We are so excited to announce that Thursday, May 24th will be our first produce sale of 2012! The Seedleaf Farms online store is up and ready to take your order. You can get straight there from here. We have a number of items that you can choose for your own “basket”. You can pick up these items on on Thursday afternoon between 4 and 5:30 pm at Third Street Stuff. You can pay online by credit card, or with check or cash at the point of purchase. We will not have a lot of extra items available on Thursdays, so please order through the website to make sure we have harvested and brough what you are looking for.

Email me with any questions: ryan@seedleaf.org.

We are happy to announce a Rain Garden Workshop at the North Pole Garden. Russ Turpin of EcoGrow will orchestrate a hands-on learning opportunity. And after some planting, you can relax with a free smoothie from the Berry Pedalers. Here are more details:

What: Rain Garden Workshop

Where: North Pole Community Garden–908 North Limestone Ave.

When: Saturday, May 19th, 12-1pm

Angie Quigley of For Pete’s Sake Farm has generously donated plants to Seedleaf over the past two years. Visit her for her plant sale the next two Saturdays. Here are the details:

Mother’s Day is this Sunday! We have the perfect gift that truly does keep on giving.  Over 60 varieties of organic, heirloom tomato plants as well as peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, squash, melons, herbs and alpine strawberries.  We also have Jan Banks farm fresh eggs available for purchase.  You can view many of our plants available under “products” on our web site.

We are open Saturday the 12th and 19th from 8:30 to 2:30 at 6050 Cedarcreek Lane, Lexington, KY 40515.  Just a short drive down the beautiful Old Richmond Road corridor.  Your Mom will be very happy!!!

Thanks so much, Angie–and best of luck at your plant sale!

Here’s a video shot by Bruce Burris of Latitude. This was a fun demonstration for some container gardening. Thanks so much to Bruce and Stacy for making us feel welcome!

So spring is all the way here, complete with timely rains, hot days, and cool nights. To that end, we want to extend a welcome for you to join us in our community gardens and help us keep these spaces productive. Here are more details:

• Tuesday, May 8th, 4-5pm Gainesway Community Garden (3430 Milano Rd)–Maintenance, watering, weeding, harvesting at the garden behind the Gainesway Community Garden.
• Friday, May 11th, 10-11:30 Withrow Community Garden (corner of Withrow and E. Third)–Watering, weeding, and harvesting radishes; planting tomatoes!
• Saturday, May 12th, 10am-2pm Growing Communities–an event orchestrated by Fayette County Cooperative Extension–Gardening workshops through the morning and early afternoon.
• Saturday, May 12th, 10am-noon London Ferrill Community Garden (235 E. Third St)–Watering, weeding, harvesting at the garden beside Fire Station #1.
• Saturday, May 12, 1pm-3pm North Pole Community Garden (908 North Limestone)–Watering, weeding, soil conditioning at our new garden on the north side.

Please RSVP by emailing andy@seedleaf.org so we will know to expect you. Also, check our Facebook page or Twitter feed if you fear we are getting rained out.

Join Christ Church Cathedral, Seedleaf, the London Ferrill community garden (LFCG) and The Living Arts and Science Center for an Earth Day celebration, held at the Old Episcopal Burying Grounds. Seedleaf would love to have our friends come out and join us with the Saturday morning clean up (10-noon) and then later share in the celebrations and activities. Be sure to check out our recent graduates from our Master Community Composter Training; they will be putting on composting demonstrations from 1-2pm.

Other activities include:

• Planting a garden mural/butterfly garden along with a small seed planting “Make and Take” for earth day visitors.
• An “Energy-on-the-move” demo of energy saving practices
• A community art project, utilizing recyclable material
• Enjoy smoothies from Berry Pedalers and their bike-powered blender
• Beekeeping demonstrations
• Tree-pruning demo
• Labyrinth demo and use
• Tours of the London Ferrill community garden and the Old Episcopal Burying Ground

When: Saturday April 21st
10:00 AM – Noon (the LFCG will begin with garden plot clean-up and Spring planting)
Noon – 3:00 PM (celebration and activities)

Where: London Ferrill Community Garden

We have had a wonderful month and are getting all kinds of help–thanks so much to all of you who have already volunteered this spring! We have prepared many of the planting beds, and are looking forward to a chance to plant the summer things soon. We are underway at seven community gardens and have 3 standing weekly opportunities for volunteers:

• Fridays–Withrow Community Garden, 10am-noon
• Saturdays–London Ferrill Community Garden, 10am-noon
• Saturdays–North Pole Community Garden, 1-3pm

We are more than happy to work with groups and service organizations and make a time that works for you. There is plenty to keep up with in the gardens. If you want more information, please contact Volunteer Coordinator Andy Werner: andy@seedleaf.org.

Come out  and help us expand our mission of getting more locally grown food in Lexington. We will be installing a new garden and would love to complete this garden to start growing more! If you have any questions about the garden or how you can help, contact me: andy@seedleaf.org. Here’s where to meet us on Tuesday evening:

When: Tuesday Apr. 17th from 5:30-7pm

Where: 425 Campbell St. Garden (Near Transylvania between 4th st/5th st. and N. Broadway/N. Upper).

Chicken Whisperer, Tommy Collins, will answer your questions about urban chicken keeping. Whether you’re considering getting a flock for the first time or have been keeping chickens for years, bring your questions about local laws, breeds, where to get chickens, coops, food, health, etc. Tommy has raised chickens since he was a child and is extremely knowledgeable and entertaining on the topic of all things poultry.

Sponsored by CLUCK / Cooperative of Lexington Urban Chicken Keepers / A division of Seedleaf.

We at Seedleaf were honored to be a part Lee Meyer‘s birthday celebration this past Saturday evening. Lee’s family asked his friends to give gifts in his name to Seedleaf, and we were able to raise over $500! Special thanks to Victoria for putting on such a fun party, and to all the Myers’ friends. Your timely gifts are helping us begin what promises to be a great growing season.