Sprout
Good Food Project Garden Newsletter
 March 2017 Sprout  
 
Inglewood Classic 5K & 1 Mile Fun Run
We invite you to be part of something bigger than yourself! By participating, you are joining hundreds and thousands of others who have the same goal of helping people - and that just feels good! Run for a cause on April 22nd at Inglewood Farm for the "Inglewood Classic 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run." Enjoy a run around historic Inglewood Plantation, with all the proceeds benefiting the Good Food Project. Afterward, make plans to stay for a full farmer's market, live music, horse rides, and Inglewood's Annual Spring Open Fire Pig Roast! Register today at RunSignUp.com for the Inglewood Classic 5K. Lace up your shoes and run for a cause!
We invite you to join us at Good Food Project for sustainable gardening and nutrition information!

For information about partnering with the Good Food Project, or for other GFP program opportunities, contact the Good Food Project staff at 318.445.2773 or via email: fboudreaux@fbcenla.org, or cbaker@fbcenla.org,  and on the web: www.goodfoodprojectcenla.org    
Recipe of the Month
Oatmeal Energy Bites - Carrot Cake Version
Yummy no-bake energy bites made of old-fashioned whole oats
Did you know?
  • Whole oats help lower cholesterol 
  • Whole oats are rich in soluble fiber
  • Whole oats help prevent arteries from hardening
  • Whole oats help blood sugar levels stay stabilized so you won't have that mid-morning slump
Ingredients:   
2 1/4 Cups Old-Fashioned oats
2 Cups finely shredded carrots
2 Teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 Cup finely chopped dates
2/3 Cup finely chopped almonds
2/3 Cup coconut flakes
 
Directions: 
Stir together the first five ingredients (oats, carrots, cinnamon, dates, and almonds). Add water, one tablespoon at a time as needed to shape the bites. Form the dough into 24 heaping tablespoon-sized balls. Roll lightly in coconut flakes. Refrigerated at least an hour before eating. Leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator.

 

In March plant:

  • Bean, Bush, Pole, Snap
  • Cantaloupes
  • Cabbage
  • Chard, Swiss
  • Collards
  • Corn, Sweet
  • Cucumbers
  • Eggplant (Seeds)
  • Eggplant (Plants)
  • Kale
  • Kohlrabi
  • Lettuce (in pots in partial shade)
  • Mustard Greens
  • Okra
  • Peas, Southern
  • Pepper, Hot (Seed*)
  • Pepper, Bell (Seed*)
  • Bell Pepper (Plant)
  • Pumpkin
  • Radish
  • Summer Squash
  • Tomatoes (Seed*)
  • Tomatoes (Plants)
  • Watermelons

 *Start seed indoors

 In April plant:

  • Bean, Lima Bush, Pole, Snap
  • Cantaloupes
  • Chard, Swiss
  • Collards
  • Corn, Sweet
  • Cucumbers
  • Eggplants (Seeds)
  • Eggplant (Plants)
  • Kale
  • Kohlrabi
  • Lettuce (in pots in partial shade)
  • Mustard Greens
  • Okra
  • Peas, Southern
  • Pepper, Hot, Bell (Seed*)
  • Pepper, Hot (Plant)
  • Pepper, Bell (Plant)
  • Pumpkin
  • Radishes,
  • Summer Squash
  • Tomatoes (Seed)
  • Tomatoes (Plants)
  • Watermelons

  

 

 

 
Teachers, students, and volunteers coming together at Montessori Education Center to install their new school garden - March 2017

                               

 
Garden News

March and April are busy months for Good Food Project. We are moving right along with  many new spring garden installations in the next two months. New sites this month include 3 schools: Montessori Education Center in Alexandria, Natchitoches Junior High, Frankie Ray Jackson School (Natchitoches) and community gardens at  L. and A. Baptist Church - Jena and Winn Parish Library in Winnfield. If your organization is located within the eleven parish service area of The Food Bank of Central Louisiana and is interested in a community garden, please contact the Good Food Project at 318-445-2773 or GoodFoodProject@fbcenla.org 

 

   Natchitoches Junior High students filling their school's raised garden beds with  supervision by GFP staffer, Dellen Ross, and NJH sponsor, Jacquelyn Rainwater

 

For more information about how your organization can partner or volunteer with Good Food Project contact us at goodfoodproject@fbcenla.org or call 318-445-2773 
Workday Wednesday

VOLUNTEERS RULE AND WORK DAY WEDNESDAYS ARE FUN! 

Join us any Wednesday at the Good Food Project demonstration garden at 3223 Baldwin Avenue  from 7:30-11:30 AM for WORKDAY WEDNESDAYS! Come out and harvest with us and learn new things about gardening and make new friends!

If Wednesdays aren't good for you, call us to set up another volunteer day! 318-445-2773 

 
Workday Wednesday volunteers: GFP depends on these dedicated volunteers each week!

 

 

 
Garden Tips:
C ollards are popularly grown in the fall because they are one of the most cold-hardy vegetables grown in a vegetable garden and they get sweeter after going through a frost.  This vegetable that is in the same family as cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower can also be planted in the spring. Collards need fertile soil which helps them grow quickly-harvest the leaves only and the plants will continue to produce well into the warmth of early summer.
Chauncey Hardy, Director of Prevention Services, DHH and the Youth and Children's Ministry Advisor for L & A Baptist Church plants collards at the newly
installed beds for the church in Jena, LA
The Importance of Volunteering
 

 Volunteers helping GFP staff prepare the demonstration garden for Foodapalooza 2017: Volunteers - Jane Fillette, Jackie Duncan, Don Bullock, GFP Community Gardens Manager, Cindy Baker, Volunteers Charles Cheatham and Tanya Ingraham.

 

 It has been said that volunteers are the life blood of nonprofits - how very true for the Good Food Project this month! Some wonderful people have trudged through the mud and weeds to give back to their community in a big way! From retired folks to young moms with children in tow, the Good Food Project has benefited from the fantastic gift of time and physical energy given at the demonstration garden and other community gardens - these efforts help keep our program sustainable. Not only do their volunteer efforts help the Good Food Project, but they benefit our community by strengthening bonds, enriching lives and health, solving problems, and creating positive ties within a community.  Our lives have certainly been enriched by knowing them and working with them. The Good Food Project team salutes each and every one!  

 
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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