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Good Food Project Garden Newsletter
May 2015
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"Fifteenth and Ashley - One Year Later"
(North Alexandria Community Garden)
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One year ago, the vacant lot at the corner of 15th and Ashley in Alexandria, LA was a veritable jungle of tall grass, overgrown trees laden with poison ivy, and broken glass. The Good Food Project team, the good people of this North Alexandria Community, the City of Alexandria, TREECO Solutions, Butterfield Farms, and the Youth Challenge Program cadets joined forces to make this model community garden a reality. We are so pleased to share that this garden is now producing fresh, local vegetables that are benefiting people in the neighborhood. Folks are coming by to get mustard greens, potatoes, onions, and green beans as we get deeper into spring. We salute the dedicated volunteers led by Don Bullock and Charles Cheatham, who work tirelessly to keep this garden beautiful and productive. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all who have committed to make this vision a reality!
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Garden Bean Side Dish
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Garden Beans at North Alexandria Community Garden
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Did you know?
- Garden beans have an impressive antioxidant capacity and have lutein and beta-carotene
- Green beans are a very helpful food for providing us with silicon which is important for bone health and the healthy formation of connective tissue
- To retain more of their nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, steam green beans for just 5 minutes
Ingredients: 1 Lb. Green beans, trimmed 4 TBS. Unsalted butter 2 TSP. Fresh lemon juice 1/4 Cup Unsalted, chopped roasted almonds 1/4 TSP. Salt Directions: 1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add green beans and cook until just tender-about 4-6 minutes. Drain, transfer to a serving dish. 2. Melt butter in a skillet on medium heat. Stir butter with wooden spoon until it starts to foam. Remove from heat as soon as it begins to turn golden brown and smells nutty.(About 1 minute) 3. Add lemon juice, almonds and salt. Swirl pan over heat for 30 seconds more to toast the almonds. Spoon mixture over the green beans. Serves 4 |
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| In May plant:
- Beans, Lima, Snap, Bush, Pole
- Cantaloupes
- Chard, Swiss
- Collards
- Corn, Sweet
- Cucumbers
- Eggplant (Seed)
- Eggplant (Plants)
- Okra
- Peanuts
- Peas, Southern
- Pepper, Hot (Seed)
- Pepper, Hot (Plants)
- Pepper, Bell (Plants)
- Potatoes, Sweet
- Pumpkin
- Summer Squash
- Tomatoes (Plants)
- Watermelons
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In June plant:
- Cantaloupes
- Collards
- Corn, Sweet
- Cucumbers
- Eggplant (Seed)
- Eggplant (Plants)
- Okra
- Peanuts
- Peas, Southern
- Pepper, Hot (Plants)
- Pepper, Bell (Seeds)
- Potatoes, Sweet
- Pumpkin
- Summer Squash
- Tomatoes (Seed)
- Watermelons
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| Zion Hill Church Health Ministry |
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| Exciting things are going on at the Pineville Youth Center with the Garden Club. GFP Community Gardens Manager, Todd Whatley, and City of Pineville employees built a chicken coop and installed a run so these kids could practice a little animal husbandry as part of their garden chores. GFP Director, Frances Boudreaux, and the children turned the coop into an art project to welcome the hens. City of Pineville employee, Jarius Harper installed a beautiful flower bed alongside the chicken run.The garden club members are tickled to know they will soon have three chickens to feed and water and hopefully, eggs to gather this summer. Youth center director, Al Peychaud and other staff members lovingly refer to the garden as their little "green acres". GFP is proud of all the children and everything they have accomplished these past two years.    
Phoenix Magnet Elementary 4-H students, sponsor, Edna Quinney, and GFP's Frances Boudreaux with a portion of the proceeds from the kidsgardening.org and Whole Foods grant that is helping turn this school garden into a "living classroom". Convert-A-Benches, an outdoor dry/erase board, a newly installed walkway, and classroom area will help complete this project. The 2015-2016 school year promises to be an exciting one as students get to learn many new things in their own garden setting. 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
"It is impossible for any culture to be sound and healthy without a proper respect and a proper regard for the soil." Andrew Nelson Lytle
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| Friendship House Participant Harvesting Potatoes |
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Volunteers of the Month
Ethan Barnes and Troop 49
Fourteen-year-old Boy Scout, Ethan Barnes, son of Annette and John Barnes of Ball, LA gave a significant gift to the Good Food Project this month: a U-shaped, wheelchair assessable raised garden bed. Once Ethan attained the rank of Life Scout, he became illegible to choose a project that he could take on in order to become an Eagle Scout. Ethan had quite a lengthy process to undertake before beginning his project. He started by researching something that not only interested him, but that would be of benefit to either a church or organization in his community. At this point, Ethan approached the Good Food Project to see what specific needs we had. GFP had been looking into acquiring a wheelchair assessable bed, but the cost was prohibitive. After getting an application from his Scout Master, getting approval from the troop committee chairman, and the council representative, Ethan gathered more details about materials needed for the bed, and then established a time-frame for completion of the project. He followed up with GFP to inform us that we would be the beneficiary of his project. Ethan reached out to his parents, his brother, Trevor, and his fellow scouts to lend a hand in accomplishing his goal. On May 9, Ethan and his scout buddies, as well as some of the parents, came to the demonstration garden to assemble the raised bed. The troop worked over three hours to secure the untreated cypress boards with timber nails and rebar so they would be strong enough to support the weight of the soil necessary to fill the bed. Good Food Project is very grateful for this wonderful addition to the demonstration garden. It has become the focal point of an area in the garden that will be designated for wheelchair bound or handicapped participants. We wish Ethan, his family and his fellow scouts all the best as they continue forward in scouting and serving as role models to our community. 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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