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Harvest season is upon us, and many of us will find ourselves drowning in squash and tomatoes pretty soon. Don't forget that you can drop off any extra harvest you at the Learning Garden for our Harvest the Metro initiative! We'll get it to the food banks that most need it and into the hands of hungry families in Des Moines.

We have something pretty “scent”sational coming your way thanks to Canoyer Garden Center!!!! Keep an eye on our FB page for details! 😉

Mother Nature’s workers 🐝 🐞 were busy at the Learning Garden on Saturday!

Thanks to everyone who came out today and grabbed some free herbs, courtesy of Canoyer Garden Center!

We forgot to take a lot of pictures, but there were many happy people with smiles, and all of the plants found great new homes!

We are so thankful for the connections we have throughout the community with different garden centers and growers, who help us continue our mission of sharing plants with gardeners just like you!

We have HERBS! 🌿

Thanks to Canoyer Garden Center, we have lots of big, beautiful herbs to give away! All kinds of basil, parsley, mints, cilantro, lavender, rosemary, lemongrass, thyme, sage and more!

Details:
Sat., June 20th from 10 AM - Noon (or as long as plants last)
5 Plants per adult (no extras so everyone can get a few of these lovely plants!)
No early birds
Bring your own box or bag to take them home in!
The Nine Square Feet Learning Garden (use the parking lot for the Walnut Creek Campus, 1020 8th St, West Des Moines)

We can’t wait to help you fill in a few spots in your garden with these wonderful herbs!!!

2023 has truly been a milestone year for Nine Square Feet, and we'd like to take a moment to celebrate that!
These achievements would have never been attainable without the collaboration of so many libraries, like-minded organizations, and dedicated volunteers! Not to mention the efforts of our volunteer board who made so much of the heavy lifting possible!!

Please indulge us in sharing a photo, impactful memory, or monetary gift this #givingtuesday to reflect on the year and support the mission of Nine Square Feet as we expand our offerings to as many Iowans as possible this coming 2024! Big things are on the horizon!

Of course all donations are 100% tax-deductible. To donate through Venmo, simply search "ninesquarefeet" 🌱

Winter is coming! Make sure to harvest all of your green tomatoes and peppers before the big freeze tonight!
Do you have any favorite ways of utilizing underripe veggies? Please share them in the comments! Here is one we will definitely be trying soon: https://gritsandgouda.com/fried-green-cherry-tomatoes/

It was such a joy To host Trees Forever's Growing Futures team over the weekend in our teaching garden for some professional development time! Participants learned a bit about what its like working in a non-profit, our mission, and got their hands dirty! We harvested and amended beds, planted garlic, and constructed a raised bed. On the way back to their shop teens dropped off harvested cold-hardy kale and lettuce at the CYC Community Fridge!

In an effort to ensure everyone is able to reap the benefits of fall, we are introducing Harvest the Metro! A new food sovereignty initiative to make sharing our respective bounties a little easier while reducing garden waste.

At our upcoming fall event, there will be a table designated to collecting and weighing produce gathered by YOU, our faithful community of gardeners from all over the metro-area and beyond. For every fresh pound of garden produce donated, you will receive an entry into a drawing for a free rain barrel! Additionally, whoever brings in the largest harvest will be awarded their own rain barrel to put to use!

All produce gathered will fill local community fridges and food pantries. We look forward to seeing you on September 30th from 11-2 p.m. at the Gardener's Celebration of Fall!

*Please refrain from donating overripe veggies, as they will need to keep well until they can get into the hands of those in need.

We are blown away by the creativity of our community!! When we put out our rain barrel painting contest, we could not begin to imagine how good these barrels would look! Here is the link if you'd like to vote for your favorite design, the winner of which will be given the pictured 9SF barrel at no cost. (Disclaimer: We are not professional stencil artists!) https://forms.gle/JfS8mhm1dGczeFXL8

I am sorry we did not get a picture of everyone's creations, please post your barrel in the comments if you don't see it on here or have since painted!

What happens to all of your extra vegetables in the fall when you are up to your eyeballs in tomatoes, squash, and greens? Do you give them to neighbors, family, or friends?

Throughout this growing season we would like to suggest another option, a Des Moines community fridge (fridge locations pictured below) or your local community food pantry! https://www.dmarcunited.org/donate/food/fresh/

Many without garden access rely on these outlets for healthy produce that cost an arm and a leg in grocery stores (assuming their nearest store even offers fresh veggies.) So, please consider helping our community grow along with us by planting a little (or a lot) extra this year!

At Nine Square Feet, we are proud to empower those with space to grow what they can, and strongly encourage everyone to share with those who can't!

Thanks to Daila, Carrie, Susan, Rusty, Sarah, Victoria, Danielle, Catelyn and Barb who helped repackage seed starting mix for our “Seeds for Iowa Preschoolers” project. We were done in record time! Many hands make light work. 💚

Roasting Cherokee Purple tomatoes with garlic and basil to use this winter.

Grow melon, grow!
#juicymelon#sweetmelon

Harvested garlic today. All of the types are marked so I can compare.

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- Calendar
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- Leadership
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More

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