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I got an email yesterday from the Neighborhood Vitality Office of Garland informing me they had received "several complaints" regarding the "trash bags" at the garden. [Personally, I think these complaints came from certain city employees (perhaps our ever vigilant code compliance police) and not from average private Garland residents.  However, in complete fairness, I don't know that for certain--just a hunch.  Somehow, I can't picture an average citizen actually being so intensely concerned  regarding the appearance of these leaf bags. These bags are so far away from the road they blur into the background as most citizens speed at 50 miles an hour along this 30 mile an hour stretch of Naaman School Road. I sincerely doubt they would care one way or another about these leaf bags and they pose no health hazard to our community.]  

Still, as President of Loving Garland Green, I would like to set my community straight regarding these bags so you don't think we are "trashing up the place."  

First of all, they are not "trash bags".  They are leaf bags that are filled with clean leaves that are being used to build up the soil of the existing beds and to build new beds down at the garden.

Second of all, they are not permanent fixtures on the landscape.  Members of Loving Garland Green are emptying them daily into the garden.  We hope to have them all blended into the garden by the end of January and we ask your patience for the next six weeks--a lot shorter time period, for example, than the ongoing construction of our City Hall.

Sign in the Back of the Garland Community Garden (posted September 2014) Explaining Creation of Garden Beds

And finally, we invite you down to the garden.  There, you will find a sign in the back of the garden by the leaf bags that explains how the garden soil at the Garland Community Garden is created.  We use an organic method called "the lasagna method."  This involves putting down a layer of cardboard, wetting it thoroughly to create a barrier to sunlight that will kill the grass and weeds.  On top of that layer we will put newspaper, leaves and green compost along with rabbit manure.  We will cover these beds with black 6 mil plastic and let them cook until the first of March.  At that time we will remove the layer of plastic and begin planting.  Once the plants are established, we will mulch.  If you would like more education on this method, you can access http://lovinggarlandgreen.org and search on our website under "lasagna garden."  There you will find more information and even a video on the topic.  This is the most economical method for creating healthy soil needed to grow healthy vegetables.  Our organization could not afford to purchase as much soil as we would need to supply this garden.  In addition, by using this method, we are an example for the community, showing them how to build a great garden with little or no money.  We have presented demonstrations of these builds at various community events over the past year--including the Healthy Living Expo here in Garland this fall.

New Sign in the Garland Community Garden Installed Dec 16, 2014

In addition to the sign (which has been there for several months) explaining the Winding Garden and because of the report of the complaints "from several sources", I created two more signs today explaining the leaf bags and cardboard.  One of these signs is in the back of the garden near the leaf bags, and the other one is in the front part of the garden.  These new signs briefly explain the presence of the leaf bags and cardboard and simply request your patience over this transition period.

If you see me or another member of Loving Garland Green down at the garden dumping and watering leaves, please feel free to stop and help us--especially if you happen to be one of the complainers.  That way you can assist in removing the source of your complaints and at the same time help to make your community better.

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I spent most of yesterday down at the Garland Community Garden dumping dead leaves, sprinkling compost on top of them and then soaking the pile heavily with water--all in preparation for spring planting.  As usual, when alone, like many folks, I tend to contemplate the heavier side of life as well as many of its ironies and paradoxes.  Somehow, although perfectly natural, it seems a bit twisted to me for the dead to nourish the living, yet that is certainly the cycle of things in the garden--especially if you are an organic gardener who uses leaves and compost to create the soil for your seeds.

It's the same way with relationships, the leftover experiences and memories become the soil for new relationship and life experiences. We bring that soil with us and in many ways it is similar to the soil in the garden.  If garden soil is toxic or lacking in essential minerals, it needs to be cleaned up before planting new plants and so it is with relationships as well.  I guess that's why we are often advised to take some time to examine ourselves before seeking another relationship right away.  And I guess that is why I love the garden so well as it contains far more life lessons than I'll ever be able to grasp in one lifetime.

As Pema Chodron points out in his book, "Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change":  "In difficult times, the stress of trying to find solid ground--something predictable and safe to stand on--seems to intensify.  But in truth, the very nature of our existence is forever in flux--just like plants in a garden.  Everything keeps changing, whether we are aware of it or not."  And yet, so many of us spend so much time trying to "stabilize" things.  In fact, these very efforts are often the source of our unhappiness.

