VISTA Matters is the weekly community newsletter for garden members. Included are key dates and communications necessary for all members to know and be involved. 
VISTA Gardens News - April 20, 2017
Celebrate Earth Day at VISTA
Potluck and Pig Roast. BYOB and Chair. Live Music. Enjoy!
VISTA Gardens + Tiny Humans = Eggcellent Adventure!
The Friday before Easter we saw a BIG crowd at the gardens filled with LITTLE people!

The Little Villagers hosted a fun and adventurous egg hunt!  More than 30 moms and kids joined together to hunt for eggs and one special child found the golden egg and won a prize!  

The event started with a fun tour which had many of the parents asking about membership to the gardens!  Then, the kids under 3 searched for eggs in the play area while the 4 year olds ran up and down the garden rows searching for their eggs.  They also learned the importance of respecting plant and wildlife as well as keeping their feet out of the plots.

We ended with a parachute egg toss and other games.  And what event could be complete without bubbles!  All in all, a fun and relaxing time was had by all.  

WHAT'S NEXT?

Our next event for the 4 and under crowd is planned for May 11 at 10 am. We plan to make a craft.  More details to be announced.
Member Spotlight: 
The Costa Family

1. Please introduce your family and share the your bed address plus the date you joined VISTA Gardens?
My name is Julio, my wife is Monica and we have two boys: Julian is seven and Nicholas is five. Our garden bed is at #5 Cantaloupe Court.

2. What interested you in starting your garden?
The main thing for us it was about a sense of community. Since we joined the garden it's amazing the number of times we have bumped into fellow gardeners around the neighborhood. Also, we wanted to teach our kids to grow food and encourage them to eat healthy.

3. What do you like to grow? What are your "go to" plants?
We started strawberries last year and it was a success. There were a lot of people that came to us and asked how we did and, to be honest, we have no idea. We took tips from everyone that offered and took them to heart. Carrots are great for the kids as they get very excited as they pull them out and start eating (after we wash them, of course).

4. What's your favorite activity/time of day at the garden?
We love spending the time with the kids but they are very active so they last ten minutes gardening and the rest running around the garden.

5. What is one thing you'd like us to know about you?
We love hiking the many local parks in our area. Recently we completed the Hiking Spree event sponsored by Hillsborough where we hiked several trails leading us to beautiful locations including Lithia Springs.

Ongoing Activities

Saturday Work Parties
Fulfill your community volunteer requirement by joining fellow gardeners on Saturday mornings to tackle the maintenance needs of the garden at large. It's a fun time and you get some exercise and the garden stays looking great. Keeping the garden regularly maintained prevents us from major intermittent workload.  The party starts at 9 a.m. every weekend, weather permitting. 

Compost Thursdays
Committee members meet at the garden Thursday's at 8 a.m. to turn the compost. Please join the team if you would like to learn more about composting.

Compost Materials Needed 
General reminder: To produce high quality compost the community needs to provide a steady supply of material. Please bring your garden or vegetable waste to the garden, don't let it go to the landfill!

Keep in touch with VISTA
We are working hard to streamline communications to ensure you receive the right content in the right place when you need it.
1. Facebook: Like "VISTA Gardens" to receive updates on key activities throughout the week
If you do NOT use Facebook please reply to this email and you will be added to a separate email distribution list. The team will do its best to email any time sensitive updates requiring community attention to this list when a post is made to Facebook.
2. Tuesday email: Summarizes key activity and news for the upcoming week
3. Monthly newsletter: More detail into topics of interest and education (see link above!)
4. Web site: Our address is vistagardentampa.org (note: no 's' in garden). A repository of membership information, detailed education, links to articles on shared topics of interest. Plus much, much more. 
VISTA Gardens | [email protected] | vistagardentampa.org
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