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Good Food Project Garden Newsletter
August 2015
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| Rapides Parish P.E. Teacher In-Service - Nachman Elementary |
School began in earnest across Central Louisiana this month. Good Food Project staff were invited to speak to Rapides Parish Physical Education teachers at an in-service program held at Nachman Elementary. We shared with them an opportunity to partner with GFP for school gardens. Because of our great partnership with the Rapides Soil and Water Conservation District, who generously fund Rapides school gardens, we are able to install two raised-bed gardens at any Rapides Parish school that is interested. Response from the presentation was very good; soon, four new elementary schools will be added to the roster of existing school gardens. It is the hope of the Good Food Project to also expand some of these school gardens into "living classrooms" with convert-a-benches, dry erase boards, and vertical gardening components for ease of use. Gardening can be a way to afford those students who are not athletically inclined to have some physical activity and to educate them about the food they eat. Schools across the eleven parishes served by the Food Bank of Central Louisiana are invited to become partners of the Good Food Project, as well. Children benefit in numerous ways by being exposed to gardening, and it is an excellent way for teachers of all subjects to engage their students in those important critical thinking skills.
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| Strawberry/Mango/Cucumber Ice Pop
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| Kids Café of Winnfield Tutor: Jasmine King |
Did you know?
- If you cannot get fresh, local fruits and vegetables, it is a good idea to purchase frozen. Most fruits and vegetables that are shipped to grocery stores may have been traveling for two weeks or more; they lose some of their nutrition value and freshness. Frozen fruits and vegetables can often be superior to those "fresh" ones because they are processed immediately after harvest when they are at the peak of ripeness and most nutrient-packed. The process is called "flash freezing." So, if you can't get it fresh and local, consider frozen.
Ingredients: 1 15 Oz. bag frozen strawberries 1 15 Oz. bag frozen mango 1 can frozen lemonade 1/2 Cucumber peeled and diced 20 Small paper cups 20 Popsicle sticks Directions: 1. Prepare lemonade using 3 cans water, set aside. Make small batches until all fruit and cucumber is used 2. Fill blender approximately 1/2 - 3/4 up with frozen strawberries, add 1/2 cup lemonade, puree (add lemonade in small amounts to make slushy) 3. Add frozen mango and cucumber to strawberry mixture, puree until no chunks remain (add lemonade as needed to thin the mixture) 4. Add a slice of strawberry, a small chunk of mango and a thin slice of cucumber (with peeling) to each cup 5. Spoon pureed fruit mixture into cups. (Mixture is thick and slushy) Have small pieces of aluminum foil to cover each cup. Cut a small slit in the center of each, insert a Popsicle stick into slit. Freeze overnight. Peel paper before eating Serves 20 |
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| In August plant:
- Beans, (Snap, Bush, Pole, Lima)
- Beets
- Broccoli (Seed)
- Brussels sprouts (Seed)
- Cabbage
- Cantaloupes
- Cauliflower
- Swiss, Chard
- Chinese Cabbage
- Collards
- Cucumbers
- Kohlrabi
- Lettuce
- Mustard Greens
- Okra
- Peas, Southern
- Pepper, Bell (Plants)
- Potatoes, Irish
- Potatoes, Sweet
- Pumpkin
- Rutabagas
- Shallots
- Summer Squash
- Tomatoes (Plants)
- Watermelons
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In September plant:
- Beans, (Snap, Bush, Pole, Lima)
- Beets
- Broccoli (Seed)
- Brussels sprouts (Seed)
- Cabbage
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Chard, Swiss
- Chinese Cabbage
- Collards
- Cucumbers
- Kohlrabi
- Lettuce
- Mustard Greens
- Onion, Leek (Seed)
- Peas, English
- Potatoes, Irish
- Pumpkin
- Shallots
- Summer Squash
- Tomatoes (Plants)
- Turnips
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| Sustainable Gardening by a Teenage Girl at Hope House of Cenla |
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| We Salute the LSUA and LC Students Who Spent a Day in Service to the Food Bank of Central Louisiana and the Good Food Project Demonstration Garden |
To learn more about the Good Food Project and its community partners contact us at -318-445-2773 or [email protected] |
 You are invited to join us at the GFP demonstration garden on Workday Wednesdays. In the garden, you will experience learning to grow food in a sustainable, organic way, while getting an opportunity to meet new people, and to help those in need in the community. If you, your organization, or work place would like to be involved, please give us a call. We would love to hear from you!
Each Wednesday from 7:30-11:30 AM all adults and children are invited to come out for a fun day of learning and giving back to the community. Let's grow together! Learn more.
If Wednesdays aren't good for you, call us to set up another volunteer day! 318-445-2773
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| Garden Quote
"Whether you tend a garden or not, you are the gardener of your own being, the seed of your destiny." - The Findhorn Community
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| Rapides Senior Citizen Center-Sieper, Director Becky Walters and Senior Participants |
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| Louisiana College Volunteers Helping Stain the Gazebo at the GFP Demonstration Garden |
Volunteers of the Month
Louisiana College and LSUA Students
"Instilling Volunteerism" is a powerful statement and one that two local institutions of higher learning: Louisiana College and LSU-Alexandria, are promoting with their incoming freshmen classes. The Food Bank of Central Louisiana and Good Food Project were grateful recipients of their generous community-minded philosphy this month. Approximately, 100 LC, and 53 LSUA students worked in the Food Bank warehouse, while 50 helped in the GFP demonstration garden. From filling backpacks for kids, to painting the garden shed, gazebo, and ramp, a significant amount of work was done by these enthusiastic young people. According to Wade Warren, of Louisiana College, all freshmen are invited to attend activities like this during LC's "Welcome Week." The newcomers get a chance to meet faculty, staff and are offered a chance to learn about potential volunteer opportunities with Cenla organizations like ours. Warren said, "With this campus tradition, we are trying to reach out and make a positive statement in the community. We love our college and our community. Our goal is bigger than just doing work off campus, we want to get outside of ourselves; it is part of the mission of our college." Ethan Lipsey, Coordinator of Academic Success, at LSUA says freshmen and some sophomore athletes were invited to learn more about the university, it's faculty and staff, and to be introduced to the Central Louisiana community and to learn about it's opportunities and resources. Students voluntarily signed up to participate in a day of service at the Food Bank and GFP. Lipsey indicated that the students and staff were excited to participate in LSUA's new tradition of serving in the community. Their hope is to build on the momentum of this event to even greater participation across Cenla. GFP welcomes individual and organizational volunteers at our community gardens and at the Good Food Project on Wednesday mornings in the demonstration garden, 3223 Baldwin Avenue - Food Bank of Central Louisiana 71301 - 318-445-2773
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