Category Archives: Gardening

Press Release: Fairpark Celebration of Spring and Plant Sale

May 5th, 2018

Contacts: Tom King [earth4alllife@gmail.com] (801) 502-1991, Bryce Garner [brycewgarner@gmail.com], Josh Smith [jsfreebird67@gmail.com] (209) 200-0126] & Kevin Robertson [kevinrob4@gmail.com] (385) 312-4136

On May 5th, the neighborhood of Fairpark will be holding its annual Celebration of Spring and Plant Sale at Constitution Park located at 300 N 1300 W from 10 am until 2 pm. The event, which has become a west side staple, features the sale of vegetable and herb plants alongside workshops and community outreach. The types of plants sold will include: 20 varieties of tomato, 16 varieties of sweet and hot pepper, 3 kinds of eggplant, and 6 different herbs. This year, the community will also be providing free garden veggie seed packages (with 30 types of seeds) to plant at home, as well as ‘Snail Cage’ workshop (offering an insiders guide on how to prevent snails from eating small seedlings), and ‘Plant a Seed and Watch It Grow’ children’s activity (which includes free soil, seeds, pots and labels). In an effort to help boost attendance and increase the profile of the event, students from Professor Garcia’s Westside Studio at the University of Utah’s City and Metropolitan Planning Department, will help advertise the event to Westside neighbors, to help foster an atmosphere of inclusion. Utilizing funding sources received from University Neighborhood Partners (UNP), the event will also include a natural climbing wall, suitable for most ages, as well as a nature-oriented scavenger hunt for children. According to UNP, each of these additional activities promote the organization’s principle goal of “a community coming together.”

The event is being organized by Fairpark community council member Tom King. King has stressed the importance of ensuring the event promotes awareness of the environment and the impact it has on our lives. A “lot of families like mine have been planting vegetable gardens at home. Edible gardens are not only a great way of producing local food, while supporting healthier living, but also the advancing of regional sustainability. Gardening reconnects us with nature. I am a gardener, who loves sharing this wisdom with others.”

Figure 1. Tom King who propagated all the plants for sale at the All Chay Restaurant

The plant sale itself is the central feature of the day and emblemizes the positive effects of ecological integration within the local built environment. Workshops and activities seek to educate attendees (in an active way) on the role plants contribute in helping our communities both built and natural thrive, while enjoying fresh air and lively engagement. Local organization booths will include:

Lead Safe Housing Program, Northwest Recreation Center, Mother’s Milk Bank, Neighborworks, Utah State University Extension Service.

Other organizations may join but have not yet been confirmed. Both the Rose Park and Poplar Grove neighborhoods will also be sponsoring booths at the event to promote involvement with their community councils. They will also be assisted by Westside Studio students, helping to stock and operate the booths. The inclusion of these booths is designed to promote integration of Westside neighborhoods, while providing opportunity for attendees to learn more about various events occurring within their communities.

University of Utah students, alongside UNP contributions, are seeking to not only promote environmental health, but also community well-being. Celebration of Spring events provide an opportunity for neighbors to gather together and build a sense of belonging and involvement within a social setting.

By offering additional activities to the public the festival hopes to bring in a large, diverse array of people to enjoy a beautiful spring day with each other.

The event is free and open to the public.

If you would like to volunteer, please contact:

Tom King: 801-502-1991

Dirt2Table: Springing into Autumn: A Gardening Celebration

Now that community residents have been through their gardening season, fruits of our labor are being realized through fresh vegetables and fruits harvested, eaten, canned, and dried!

But just because summer is coming to a close does not mean the gardening is over!  We would love to hear your gardening stories, share a taste of your goodies, and participate in continuing education on gardening.

springintoautumneventTo that end, Fairpark Community Council and Dirt2Table will hold an Autumn Equinox Celebration on Saturday, September 30th from 10-2pm at the Northwest Community Center.  We will have workshops on grafting and pruning, making cold frames, and fall and winter garden maintenance. We will ask residents to celebrate their garden adventures through the sharing of seeds, bulbs and scion wood as well as something from the garden (fresh, canned, dried, a recipe from garden goodies, etc.).