Perhaps the main requirement for "living beautifully" is to come to terms with uncertainty and change and realize that I can never completely 'get it all together'.  Increasing my tolerance for instability and change by learning how to embrace unpredictability and uncertainty as vehicles that can transform my life is one good start.  At the moment, the best I can do in order to travel in that direction is to continue repeating the mantra:  When one door closes, another even better one opens.

I might do well to consider practicing the three vows of the Buddhists:

1.  The Pratimoksha Vow which is the foundation for personal freedom--a commitment to doing our best to not cause harm with my actions words or thoughts.

2. The Bodhisattva Vow which is the next step to being comfortable to groundlessness is a commitment to helping others by nurturing our compassion.

3. The Samaya Vow which is a resolve to embrace the world as just as it is now without bias.  Anything and everything is a means by which we can awaken further. (This belief seems to dovetail into the door closing and another one opening.)

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Perhaps one of the weirdest paradoxes of nature to me is that December 21 marks the beginning of the deadest season of the year--winter.  At the same time, the very day after the Winter Solstice, the days begin to get longer and the dark night shorter.  The promise of spring is then the gift of winter.  

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Giving Tuesday, December 2, is a national 24-hour giving event to support worthy causes amid the rush of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

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Black Friday is the Official Kickoff for Loving Garland Green's Pecan Sales

 

Friday from 12 to 3 PM you can look for Loving Garland Green members to be selling Cups of Texas and Sacks of Texas down in the Garland Community Garden located at 4022 Naaman School Road. No two cups and no two sacks will be the same.

 

The Cups of Texas are priced at $3.00 each. Where can you find a holiday gift these days for $3.00? The sacks of pecans are being sold at $1.00 a sack--a perfect stocking stuffer. Yep that's right! Members of Loving Garland Green will be ringing the bells and dancing at Brand and Naaman School Road.

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Loving Garland Green Board officers and board members: Carol Garrison, Charles Bevilacqua, and Liz Berry at Keep Garland Beautiful's Annual Trash Bash - November 2014.

Carol Garrison and Daniel Bell with their worm farm at a Garland elementary school.  Education and learning with the community regarding the value of organic urban local food production and all its related activities such as rainwater harvesting, vermicomposting, and increasing our knowledge regarding permaculture principles are central to our activities.

Yes, Loving Garland Green is the group whose members are the official stewards of the only community garden on City property in Garland Texas.  The Garland Community Garden is located at 4022 Naaman School Road (at the intersection of Brand and Naaman School Road).  However, being stewards for our Garland Community Garden is only part of our community activities.  We participate and support many community events.

We currently have over 1,500 square feet of garden beds down at the garden and plan to add 640 square feed before the end of the year.  As for perennials, we have nine blackberry bushes, four blueberry bushes, two rosemary bushes, one fig tree, one pomegranate, three grapevines, one Santa Hoja, and numerous self-seeding annuals installed at the garden.

Here is  list of just a few of the things we hope accomplish in the coming months:

1. Complete the build for the second row of beds in The Winding Garden (a planned section of garden plots totaling 160 feet long and four feet wide (640 square feet)

2. Add soil amendments to all the existing beds (about 500 square feet).  Note: after completion of the second row of beds in the Winding Garden, we will have approximately 1,200 square feet of garden plots.

3.Design a rainwater harvesting system for the garden that will make it self-sufficient for at least 50% of its watering needs by the end of 2015. In Garland we have an annual rainfall of 38 inches. If our community had the proper rainwater harvesting systems installed throughout our municipality, we would not need to ration water.  In the process of doing this, and in fact all our projects, we want to involve the local residents and learn together with them.  One thing to remember about Loving Garland Green is that none of us consider ourselves as "experts."  We are all learning together and sharing our knowledge as we gain it among ourselves and with our community.  

4.  Begin installing urban gardens in the homes of Garland residents at the rate of 2 a month starting in January of 2015.

5. Design and establish a program that will enable us to build at least two tiny homes on a lot here in Garland.  These two homes would, of course, share a common garden.

6. Launch a program to support neighborhoods in building neighborhood community gardens.  We know the closer a resident lives to a community garden, the more likely they are to participate in taking care of that garden.  

NOTE:  Our viewpoint of the community garden is somewhat different as we view the community garden as an experiment for people to learn about gardening and related "green things" such as composting and rainwater harvesting together.  It is not simply a place where people rent a plot, and plant some vegetables.  It is a place to learn about growing edibles by growing them. It is a community of people learning together and fully exploring all the possibilities that growing food locally offers for our community.  All our members also have gardens at their homes.

