Gardening may be fun and easy, but it can also be hard at times. My garden in my neighborhood is exactly that, a challenge. If getting eating by mountains of fire ants (some piles are twice as big as the cabbages), having rabbits and deer use the garden as a restaurant, having vandals destroy it, and trying to raise money to fix the problems doesn’t sound hard, then I don’t know what does. Well, that is what we have to deal with to keep the garden going. I would hate to let it go, so I’m not giving up! We are going to fight the mountains of fire ants. Hopefully something will work (any suggestions please send them our way)! I’m keeping my fingers crossed! We’re also trying to find someone to donate a better fence, one the deer and rabbits can’t cross! Any offers to donate a fence would be sooooo appreciated! There is nothing we can do about the vandals but hope they don’t come back & hope they realize how many people this garden can help feed! I really hope I can keep this garden. I am not giving up!
Author: Advyon
One Step at a Time
Like many people may say, Christmas is a special time. For The Palmetto House this year, I am sure it was a great one! In early December, I received a letter saying The Palmetto House (the soup kitchen/homeless shelter I donate to) was struggling to keep their doors open. I was recently selected as a Build-A-Bear Workshop 2009 Huggable Hero. As well as a wonderful trip in which I was able to meet the 11 other honorees and participate in fun activities, I was given a generous donation towards my college education and my dream. After giving it some thought, I decided that I would donate $750 of the funds from Build a Bear to The Palmetto House to help them stay afloat. It just wouldn’t be the same without them to donate my vegetables to. I know what I donated was only a small portion of what they need, but I know it will help. They are still struggling and could use all the help they can get. These people have become my friends and I couldn’t bear to have them close the doors because of lack of money. They help so many people. I will keep them in my prayers that they find the money they need to stay open.
How to help your garden grow when it is freezing outside.
It maybe freezing outside but you can still help your garden grow. How? You can compost. Compost is using waste to create nutrients for your garden. How do you do it, is really is easy. When my mom cooks we take the vegetables and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells and place them in a big bin. When the bin is filled we take the bin to my garden and dump them in compost bin my dad and brother built. We dump the kitchen waste into the bin that also has dirt, newspapers, grass clippings, leaves that have fallen from the trees and the old plants that we pulled from the garden. We make sure it stays moist and about twice a week with a pitch fork we turn the compost and it slowly decays. When the compost is ready we will till it into future gardens. Below is a list of items that you can and cannot compost thanks to my Master Gardener Ms. Lisa! Give it a try, it cuts down on waste in our landfills and will really help your garden in the future!
Materials for Composting
Weeds (without seed heads)
Bread and Grains
Coffee Grounds and Filters
Tea Bags and Loose Tea Leaves
Egg Shells
Fruit / Vegetable Rinds, Peelings, etc.
Grass Clippings
Leaves (preferably mulched)
Sawdust from Untreated, Unpainted Wood
Straw
Sod
Wood Ash (moderate amounts)
Wood Chips
Paper
Newspaper
What Not to Compost
Butter
Oils
Bones
Cat or Dog Manure
Cheese
Chicken Scraps
Fish Scraps
Lard
Vegetable Oil
Diseased Plants
Mayonnaise
Meats or Meat Fats
Milk
Peanut Butter
Salad Dressings
Sour Cream
Evergreen Leaves
Charcoal Ashes (can be toxic)
Any Treated, Painted Wood and/or Wood Chips
Coated Paper
The Philanthropist
The philanthropist
Girl wins recognition for efforts to help needy, conserve water
By Brenda Rindge The Post and Courier Monday, July 13, 2009
She’s concerned about feeding the hungry and conserving water.
She has designed award-winning T-shirts and ice-cream bars and has been featured on the national news.
She’s also just 10 years old, but Summerville resident Katie Stagliano seems to have the golden touch.
Provided
Summerville residents Katie Stagliano, 10, and her brother, John Michael, 6, unload vegetables donated during a food drive June 26 that collected more than 500 pounds of fresh vegetables and canned goods.
It all started a couple of years ago when the Stagliano family — Stacy, a stay-at-home mom and Parent Teacher Organization president; dad John, who runs several businesses; Katie; and brother John Michael, now 6 — were going on a long road trip.