So as you enjoy the results of your gardening efforts this month, begin gathering your ideas for goodies to share, and plan to attend the celebration! Bring your friends and neighbors! Please save the date and watch for more details, including workshop times. Check our website, Nextdoor, Facebook page, September’s Gazette and posted flyers in the community.

 

More information:  dirt2tableslc@gmail.com

Second Annual Fairpark Festival of Spring Huge Success

18216421_1505291439489374_3659562656535945756_oGardeners from all over our community, as well as from surrounding areas flocked to the event on a cool spring day. There were over 300 people who attended, and the Plant Sale sold almost 2,000 plants during the four-hour Festival. Although some needed sweaters on the cool day, the weather didn’t stop hundreds from visiting the various tables. Salt Lake County Recreation, Lead Safe Housing Program,18278182_1505292946155890_2616975938661617678_o
Jackson Elementary and Utah Department of Health Safe Kids Injury Prevention Program all provided outreach and education materials for the Festival.

tomwithplants

Because of the enthusiasm and support for this year’s event, organizers are in the process of planning another complimentary event this fall. The current plans for the event will include a workshop for grafting fruit trees, a seed, bulb and scion wood exchange, a cold frame workshop and a garden veggie based potluck! See fairparkcommunity.org for more information.

Dirt2Table: Festival of Spring and Plant Sale – This Saturday!

FOS Plant SaleWhat does the Northwest Recreation Center, Jackson Elementary, Salt Lake County’s Lead Safe Housing Program, Fairpark Community Council, the Northwest Community Center, All Chay Restaurant, Salt Lake City, about 3 dozen volunteers and pizza have in common?

Okay, maybe not the pizza (that’s for the Volunteer orientation). But the rest are all supporting and participating in the 2nd annual Festival of Spring and Plant Sale April 29 from 10-2 at the Northwest Community Center. This has truly been a community effort through collaboration, interest in sustainability and relationship building with our neighbors.

The event will include activities for kids (including face painting and seed planting), outreach, snail deterrent cage making, and FUN! We can’t think of a better way to spend a few hours on a Saturday in our neighborhood, getting your season’s vegetable plants and enjoying time with your neighbors.

We inventoried over 4300 plants, all planted from seed, separated and maintained by volunteers. Hours of handling these beautiful seedlings, watering them and just plain giving them TLC have generated very happy plants!

We hope you have prepared your garden area for the plants you will have this year. Stay tuned for articles on gardening as the season progresses. More information on the Festival of Spring and Plant Sale: dirt2tableslc@gmail.com or 801-502-1991

Save

Dirt2Table:

FOS Plant SaleSpring Festival and Plant Sale!

It’s almost here! The Fairpark Community Festival of Spring and Plant Sale, hosted by the Fairpark Community Council and several community partners, April 29th at the Northwest Community Center. The greenhouse has been erected at All Chay restaurant (1250 West 500 North) and the plants are growing!

Watch for information about pre-orders of plants for your garden. Stop by the greenhouse and check it out!

In the meantime, be sure to be preparing your garden area for the plants you will have this year. We will be writing more articles on gardening in general this season. More information: dirt2tableslc@gmail.com or 801-502-1991.

dirt2table

Dirt2Table: Spring is Coming! Plant your Seeds Now!

dirt2tableIsn’t it fantastic? The days keep getting longer, the low temperatures keep getting higher and the dirt is thawing out. Soon, we can get our hands in it and prepare it for giving us back the fruits (and vegetables) of our labor.