7. Speaking of experiments, one of several that we are planning for 2015 is the Loofah and Hops Growing Adventure.  We already know that we can grow loofahs in the garden as we produced no less than 20 without even trying hard.  Loofahs, a type of squash that grows into a large fibrous sponge has commercial value in our community--that we also proved in 2014.  In September at our local Marketplace on the Square, we sold 24 of them (6 cut into four pieces) at $2.00 each.  We could have sold more if we had more.

As for Hops, we are still doing research on the types we will plant.  However, with the rise of craft breweries, we think there may be a market for hops in our community as well.  

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Prior to 1941, we were a creditor nation with a national plant-based economy.  After 1941 we began to move into the era of an oil-based economy.  We forget that we can do everything and more with a plant-based economy than we can with an oil-based economy--including making plastics.  In the late 1930's, Ford chemists developed a material that consisted of 70% celluose fiber and 30% resin.  The cellulose fiber consisted of 50% southern slash pine fiber, 30% straw, 10% hemp, and 10% ramie.  They used this plastic to create a car.  The plastic material of this car could absorb blows ten times as great as steel without denting.  Ford even demonstrated this by having men try to dent the vehicle with large sledgehammers.

I would like to see a company begin to create plant-based plastics today.  If we used hemp and fast growing bamboo, we would not have to worry about depleting our forests.

Let's start rebuilding our economy locally--one plant at a time.  Start experimenting in your own back yard.  You may be surprised at the amount of plants you can grow.  Growing plants is the next revolution and it has begun.  Growing your own food is the fast track to freedom.

Stop looking for solutions to come out of Washington and start working with your local government to create a plant-based sustainable prosperity right where you live.   Join Loving Garland Green and learn with us--how to grow plants and how to participate in your local economy and local government.  Yes, you can do it by yourself, but friends will get you there faster.

We meet every Monday from 6:30 to 7:30pm at 216 East Kingsbridge Drive Garland 75040.

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Add  Wood Ash to Compost ONLY IF you do not plan to mix your compost into existing clay soil here in Dallas county.

It is that time of year:  What to do with the ashes in the fireplace?  I'm putting mine in my compost and in the compost bins at the Garland Community Garden. Wood ash (not coal ash) is a great addition to garden soil.  It contains potassium--a vital nutrient for plants.  I can do this because the soil I use for my garden and the Garland Community Garden is all made from organic materials put on top of cardboard to create raised garden bed mounds.  It is not mixed into the existing Dallas County clay.

TWO CAUTIONS

1.  If you plan to work your compost into the existing clay soil in Dallas county, do not add wood ash to your compost as it will toxify your soil.  The soil in Dallas county is black clay, highly alkaline and with very high levels of Phosphorus and Potassium.

2. Don't dump several gallons of wood ash all at once to your compost bin because if you raise the pH too much, you will upset the balance of bacteria and worms. Wood ash is really good to keep your compost in balance if  you compost a lot of fruit and other acidic organic matter.

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Hellebore - Helleborus, Zones 4 to 9

THREE WINTER FLOWERS TO CONSIDER

Hellebore, a perennial flowering plant,  comes in lots of colors and heights ranging from just 2 inches to 2 feet.  They are frost resistant, shade tolerant and bloom in the winter and early spring.  Many varieties are evergreen.  Great Garden Plants have quite a selection of Hellebores for purchase.

 

Cyclamen (23 species of perennials) Zones 5 to 9.  These late winter bloomers prefer partial shade.Cyclamens have a tuber, from which the flowers and roots grow. In most species, leaves come up in autumn, grow through the winter, and die in spring, then the plant goes dormant through the dry summer.Cyclamen persicum and coum bloom in winter. They are the most cold tolerant of all Cyclamens.  You can find these plants in most nurseries in the area now.

 

Ornamental cabbage - The lower the temperature, the more vivid the colors.  This plant loves the full sun.  You can still find this plant in most nurseries in and about Dallas.

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Green Tomatoes Everywhere! -a view from my kitchen table this morning.

Signs of the Coming Winter:  Green Tomatoes in my Kitchen . . .

No "hard freeze" yesterday in Garland.  Even so with a 32 degree reading in Garland at 6 am today, I was glad to have taken the precautions I did--covering my plants with leaves and blankets and digging up all my artichokes and bringing them, along with an orange a lemon tree, into my home.  it was a good fire drill for me as tonight the weatherman is predicting a hard freeze for our area.

