below for details on an Earth Day Celebration today at the Plaza of the Americas starting a 10 – when’s the last time you ate Krishna Lunch on the Plaza?

And Dont forget about [...]]]> Happy Earthday Earthlings!!

Thanks to all who came out to our last workday and to Mother Nature for the wonderful spring rain. Please read below for details on an Earth Day Celebration today at the Plaza of the Americas starting a 10 – when’s the last time you ate Krishna Lunch on the Plaza?

And Dont forget about the Citizens Co-op Spring Concert this Saturday the 25th (PLease see first attachment(spring flyer screen.png)above for the juicy details - starts at 2 and rocks on til’ 11pm! Come out and be a part of it, the Co-op promises to be one of the coolest Gainesville Homegrown Ventures ever and you could help it launch! - maybe Ill see you there:)

Now for the bad news - that last April freeze wreaked havoc on the berries – see rest of attachments for photos. There are still patches with healthy growing berries (and when you come out to work I will show you where those are , but we will not have anywhere near the bountiful berries we had last year. This is an inevitable part of farming and the good news is the bushes look better than last year due to all your hard work and TLC. The 2 bridges patch was expected to have a thin crop because of our extended pruning last year – but there were some and now there are hardly any berries there – hopefully next year this patch will reward us with abundant berries. An unexpected boon from the freeze was that the vines that covered many bushes in other patches were frozen, giving the berry bushes a leg up, And all the energy the bushes would have put into berries will now go into growth!

So come out Thursday(Tomorrow), Friday and/or Sunday at 6pm and see for yourself! I will be at the barn at 6pm with plenty of tools. We will be starting on a new patch so please try to arrive before 6:30 so you can know where we are. After 6:30 I will close but not lock the gate – if it is closed when you arrive please close it again behind you. Please bring long sleeves, gloves and plenty of drinking water. Kids are welcome but please leave pet friends at home. If you have any questions please reply to this and I will try to be timely with a response. Now is the time to get your hours in – before the summer heat and bugs arrive! Many of you still owe hours from last year and ther may not be a U-Pick this year so if you want to pick – c’mon out and work with us – you wont regret it and kids love to get out in the fresh air and do something meaningful – we love kids! So bring the whole family out – you can say you helped keep the farm alive! If anyone wants to request a time or day for a work party please let me know – we can work it out! And the work is fun with the greatest folks in Gainesville working side by side on part of Gainesvilles living history.

Dont forget to check out the Spring flyer attachment – its beautifully done, and the Co-op needs your support!

Hope to see you in the rows or at the Citizen’s Co-op spring concert!

maureen => read on about todays celebration on the Plaze of the Americas.
PS – the big barnyard sale that was tentatively scheduled for this Saturday will be rescheduled later in the season – too much going on!