During the month of March, we should all take advantage of the dirt’s willingness to start growing an array of wonderful treats for our tables. Among those plants that can be planted by seed in March are greens such as kale, spinach, chard and lettuce. It’s also a good time to plant seeds for root vegetables such as carrots, beets and onions. There are many varieties of each of the food plants mentioned, so have fun and plant as many varieties as you can!
Don’t forget that the Fairpark Community Council will be working hard between now Save the Date Flyer 2017and April 29th to grow a delectable assortment of starter plants, ready for you
to plant out in your patch of dirt by May 1st. We will be starting herbs, tomatoes, eggplant and pepper plants soon so that by the end of April they will be established
and ready to thrive in your garden. This year, to create an event that provides more value to our Community than just a plant sale, we are having the First Annual Fairpark
Community Festival of Spring and Plant Sale. The event will feature a seed giveaway and plant sale like last year, but will also include many educational booths and workshops to help make your spring and summer more enjoyable for
all.

If you have any ideas to help make this Festival of Spring and Plant Sale a success, please reach out to Tom King at 801-502-1991 or write to dirt2tableslc@gmail.com.

Dirt2table: The Days are Getting Longer!

dirt2tableIt’s not too early to plan your garden!

We have made it past the deepest part of winter, the days are getting longer, and before we know it spring will be here. In 2017 our Community will hold it’s First Annual Festival of Spring. This will be an enhancement of last years Plant Sale and Seed Giveaway, incorporating more workshops and useful information to enable all of us in the Fairpark Community to get more out of our gardens this year.

On Saturday April 29th, in the park next to the Northwest Community Center, the Festival will be held. However, starting this month the preparations will begin. First we will be erecting a greenhouse, in partnership with All Chay restaurant. This will allow us to sow the seeds that will become the tomato, pepper, eggplant and herb plants that will be available for our gardens. The seeds need to be sown in February and early January to give them time to grow to a good size for putting into the garden.

Once the seedlings are started, volunteers will ensure that they are cared for and grow into vibrant little plants eager to get into your garden soil and thrive. In 2016 the event included a Plant Sale, a Seed Giveaway, a Children’s Plant a Seed and Watch it Grow activity, and a workshop for making cages to keep snails and slugs from eating little seedlings as they emerge from the soil.

This year, the Fairpark Community Festival of Spring will include all of that and more. Save the Date Flyer 2017We are working to arrange workshops in bee keeping, fruit tree grafting, water conservation and soil improvement. We are also open to suggestions for other activities that would improve and enhance this years event.

If you have any suggestions, for fun and educational activities or for varieties of plants you would like us to get started, please send those suggestions to: dirt2tableslc@gmail.com . We would love to hear from you!

So, Save the Date: Saturday, April 29, 2017 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm in the Park on the south side of the Northwest Community Center.

Also, if you are interested in volunteering to work on this fun and rewarding project, we could use your help from late January up to and including the day of the event there will be work to do. Just write to the above email address if you want to help. In the meantime, don’t forget to prune your fruit trees, and have pleasant dreams of fresh from the garden tomatoes, lettuce, peppers and all the other wonderful food that we grow in the dirt and enjoy at our tables!

Dirt2Table: Preserving Your Fall Harvest for Food All Winter

dirt2tableThis time of year we find ourselves dealing with more fruits and vegetables than we can eat fresh. So, we have to find ways to preserve our produce for use during the winter months.

There are many ways to preserve our fruits and vegetables, including drying, canning and freezing. There isn’t any one best way, although some produce gives better results with a particular method. We found for instance that our green beans were better frozen than canned. We haven’t tried drying them yet, but plan to do that this year.

Some examples from the Dirt2Table project this year include making jam, fruit leather, dried fruit, salsa, spaghetti sauce  and frozen green beans. Our plans for the rest of the fall include more fruit drying, (apples haven’t been harvested yet), more tomato based canning and further experiments with drying food from the garden.

We recently obtained a second food dehydrator, an Excalibur 3900 nine tray unit. We strongly recommend that you get one of these or something substantially similar if you intend to do any food drying. You can make fruit leather, dried fruit of many kinds, even jerky with a food dehydrator. If you don’t have a dehydrator you can still dry foods like peaches, apples etc. by putting them on a tray and putting them in the oven set at 150 degrees (actually 130 is better, but most ovens don’t have that low of a setting) and if possible direct the flow of air from a small fan across the items being dried.
Have fun with whatever way you choose to preserve your produce this year!