Seeds of Long term food security

​Bountiful Cities Seed Libraries and Seed Saving Workshop

Did you know Bountiful Cities Community Garden Network (CGN) operates several seed libraries? The idea is similar to a book lending library. Anyone can take some seeds and if you have extra seeds you can bring them to the library. Our CGN recently hosted a seed saving workshop so folks can learn more about saving seeds from their gardens. Check out the video from that workshop HERE on our website. If you would like more information about contributing seeds or getting seeds from our seed libraries contact [email protected] or [email protected] 
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​How does Bountiful Cities Create Long Term Food Security?

https://youtu.be/MOuxMHiJI5k Watch this two minute video created by our Board Chair Ameena Batada to find out ways to create long term food security...
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Beneficial Insects and Your Leaves

 Did you know that ladybug larva look like that?! And they are getting ready to hunker down for the winter with other insects like fireflies. They’ll stay warm and be ready to emerge in the spring. The best thing to do if you want to have lots of beneficial bugs like ladybugs and fireflies is LEAVE your LEAVES   You can pile them in your yard, or just let them fall  In the garden you can let tall stems stay to encourage praying mantises to leave their eggs for spring. But if you really do want your yard debris-free, call Bountiful Cities Grass to Greens (G2G) 828-775-0614 and we’ll come pick up your leaves and compost them for school and community gardens. 
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Introducing LaKyla Hodges!

​Meet Ms. LaKyla, the new Bountiful Cities FEAST Program Assistant at Lucy S. Herring Elementary! LaKyla is finishing up her senior semester at Warren Wilson College where she is studying Environmental Education. She brings to us her enthusiasm for working with children and engaging them with food and nature. She also loves curling up with a good book and her cat, Sprout. 
The Herring Elementary FEAST garden is planting a new pollinator garden in the dappled shade of our plum trees! We are collecting divisions and seeds for native plants including: phlox, coreopsis, ferns, bee balm, day lilies, turtlehead, brown eyed susan, mountain mint, fire pink, cardinal flower/lobelia, foam flower, green and gold, asters. Please contact [email protected] if you have anything from your garden that you would like to contribute!
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FEAST and Youth Transformed for Life (YTL) students make zucchini muffins using Mother Earth Food zucchini and Spicewalla spices! Thank you to our Community Partners

Want to Volunteer with Bountiful Cities?

​We need 1-2 folks with some experience laying paving stones to help lay pavers for the Herring Elementary Garden Greenhouse floor. We have done the hardest part of installing the gravel and stone dust base- all you have to do is place the stones. We will work on this during the Thursday workdays, and can also train you so you can come at your convenience on evenings/weekends.
The goal is to finish this project by Oct 31 so we can use this space for our outdoor classes during the winter months! Please contact Jordan Diamond, garden coordinator, for info- [email protected]
More Volunteer Opportunities...Pearson Garden and Nursery Garden workdays Wednesdays from 3-5pm. Located at 408 Pearson Dr. in Montford. Join us for weekly community workdays at Pearson Gardens, the home of Windfall Collective Nursery, the Community Food Hub and many other Bountiful Cities projects. For the month of October we will be focusing on seed and medicine harvest, as well as processing and preservation of the harvest.  Please click this link to sign up. Contact Lynx at [email protected] for more information. 
Hall Fletcher Elementary School FEAST Garden Wednesdays 2:45-4:00pm, 60 Ridgelawn Rd. Please click this link to sign up. Contact [email protected] for more information.
Lucy Herring Elementary School Peace Garden (formerly Vance Elementary School) in West Asheville.  Workdays Thursdays 2:45 pm- 3:45 pm. Beginning August 23, the garden will again be closed to the public from 8 AM- 2:30 pm so that classes can use the garden for outdoor learning. Please contact  [email protected] for questions and to RSVP. We give away free produce donated by Mother Earth Food every Tuesday at our Sharing Table on Tuesdays after 3 pm.

GWC Edible Park Community Workdays: https://fb.me/e/YoC1XZ6H
Tempie Avery Community Workdays: https://fb.me/e/TC4lALFL
West Asheville Park Community Workdays: https://fb.me/e/2J8M3oeFx
Pearson Garden Community Workdays: https://fb.me/e/1k2rd2jkr

Learn More about volunteering with Bountiful cities

World Soil Day - Vermiculture Workshop

​SAVE THE DATE
On Sunday December 5th Bountiful Cities will be celebrating healthy soil with others from around the globe. We will host a FREE educational Vermiculture Workshop. The Hop Ice Cream will be creating a signature flavor to support our work! More to come! Stay Tuned!
Healthy soil, saving seeds, growing food close to home, and free accessible education are all supporting solutions to the climate crisis listen to this Inspiring Podcast with Krista Tippett and Katharine Hayhoe at On Being to get informed and take your own climate change action!

Shiloh Community Fundraiser

The Shiloh Community has been in collaboration with Bountiful Cities for many years and they have created a thriving community garden supplying the neighborhood with fresh produce. The Shiloh Community Association has many other programs and scholarships that support and empower residents. 

Help raise funds for The Shiloh Community Association to open a SCA Community Resource Center in the neighborhood as we celebrate our 20th year of outreach work this October! The funds raised here will go towards a resources center, with office space for the SCA , residential business incubation, classroom and community meeting space, a certified kitchen and more resources for neighborhood. This has been a goal of the SCA since the writing of the 2025 plan back in 2010. Learn more HERE
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Garden Tours and Holiday Wreaths ​

​We welcomed the Asheville Garden Club for a progressive garden tour this month. We started in the Shiloh Community Garden and enjoyed hearing about that historic neighborhood and the garden that delivers weekly produce to residents, then we toured the Pearson Garden and heard about the new solar project and the seed farm and plant nursery. The Asheville Garden Club will be celebrating their 100th year in 2023!  They have a scholarship fund to support college students studying horticulture and sustainable practices.
They are having a fundraiser for their scholarship fund selling holiday wreaths. For more information and pricing contact Anne Kime [email protected]. Please mention you heard about it from Bountiful Cities!

Wreaths will be delivered to the North Asheville Community Center for pick up on Saturday, November 20 from 9am-noon. Anne says, "I can attest  that they are very full and seem to last forever!!"

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