["Hard freeze" is used to imply temperatures that are sufficiently cold, for a long enough period, to seriously damage or kill seasonal vegetation. In our area, this usually means temperatures falling into the upper 20s or lower for at least two to three hours.]

The more experienced gardeners in Loving Garland Green's membership, such as Carol and Daniel, have built protective enclosures around their tomato plants.  These gardeners will be picking fresh tomatoes from their garden throughout the winter.  The johnny-come-latelys to the garden scene such as I are content to gather in our green tomatoes before the hard freeze.  Indeed, I'm glad to even have some tomatoes to gather.

Now the question becomes:  What shall I do with this nutritious food source?

I've decided to do three things:  1) Keep some on the vine and stick the vine in water with a few nutrients in it to see if they will continue to mature.   2) Just leave some in a sack on the table to ripen. 3) Cook the rest.  

If you visit the Internet and search for ways to ripen green tomatoes, you'll find all kinds of interesting instructions. Several methods suggest that putting a banana in with the tomatoes in the bag will speed things along.  I was a little surprised that most of the methods suggest to ripen tomatoes in either a plastic or paper bag in a warm dry space out of the sun.  Left to following Charlie's method, I would have simply put them on the kitchen table in the sun to ripen. They will ripen if you do this.  I know because I've seen it happen many times.

As for cooking green tomatoes, just search under "green tomato recipes". (I got 23,100,000 results in 0.48 sec.) Not that I looked at them all, but I did find on recipe that I plan to try:

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Fried Green Tomato Parmesan

from "The Messy Baker"

  •  4 medium green tomatoes cored
  • salt
  • fresh black ground pepper
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flower
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup dried bread crumbs
  • olive oil for frying
  • 2 cups tomato sauce
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • pasta of your choice

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease a 9-inch by 13 inch glass pan.
2. Slice tomatoes 1/2 inch thick.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
3. Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet
4.Beat the green tomato slices by dipping them int he coating ingredients in the following order:  milk, flower, egg, bread crumbs.
5.  Fry each slicks 4 to 5 minutes per side.  
6. Place in a single layer to cover the bottom of the baking pan.
7. Cover tomato slicers evenly with tomato sauce.
8. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
9. Bake 45 to 60 minutes or until tomatoes are done to your liking.
10 Serve hot on freshly cooked pasta.

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And then there is the promise of more tomatoes next year. . .

 Down at the Garland Community Garden we are beginning our annual fall collection of leaves, paper and cardboard boxes--materials that we use to create lasagna beds, mound style.


In addition to amending the soil in the first section of The Winding Garden section, in late December we will begin construction on the second row of these garden plots.  Section I is approximately 160 feet long and about three feet wide.  Section II will be about the same.  Each section is divided and numbered into 24 plots.

Visit our website at Loving Garland Green, or better yet attend one of our weekly meetings at 216 East Kingsbridge Drive Garland Texas 75040.  We meet every Monday from 6:30 to 7:30.

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The Garland Public Blackboard

The Garland Youth Council engineered the creation of a public blackboard on the State Street side of the Garland Civic Theatre building at the corner of Fifth.

 Lucas Cervellini, a Garland resident who formerly taught art in Argentina, was the first artist to display his work on the blackboard.  Like life, the public blackboard will be in constant  transition as various forms of nature, including human beings and the weather interact with its surface.

The grassy space on the vacant lot that adjoins the blackboard will provide more space for the Saturday night gathering of musicians on the square.  And who do you think took this great photo of Lucas drawing on the blackboard?  It was none other than our Mayor Doug Athas.

If you are one of the many local Garland artists or artist wantobes, get on downtown and create your own work of art on this blackboard, but make sure to take a photo of it before you leave.

Start participating in your community now.  Love your place so that others can see how special it is.  Love is a magic that grows all kinds of beautiful gardens in the most unexpected places.

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Speaking of Love and Loving Your Place and Supporting Your Community.  .  .

Remember to dine at the Firewheel Chipotle on Tuesday November 18 between 6 and 8 pm on Tuesday.

Tell the servers that you are there for the fundraiser and 50% of the price of your meal will go to the Garland Youth Council.

The mission of the City's Youth Council is to provide a forum which educates Garland's youth to the various workings of City business and allows youth to be a voice that addresses their particular ideas and concerns.  They are definitely worth supporting.

