When we didn’t get grants this year, deciding to try crowd sourcing the fundraising for SEEDS was a bit of an experiment. It proved that our community really cares about what kids are doing with their summers! With a total of $7,753 raised, SEEDS is well under way for a fourth summer of Service, Education, and Entrepreneurship in Downtown Spaces.

Thanks to 36 amazing donors who donated amounts ranging from $10 to $1225 either via the Indiegogo page or directly to Seedleaf. Your thank-you gifts are being prepared and you’ll have them by the SEEDS graduation date, August 1.

Our gratitude goes out to:

• Jeremy Midkiff
• Bobbie Newman
• McIntosh-Ditto Wealth Advisory Group of Hilliard Lyons
• Ann Feazell
• Shawn Burns
• Keiko Tanaka
• Rebecca Howell
• Miki Wright
• Michael Pennell
• Hannah Knudsen
• Sean Gladding
• Derek Wingfield
• Heather Lyons
• Jess & Grant Clouser
• Elizabeth & Jesse Robinson
• Angela Baldridge
• Ann Bowe
• And a whole bunch of anonymous donations

Thank you for your generosity!!!

Here are two ways you can get involved with Seedleaf (and beat the heat!):

• Tuesday, June 18th, 6pm–Seedleaf 101 and Seed Swap featuring FaithFeeds’ Bob McKinley–We’ll meet up at the Tates Creek Branch of the Lexington Public Library for this month’s edition of Seedleaf 101. Participants will hear some of our history, stories from the past five years, and some of our aspirations. Then we’ll segue into a proper seed swap. RSVP to me by clicking this.
• Thursday, June 20th, 6-8pm–Soups On–Join Kate Horning of Simply Nutritious as she prepares a soup featuring fresh local produce, and take home a portion as our thanks for your help. We ask for a donation of $8 to help offset our materials cost on this. Please RSVP to Karen here to let us know that you are coming.

Also, Seedleaf Farms is ready to take your order. We are busy raising food on four different plots and can harvest and deliver your order (for a fee of $20) or meet you at Third St Stuff on Thursday afternoon between 4 and 5:30. Click here to see what we have available, and order by Wednesday, June 19th, by 9am for a Thursday, June 20th, delivery/pickup.

We’re in the final countdown of our first crowd-sourced fundraiser for SEEDS (Service, Education, and Entrepreneurship in Downtown Spaces). This successful program for youth hopes to graduate 15 participants this summer. SEEDS kids are the kids from the neighborhoods we work in every week, and they are the generation who have the greatest challenge in understanding where their food comes from: gardens and farms, not shiny plastic packages.

Join us in shaping the future of food in your own community, and who knows . . . a few years down the road you may be investing in a farm or a CSA run by a SEEDS grad. Wouldn’t that be cool!

And if that isn’t enough, we’ve got thank-you incentives for all donations over $50. Check it out, donate, and spread the word. But hurry! Time’s running out, and SEEDS starts this week.

Thank you for all your support!

We (sort of) got rained out for our Seedleaf 101 class this past Saturday, but we are rebooting for this coming Saturday, May 25th, from 9-10. Seedleaf 101 is a chance for interested parties to learn more about he history of Seedleaf, our present programming, and some of our aspirations. Here are the details:

• What: Seedleaf 101
• Where: the London Ferrill Community Garden (235 E. Third St)–Parking on 3rd St, or in gravel lot across from the garden
• When: Saturday, May 25th, 9-10am
• RSVP to ryan@seedleaf.org

The following donors have made gifts to Seedleaf during the last week:

• Donna Redd Elder
• Stella’s Kentucky Deli (for the Dining Out for Good event)
• Lily Brislin
• Sandy Canon
• Barbara Quisenberry

And special thanks for these sustaining donors who make a monthly contribution (this helps us in a big way as we plan our spring/summer programming):

• John Watkins
• Krista Jacobson

We could not offer all our programming without the ongoing help of our volunteers and financial supporters!

We are getting rained out once again on a Saturday. The following events will be postponed:

• Seedleaf 101 (Alternate date/time TBA)
• London Ferrill Community Garden–Rescheduled for May 25th
• North Pole Community Garden–Rescheduled for May 25th

So sorry for the inconvenience, but glad for the rain–enjoy!

It has already happened four times this week–graduates of our Master Community Gardener/Composter trainings have been helping broaden Seedleaf’s reach in tangible ways. Here are some examples:

• Master Community Composter Sherry Maddock offers a home consult for a Lexington resident with questions about gardening and composting (yes–we do this!–contact us: ryan@seedleaf.org)
• Master Community Gardener Andrea Holliger (with special guest John Walker) orchestrate work at the Goodloe Community Garden
• Master Community Gardener Eva Nyerges orchestrates work at the North Pole Community Garden
• Master Community Composter Warren Moore picks up compostable material at the Weekly Juicery and at Town Branch Market and takes that to one of our community gardens

Our volunteers are helping us in an ongoing and meaningful way, helping us sustain our work through a busy season. Thanks so much to you hardworking folks!

More to come tomorrow and Saturday (weather permitting!) Visit our volunteer calendar to see where and when.

Saturday, May 11, London Ferrill Community Garden work at 10:00 is cancelled. Sleep in and thank Mother Nature for the rain once again! Or visit the Farmer’s Market on a bustling Saturday morning.

North Pole Community Garden work will continue as planned from 1:00-3:00. Thanks!

Here’s a link to a recent bit of evening news thanks to ABC 36. Stay classy, you hens!

And don’t forget to mark your calendars for the upcoming CLUCK! Tour de Coops coming up on May 26th. Click this to buy your tickets today!

I have said this quite a bit lately, but it continues to be true: we have a lot to be grateful about. Here is a list of folks who have given gifts to Seedleaf recently:

• Debra Abbott
• John Vanmeter
• StoneBridge Church (Marietta, Georgia)
• Janet Howard
• Sandy Cannon
• Dan and Wendy Rowland

And these folks are supporting us through our indiegogo campaign to make SEEDS a total win again this summer:

• Shawn Burns
• Lindsay Feazell
• Jeremy Midkiff

We could not do all the gardening, cooking, and composting that we get to do without the help of our volunteers and donors. Thanks so much to you all!