Stacy gathered activities to keep the kids busy, including an e-mail about the Nestle Flavorologist for a Day contest, which invited youngsters to invent original, appetite-engaging frozen treats.
People Magazine, Heroes Among Us!
From PEOPLE Magazine Click to enlarge
Katie Stagliano, 11
Summerville, S.C.
Last year Katie Stagliano planted a cabbage seedling in her family’s backyard. After it grew to an astonishing 40 lbs., Katie donated it to a homeless shelter. Two days later she returned to help serve some of the 275 meals (rounded out by ham and rice) made with her massive crucifer. “I’ve never felt so good in my life,” says Katie, now a fifth grader. “I thought, ‘Wow, with one cabbage I helped feed that many people? I could do much more.'”
So she started other gardens—in her subdivision, on donated land outside of town and on a field at her school. She then enlisted volunteers, from gardeners to her classmates, and a plant company donated seedlings. This year Katie and her crew have supplied soup kitchens with over 1,000 lbs. of squash, okra, cabbage and other crops. With the fall harvest, she’ll add another 4,000 lbs. “We are amazed, thrilled,” says Charlotte Carroll, 57, executive director of Palmetto House, a homeless shelter that gets twice-weekly deliveries from Katie. “It’s easy to have a canned food drive, but it’s unique a child would grow her own vegetables.” Says Elois Mackey, 48, who lives at Palmetto with her two kids: “She shows that children can play a big part in helping people. The vegetables she brought were delicious.”
Check Out Katie and Her Dream in People Magazine!
A Young Gardener Feeds The Poor
People Magazine
Heroes Among Us October 26, 2009
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20314021,00.html
Katie and the Cabbage Patch
Katie and the cabbage patch
Posted: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 8:01 PM by Daily Nightly Editor
Filed Under: Notes from the field
Kelly Venardos, Producer, NBC Nightly News
Every so often you come upon a story that stays with you. After working at NBC News for more than 16 years, I have a few of these gems tucked away in my memory. They sustain me through the news stories that aren’t necessarily pleasant or positive. Frequently, these stories involve children. This is one of them.
Katie and the cabbage patch
http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/05/13/1931316.aspx
NBC Nightly New Making A Difference with Brian Willams
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
2009 Was Amazing, Great Things Coming in 2010
2009 Was Amazing and 2010 Will Bring Bigger Harvests for Everyone!!!
As look back at 2009 it was an amazing, great year for me and my dream of no hungry children. I was able to donate thousands of pounds of vegetables to my local soup kitchens and families in need. I was able to see how my gardens are making a difference for people who don’t have enough to eat. I made so many new friends like all of the wonderful people at Bonnie Plants who started my dream with their 3rd grade cabbage program. I was able to tour their greenhouses and see where all of the seedlings they donate to me come from and speak to all of the sales people who bring the cabbages to the 3rd graders across the county.
I made friends at NBC Nightly News, People Magazine, The Build a Bear Workshop, Robroy Industries, VeryMeri, Amazing Kids, The Katie Brown Workshop, Random Kids, The Barron Prize and all of the staff and residents at Palmetto House just to name a few. I have so many great friends who help me with my dream such as my Master Gardener Lisa and her husband Ty, Mr. Brian from Advyon who made this beautiful website, Bob and Linda who help me with my garden on their farm in Ridgeville, my 5th grade classmates who I couldn’t do my project without, the great people in my neighborhood, my Omi and Opa, my teachers and my headmaster, this list could go on and on! I appreciate everything everyone has done for me.
What will 2010 bring? I don’t know, but I dream big and I hope that I will have gardens not only in South Carolina but in other states. I want to visit my friends at NBC Nightly News and this time not end up in the hospital (had to have my appendix out last time). I pray and hope that in 2010, I can help Palmetto House find the money it needs to keep their doors open to help feed and house people in need. I hope I can inspire kids all across the country to donate to their local soup kitchens by planting a small garden, one vegetable plant grown in a pot or inspire all the 3rd graders across the county to participate in the Bonnie Plants 3rd grade cabbage program and see how fun it can be. More than anything in 2010 I want to make the people who support me proud!!!!