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That was downtown Garland then and this is downtown Garland now (Mayor Doug Athas points to what was once a Tin Shop in downtown Garland and what may become a beer brewery in 2015.)  

Mayor Doug Athas points to the possible location of a new craft beer brewery, Intrinsic,  on the downtown square of Garland.  The current, burned out building, like many of the buildings around the square in Garland, has long history.  Prior to the fire fifteen years ago that wiped out the interior of this building, it has housed many different types of businesses.  It began as a Harness and Tin shop near the beginning of the 20th century.  In 1932 plumbing supplies were sold there. The building retains its original parapet [portion of exterior wall that extends above the roof line], one of the few buildings on the square to do so.  However, today, due to the fire, the roof is missing and the interior is gutted down to its brick walls and concrete floor.  Many folks today have never heard of "tinners" as this is a profession that has long been absent from American life.  However, back in the 19th and early 20th century tinware competed successfully with the more traditional pottery products. Tin shop owners shaped tin sheet iron into a variety of forms, and distributed finished goods wholesale through peddlers, and country stores.

 Cary Hodson, a local Garland resident,  is raising money to make this happen on an ale-centric crowdfunding site, Crowd Brewed.  If the Internet is any indication, Cary has started quite an avalanche of buzz for his project.  In fact, his event has caught the eye of the UK press.   Texas man offering free beer for life for just $2,000 but you have to invest in his start-up brewery.

The Fort Worth band, The Gypsy Playboys offered live tunes yesterday. at the Intrinsic Brewing, Tasting and Food Truck Cafe (in the old burned out tin shop). You can hear this great band at the Mellow Mushroom in Rockwall on Nov 15, Dec 13 and Dec 27.  Below you see a view from the inside of the Intrinsic Brewing, Tasting and Food Truck Cafe.

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 Carol Garrison, Vice President of Loving Garland Green "womaning" the Loving Garland Green Booth

Mistletoe Market - Downtown Garland November 8, 2014

The Intrinsic event wasn't the only happening event in downtown Garland yesterday.  The Mistletoe Market was also happening.  This event is organized and marketed by Kirk Lovett of Eventive Marketing. Some of the proceeds from the event go to our local Good Samaritans.  In addition, residents brought canned goods to help supply the food shelves for this charitable organization in our community.

 

Gene Rodgers, engineer, professional soap maker and all around Renaissance man put himself in charge (Loving Garland Green is a member-directed nonprofit organization) of promoting the sale of our Texas-sized Rangers wreath.  Gene did a heck of a job.  He even got on the microphone and encouraged a flurry of last minute raffle ticket sales.  Thank you Gene!  by the way, if you don't know anything about how to make soap and would like to learn, come to the weekly meeting of Loving Garland Green on Monday November 10 from 6:30 to 7:30 at 216 East Kingsbridge Drive Garland 75040.  

Jean Shortsleeve, another of our members made and donated this wreath for the event.  If you are interested in having any type of special wreath created for you, just call  Loving Garland Green at 972-571-4497 and we will put you in touch with Jean.

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 It was a beautiful day for meeting and talking with people.  I know Austin prides itself on being quirky and artsy and different, but let me ask you:  Does Austin have Victoria England?  No, Victoria and her husband live in Garland.  Instead of mowing their lawn, they have two giant tortoises who do the job for them.  People are filled with great ideas for improving our community and making it even more of a great place to live than it already is.  For example, I talked to a fireman, an avid gardener, who is interested in getting neighborhood gardens planted in and about our local fire stations.  That sounds like a great idea to me.

Anything can happen in Garland and it's all mostly good. We still have people living here who not only believe in the American Dream, but who are also willing to work for it. We will all prosper the closer we move to a local plant-based economy and this includes craft breweries, gardens, rain barrels, rainwater harvesting and much more. City leaderships all over the USA are waking up to the potential offered by this new economy and I'm happy to know that I live in one of these cities with that kind of local leadership and citizen participation.

Residents of Garland have a deep history of bootstraps optimism. Two of our oldest businesses--Roach Feed and Seed and Resistol--were established in the worst depression our country has ever known, the Great Depression of the 1930's. It is noteworthy that both these businesses have not only survived, they have thrived. Resistol is today the largest hat manufacturer in the world. Then there is the story in our very early history of how no one would sell us electricity so a few citizens bought a generator and established a locally owned electric co-op. Garland is a very cool city and it's time for us who live here to  get the word out: We love Garland!   Growing Garland Cool means Loving Garland Green.

