Message from the President

Hello everyone! Long time, no read. It’s time for the third installment of the Lynchburg Grows newsletter. A lot has been happening lately - let’s catch up!

A few of the recent highlights, we now have hot water in the Environmental Educational Center and a new water sprinkler system for the main greenhouses. Thank you for the great job fund raising this past winter, excellent job! Also, it’s our one year milestone for the CSA subscription program; we have 52 members (near our goal of 60). We’ve had great turnout, fun and success with our First Saturdays on the Farm and the April 19th Earth Day sponsored by AREVA. I would like to show gratitude to the Lynchburg Dept. of Parks and Recreation and the Nature Zone for all of their help.

Ongoing events are the First Saturdays at the Farm and the goats, sheep and chickens love to have visitors. LG’s brown eggs are now for sale (they make a delicious omelet). Thank you so very much to all of our volunteers - we don’t know where we’d be without you. Thanks to our partner, St.  John’s Episcopal Church, on the Greenhouse No. 8 project! We really enjoy working with your congregation in helping feed the hungry at the Daily Bread.

The spring time is almost here and we need more volunteers (mostly on Thursday and Fridays) to help with the harvesting for the market on Saturdays and the CSA program. Come on down to the greenhouse and breath in some fresh air and feed the chickens and goats, harvest lettuce, and more. Please come when you have time. You will love this place!

Dereck Cunningham,
President

Congratulations! Blue Ridge Business Journal and CELA Award

Give a big round of applause for President Dereck Cunningham who was recognized by the Blue Ridge Business Journal as one of the “20 Under 40” leaders in Central Virginia. The August 2007 magazine article highlighted his leadership at Lynchburg Grows and in his life. He’s always doing amazing things with his time.

Also, LG was awarded the Commonwealth Environmental Leadership Award (CELA) from the Charlottesville Waldorf Foundation on Oct, 17 2007. Past winners include Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms featured in Michael Pollan’s book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”.

Lynchburg Grows was nominated by Melissa Wiley of the Piedmont Environmental Council. We were presented by Charlottesville photographer and McGuffey Art Center artist, John Grant, a beautifully scanned botanical image printed on metal called Radishes.

Lynchburg Grows is getting bigger and more well- known; just like we like it. Congratulations to Dereck and LG - Keep up the good work!

Volunteer Recognition Award - Thank you Keith!

Keith Kervin was awarded the Volunteer of the Year at our annual Volunteer Appreciation Day in December. His contribution to our group is very important and we are happy we could award him for his work in 2007. He is our longest serving volunteer and we had a great afternoon celebrating his award. Thank you to our hardworking volunteers who came to enjoy the cookout and cake. Keith is a great volunteer and welcomes all new volunteers and visitors to the greenhouses.

As you know, volunteering is a great way to meet new people and help the community at the same time. Volunteers are very important to LG and we don’t know where we would be without you. You don’t even need experience; we will train you on everything you need to know. Please bring your own gardening tools or we will provide them. Little tykes under the age of 15 need supervision. We grow roses and other types of flowers, and really delicious vegetables. Who doesn’t like playing in the dirt?

First Saturdays at the Farm! ~ Open House 8am to 2pm

It’s the first Saturday of the month so come on down to Lynchburg Grows’ First Saturday’s at the Farm!

The open house is between 8 am - 2 pm and we are selling produce at Lynchburg Grows on First Saturday’s, not at the Community Market. It’s really cool; you can visit our livestock (goats, a sheep and chickens), and see the greenhouses. It’s a fun thing for families to do on the weekend. I know you want to; so come and visit us every First Saturday. 

Please join us for our annual Mother’s Day Rose Bush Sale on Saturday, May 10th. At 10am is a mushroom workshop - Put the Fun in Fungi! - where you can learn about mushrooms and simple do it- yourself growing for home gardeners.

We want to thank everyone who came to these open houses and especially our partner, The Nature Zone of Lynchburg Dept. of Parks and Recreation.

SMART MOVES coordinated by the Junior League of Lynchburg

Lynchburg Grows is a proud partner of SMART MOVES, The Junior League of Lynchburg’s signature initiative for the next several years. The campaign is to encourage family wellness in Central Virginia by offering children and family programs to educate and motivate children towards healthier living. A recent event was the March 15, 2008, Kids in The Kitchen at the Jubilee Family Center on a Saturday morning. The two hour event was a success. The event included three stations for the kids: how to make a healthy snack for yourself at home with Chef Jeanell R. Smith, ways to exercise to keep active and take-home arts and crafts project that encourage healthy eating habits. See the Kids in the Kitchen website - http:// www.kidsinthekitchen.ajli.org/. The website includes bilingual recipes, tips on nutrition, fitness and healthy lifestyles as well as an interactive “Kids' Corner” with an online nutrition game. See us on T.V.! The SMART MOVES advertising campaign has a series of  commercials on Comcast cable channels. To visit the SMART MOVES website, please visit -- http:// www.smartmoveslynchburg.org/. Watch for upcoming events!

Lynchburg Grows Players

Excitement for the Lynchburg Grows Players! The community theatre group started in October 2007 by volunteers and staff at the greenhouses. The group is a diverse group of people of all races and walks-of-life including disable actors, local school kids and college students. We were inspired when volunteer Chris Matheson encouraged us to do a play. We have since transformed the Environmental Education Center into a small theater. We are having a free performance of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast for Friends and Family on Saturday, April 26th at 7:30 and Sunday, April 27th at 3pm. Please let us know if you plan to attend. Call to reserve a seat.

Our dreams are to raise enough money to do a licensed Disney Junior show next winter. We have had an incredible time learning the script and songs and working together with the acting and scenery. We have had a great time meeting new friends. The stage has been set - come to the free show!

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