Big Yellow Bags of Soil³ Hummus Compost
At the root of every great garden is the soil. Soil³ Hummus Compost has been a complete game changer
for our gardens! Our production has increased by an astonishing 50%! As a nonprofit dedicated to
providing fresh produce to our neighbors facing hunger and food insecurity, Soil³ compost has
transformed how we grow. We amend our garden beds with the compost every growing season and
have almost eliminated the need for fertilizer. The Big Yellow Bags are OMRI Listed for certified organic
gardening and are delivered right to your garden.
Be sure to use the code KatiesKrops2023 when ordering this spring, and you will receive a discount while
we receive a donation for every bag purchased using the code. A true win/win! Also, save those Big
Yellow Bags and return them to the store. If you reside in Summerville, drop them off in our flagship
garden, and an educational garden program will receive a donation for every bag returned.
https://shop.soil3.com/products/big-yellow-bag
Proven Winners, Amazel Basil!
Make room in your garden for Amazel Basil from Proven Winners. And when we say make room, make a
lot of space! This beautiful lush plant grows to the size of a medium shrub in our garden, producing a
vast harvest to prepare our Katie’s Krops Dinners, share, and dry! Amazel Basil is not bitter, just
rich, delicious basil flavor. A huge bonus is that the plant is disease resistant. Amazel produces long after
all other basil plants have gone to seed in our garden but don’t toss them out when it goes to seed. Proven Winners Basil attracted more pollinators to our garden than any other plant this season!
https://www.provenwinners.com/search/content/basil
Plant Support Garden Clips
Year after year, these inexpensive plant support clips support our plants. For just $9.89 for 300 clips,
they are a bargain and reusable! We use them for training our plants to grow our fence and support our
tomato and pepper plants. You will also find these clips on our Amazon wish list (hint hint)!
https://smile.amazon.com/Support-Garden-Durable-Upright-Healthier/dp/B0899M1XQP/ref=sr_1_29?crid=1AP5IF7B1L63X&keywords=plant+clips&qid=1671560774&sprefix=plant+clips+%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-29
Bonnie Plants Cabbage
It all started with a Bonnie Plants cabbage, and fifteen years later, Bonnie plants cabbages are still one
of my favorite vegetables to grow. When fall begins, the growing doesn’t have to stop, and Bonnie
Plants cabbages are the perfect plant for a fall/winter garden in the south, and there is a wide variety to
choose from. The savoy is one of my favorites, with beautiful crinkles.
Don’t forget about the Bonnie Plants Third-Grade Cabbage Program. Open to third-grade students
across the country, this program introduces children to the wonders of gardening and growing their own
vegetables. It can be life-changing, and I speak from first-hand experience as one giant cabbage forever
changed my life!
https://bonniecabbageprogram.com/
Park Seed Zinnias
We don’t only share the harvest from our garden; we also share the gorgeous flowers we grow! Giving
people fresh flowers from the garden brings me joy, so I always make sure to plant plenty of high-
yielding flowers at the beginning of the season.
Zinnias are my favorite cutting flowers! We fill numerous garden beds with Park Seed Zinnia seeds at the
beginning of each season. I like to use the sprinkle method and mix several varieties of zinnia seeds to
get a fun combination. Whether you have a green thumb or brown thumb, zinnias are the easiest
flowers to grow, and the results are stunning. The more you cut, the more flowers you get, and the
pollinators love Zinnias! These flowers thrive in the summer heat and are a fantastic way to attract bees
and butterflies to your garden. All around, these guys are a win-win! Park Seed Zinnias
Compostable To-Go Boxes
In 2023 we committed to eliminating styrofoam from our Katie’s Krops Dinners and using compostable
to-go boxes. It was a change we could make now that supply chain issues made compostable to-go
containers easier to obtain than during the pandemic’s peak. Of course, the change would cost us more,
but the environmental cost was much higher. These are our favorite compostable to-go boxes! We use
600+ boxes for our bi-weekly distribution, and they hold up wonderfully. Next time you require to-go
boxes, skip to the styrofoam, and go for a compostable option!
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0BF94KPZK/?coliid=I1NY1TW3SZ0BAL&colid=37GWNU08W5D5C&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
The Whatifs
Storytime in the garden has quickly become my favorite way to spend an hour. Main Street Reads in
Summerville graciously allows me to browse its excellent selection of children’s books and borrow
stories to share with my young friends. I see children’s books in a new light, and I love how so many
books share empowering messages in a light-hearted way. Recently, I read a book with such an
important message that I bought myself a copy to ensure that I would never forget it!
The Whatifs, has a wonderful message of not only what it is like living with anxiety but also perspective
into how changing your thought process can turn your whole day around. As someone with horrible
anxiety, it was a pleasant reminder that the whatifs don’t always have to be negative. I love watching
the kid’s reactions to the stories, and this one resonated with us all.
If you are looking for a great book to talk about feelings or maybe just a reminder for your adult self (it
makes a charming coffee table book!), I would highly recommend The Whatifs!
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Whatifs/Emily-Kilgore/9781499810295
Bob’s Homemade Bread
There is truly nothing better than a soft yummy loaf of homemade bread. I am proud to share that fresh
bread has become a staple to our Katie’s Krops Dinners. Every dinner, as I pass meals to our guests, I get
requests for our “good bread.” That good bread our guests refer to is handmade bread by our dear
friend Bob. Bob bakes so much love and care into each loaf and leaves our dinner guests smiling from
ear to ear. To keep up with the demand, Bob bakes almost every day, making his delicious bread to
share with our dinner guests. While you may never get to try some of Bob’s bread yourself, you can help
him continue bringing smiles to everyone’s faces by supporting his bread-making endeavors via our
amazon wishlist. Our Amazon Wish List
Corona Tools Bypass Pruners
As our zinnias flourished, a good reliable pair of pruners to create beautiful arrangements was a must.
My favorite pruners are from Corona Tools, which have assisted in making hundreds of beautiful floral
arrangements and harvesting thousands of pounds of produce to share! These are the last pruners you
will need to purchase as they are built to last. The locking clip makes for safe storage.
As someone who has recently learned how to make flower arrangements, I will share a few of my
favorite tips. The more greenery, the better! The Corona tools clippers will especially come in handy for
this. Whether it’s foliage on shrubs with thick stems, some aromatic Amazel Basil, or some ferns,
greenery adds to the look of flower arrangements. Mix it up! Add veggies to your bouquet. Kale, Swiss
Chard, herbs, carrot tops, anything goes! I also recommend removing the leaves from the stems, as it
helps the arrangements last longer.
https://www.amazon.com/Corona-BP-3180D-Classic-Capacity/dp/B00004R9YQ?th=1
Ms. Rene’s Cards
Several times a year, a box arrives on my doorstep filled with the most beautifully handcrafted cards.
Hundreds and hundreds of cards made with love and filled with beautiful messages for us to share with
our dinner guests, recipients of fresh produce and flower arrangements, and our donors. To have
someone reach out from across the country to share their talents with us is one of the greatest gifts we
could receive. Every time I sit down to write a note, I think of Ms. Rene and the time and love she has
poured into making each and every card possible.
I am excited for 2023 and to explore and find more favorite things! Happy New Year!