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“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” ― Margaret Mead

 Shelly Mayberry, Michelle Hibbs and Beverly Wardwell, RN, BSN are the faces behind the success of the Jam the Gym Health Fair at the Lister Elementary School in Garland, Texas (November 6, 2014).  Thank you for all that you do for the children in our community.

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Members of Loving Garland Green had the pleasure of being invited to participate in the "Jam the Gym Health Fair"  held on Thursday evening (Nov 6) at the Lister Elementary school.  Other vendors represented included the American Heart Association; Baylor School of Dentistry; City of Garland Environmental Waste Re-cycling; Counselor-Bullying, Drug Awareness and Peer Pressure; Garland Health Department; Garland Office of Emergency Management; Lakepointe Bone and Joint, Loving and Logic Parenting Class Information; Medical Center of Plano - blood pressure screenings; North Texas Poison Center; Parkway Dental; Pedia Med Night Clinic; School Resource Officer - Bicycle Safety; and WIC.

Loving Garland Green member, James Roney talks with a pupil from Lister Elementary about organic pest control.

Last night several members of Loving Garland Green and I had the pleasure to participate in the school's Jam the Gym Health Fair.  Beverly Wardwell, RN, the school nurse, plays a very active role in teaching the pupils at Lister Elementary how to get healthy and stay healthy.  Among other things, she encourages them to eat from the rainbow and include a variety of colorful foods in their diet--from carrots to watermelons; from green beans to beets.  She is now teaming up with Michael Floyd, a fifth grade teacher at Lister, to create a garden for the school and teach children how to not only eat food from the rainbow, but to also teach them how to grow the plants.

 

 

Carol and Daniel, members of Loving Garland Green, brought their worm farm to the event. For the Loving Garland Green table, it was a popularity draw between their worm farm and the popcorn machine that James and his wife Lilly brought and served up free sacks of popcorn from to the kiddos and their parents.

 

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PREVIEW OF MORE TO COME AT LISTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Michael Floyd - Fifth Grade Teacher at Lister Elementary School

Speaking of starting ripples in the community lake, take a good look at this rock.  Michael Floyd, fifth grade teacher at Lister Elementary School, began to move and shake things in the right direction last spring.  He stuck with it until his school had a greenhouse installed in the back of the school.  Pupils in Michael's class were very enthusiastic about the greenhouse, and this year Michael hopes to get even more use from the greenshouse.   Last year the installation was completed just as things began to warm up here in Garland.  As you may know, greenhouses are great for November, December, January, February and a week or two in March; however, after that. . . .not so much.

Michael is already making use of rainwater harvesting.  There are three rain barrels that he has set up and are operational:  One is connected to the greenhouse and the other two are attached to the gutter system of the school.  But if you think Michael's ambitions stop there, you are wrong.  He hopes to create a raised garden bed for each grade level at Lister Elementary School so that all the children at Lister can participate in the rewarding and educational experience of gardening.   And he is busy working on a grant assist with the project.  

In the meantime if you have any spare cash or elbow grease, please contact Michael at 214-681-2398.  I'm sure he would love to hear from you.

Lister is already taking advantage of rainwater harvesting potential from the roof of the school building as shown below.  Two rainbarrels are connected to the roof.

  

The greenhouse currently in place at Lister Elementary also harvests rainwater from its roof.

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Now this is a great way to raise money!

You are going to eat dinner anyway on Tuesday, November 18, aren't you?

Well, if you eat at Chipotle at the Firewheel Center (4170 Lavon Drive) between 6 and 8 pm on the 18th of November AND if you tell the cashier you are there for the fundraiser, 50% of your purchase goes to the Garland Youth Council.  

Now who is the Garland Youth Council and what do they do?

The mission of the City’s Youth Council is to provide a forum which  educates Garland’s youth to the various workings of City business, and allows youth to be a voice to address their particular ideas and concerns.  The Council which meets once a month is comprised of 20 members from our community. 

And what's on the menu at Chipotle?  No matter what your unique dietary needs are, Chipotle has options for you. Unless you have an allergy to delicious food, in which case, we might have an issue. Chipotle's menu includes selections for just about every palate.

Help the Garland Youth Council and help out a business that is located in Garland.  In addition to 50% of the price of your meal going to the Garland Youth Council, 2% of the sales tax applicable to your purchase will also go to the City of Garland since this particular restaurant is located within the City limits of Garland.