The City of Garland is hosting its great annual healthy living expo on Saturday September 24 from 9AM to 1PM at the Culwell Center in Garland. This year it's called "Live Well--Go Green." Loving Garland Green, along with many vendors and other nonprofit organizations, will be participating in this free to the public event. It's a great place to come and get the latest information regarding how you can live healthier. There are lots of freebies as well as demonstrations of the latest equipment for growing healthy food, cooking healthy food, water conservation, etc.
A Loving Garland Green brainstorming team will be meeting at my home this Saturday to plan the contents of our table at this event. The ideas I'm bringing to this meeting include the suggestion to center our information around three main topics: 1) 2016 International Year of the Pulses 2) Ways that we are supporting Mayor Athas and his pledge to support Monarchs and other pollinators and 3) Emphasizing our involvement and community outreach to our local Garland School students with our hands-on assistance in schoolyard gardens and through our stewardship of the Garland Community Garden.
In addition to information sheets about our organization, I am suggesting that we package bean seed packets as our give away; have two versions of a pole bean container; have a basket containing a monarch pupa; have some loofah bath sponges for display along with a green one and photos of the loofah tunnel down at the Garland Community Garden.
COPY ON FREE SEED PACKETS FROM LOVING GARLAND GREEN:
2016
International Year of the Pulses
Pulses are food legumes, with edible seeds. Beans and peas comprise the largest portion of this food group. Pulses belong to the scientific family Fabaceae. Almost three-quarters of the world’s population derive most of their protein requirements from pulses. Therefore, the United Nations has declared 2016 as the “International Year of Pulses” to create greater awareness to produce and consume more this healthy and sustainable food choice.
Beans and peas are a great choice for urban farmers as they grow easily in containers and look nice on a patio. If you plant a pole variety, the beans or peas are easy to pick and you have a dramatic display for your garden. One basic rule for planting beans is to wait until all danger of frost is past. Thus, unless you have a greenhouse, it is advised to wait until spring to plant the pulses in this packet. For more detail on pulses, consult: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/
You can also use the Internet to search for more information regarding the particular type of pulse found in this packet.
BECOME AN URBAN FARMER AND HELP YOUR FAMILY GET HEALTHIER! Two five-gallon containers of pulses and four five gallon containers of kale can supply a family of four with about 20% of their yearly requirements for greens. The plants will beautify your deck or patio, save money, help to feed your family, and provide habitat and food for many beneficial insects such as butterflies and bees.
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Loving Garland Green is donating this pot (complete with four poles, soil and pole green beans planted) to the students at Watson Tech. It can be kept outside in the schoolyard garden at Watson until the first frost is imminent. Then it can be brought in to the greenhouse. It should begin producing beans in mid-December. We may also assist some of the teachers at Watson in creating a few more of these patio planters for their garden and greenhouse. For these additional planters we will use recycled parts such as five-gallon garden buckets and old bamboo stakes tied together teepee style.
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For more information on this great FREE event:
LIVE WELL GO GREEN
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THANK YOU!