Peas & Love Veganic Community Garden

I recently embarked on an exciting new project: a veganic community garden.  Crops grown will feed people in need in Hartford county through the Manchester Area Conferences of Churches food pantry. In addition, volunteers will learn about veganic farming methods and vegan food preparation through educational events and cooking demonstrations.  We are planting the seeds of peace, love, and justice through veganic farming. 

We recently held the first organizational meeting of the Peas & Love Veganic Community Garden to begin planning. Soon this small patch of land will be planted with peas, carrots, radishes, kale, chard, and collards and surrounded by an herb and pollinator garden to attract bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. 

One of the principles of veganic gardening is creating an environment which mimics the natural ecosystem and minimizes outside inputs. We have a compost pile on site, plus lots of leaves and pine needles for mulch. The only thing we’ll need to be careful about is not being too inviting to the deer, birds, and woodchucks who live nearby! We’ll experiment with row covers and fencing tied with CDs.

Thank you to all who attended, the Unitarian Universalist East for the space, and to Awesome Foundation for the "seed money" to start planting!

Planting a Chef's Garden Class

I held the first official class at Ahimsa Health & Harmony recently, and it was a ton of fun!  There's nothing like digging in the dirt and playing with food to make you feel like a kid again!

Twelve of us gathered in the classroom space to learn about "veganic" growing methods for kitchen gardens.  This takes the principles of organic - no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or industrial products - a step further by also avoiding animal products.  Instead of using bone meal, manure, blood meal or other animal byproducts, we use "green manure" such as seaweed, cover crops, and compost.

We planted up some pots with Fafard potting soil, coconut hulls, and liquid kelp and made a kitchen garden with oregano, chives, parsley and pansies, then tucked in some pea and nasturtium seeds to surprise us later in the season.

Everyone received a recipe for Chimichurri made with wild garlic mustard, dandelion greens, parsley and oregano, as well as a taste sample on some baguette.  I hope these little pots inspire everyone to get digging in their gardens and grow a bountiful harvest to share with family and friends!