Hello, friends, neighbors and gardeners!
What a gorgeous spring day and piled high with some fabulous CDC news this morning regarding vaccinations and mask wearing. Vaccinated? Take it off! (If your state allows and you feel comfortable, of course). Big smile. We are heading the right direction.
When we, Julie, Dia, Sarah and I envisioned Ashtabula Grows last year, it was a direct response to the mandatory quarantine that was happening globally. We wanted to remain connected, build our community and foster food security.
This year we are building on those themes AND, in adding to the virtual component, we will be hosting a monthly garden tour. Come on out and share some local gardens, smells, flavors and sights of our fruitful Ashtabula County. Each month we will have one zoom event and then an in-person, out-of-doors, garden tour the following week.
You may remember Ashtabula Grows! is a side-shoot of Ashtabula Local Food – a group dedicated to promoting local food in Ashtabula County, educating and providing support and collaboration of local growers and community members. We aim to have some fun and eat well! Check out our website at AshtabulaLocalFood.org. There are some interesting pages which include our annual Local Food Guide (with over 90 farms in Ashtabula County who sell/grow Food, livestock, honey and maple syrup). The booklet also has information on all of the local farmer’s markets and seed banks within the county.
On-line class starts next week…Thursday, May 20th at 7pm. Please go to our website, AshtabulaLocalFood.org or our Facebook page to register! All classes are free! Or, click on this link: https://forms.gle/gkY6fZ2Wo6dQkmNU7
In person garden tours begin the following week, May 27th. Registration is Mandatory but tour is free.
Spring is on! If you missed our annual seed swap, no worries. There are local farms where you can purchase seed starts….including Honey Hallow Herbs, Red Beet Row and Yellow Brick House.
Schedule for 2021
MAY
May 20: Wild and Cultivated Salad: Sarah Brower/Gallo (virtual); 7pm
May 27: farm tour at 1033 – making a back-yard salad with Brower/Gallo (in-person); 6pm
JUNE
June 17: Dia mental health/garden therapy (virtual); 7pm
July 1: Diversion Center Garden (in-person); 6pm – Meet at Key Bank parking lot on Main Street in downtown Ashtabula
JULY
July 15: Master Gardeners’ TBA (virtual); 7pm
July 22: Community Garden (in-person); 6pm
AUGUST:
August 19: Nancy Grotton: food preservation (virtual); 7pm
August 26: Rose DeGeronimo at The General Store demonstration kitchen doing fermentation (in-person); 6pm
SEPTEMBER
September 16: Canning – Kathy Westcott – The General Store demonstration kitchen (virtual and in-person); 7pm
September 23: Rose DeGeronimo farm tour in Cherry Valley (in-person); 6pm
Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Ashtabula Local Food 
Registering for Garden Tour. Not sure where I was to do it. Tour May 27 at 6pm 1033 (road of the lift bridge). Bring plate & fork.
If not swamped with us, are husbands able to join in?
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