The Giving Garden of Carrollton

Your Giving Garden board will be meeting from 6:30 pm until 7:00 pm this Thursday, April 10th.  You are invited to join us at 7:00 pm that night to ask any questions, raise any concerns and share any ideas you have for our garden.  We are all excited as the growing season is beginning and our first harvest delivery is coming up on May 3rd. The cold is over, the rains have come and the garden looks great! (Yes, that’s my sweet granddaughter, Emma, helping me harvest lettuce!)

Be prepared to bring your donations to the portables at the garden this Thursday and Friday evening from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.  The sale will be Saturday from 8:00 – 12:00 in the church parking lot with setup beginning at 7:00 am.  We can use your help!  It’s lots of fun and one of our best fund producing events to benefit the garden.  Invite your neighbors to come shop!

Saturday, February 22nd was a gorgeous day to get the mulch laid down in the aisles to curb the Bermuda grass at the garden!  Fourteen high school student volunteers worked to weed, mulch and clean up trash and it all looks fabulous.  Thanks to Angela Glover for arranging for a free truck load (yes I said FREE) of mulch. And thanks to Laura Margadonna for meeting the truck to direct the delivery on Tuesday.  Gardeners were out to work in the beds and get some plants in the ground.  Hopefully we won’t have another freeze and our Spring plantings can go in soon.

This Saturday, February 22nd we will will have our end of month all gardener work day.  A truck load of mulch is being delivered and all hands are needed to wheelbarrow it and spread it to the aisles to control bermuda takeover.  Some high schoolers are expected to help out but would love to see everyone pitching in.  This picture was taken at our last work day and we want to send out a big thanks to the Hebron National Honor Society students who volunteered.

Then the following Saturday, March 1st at 10:00 am we will have a season kickoff/orientation for new gardeners and all gardeners are invited.  There will be informative talks, refreshments, a door prize and fellowship with fellow gardeners.

Hope to see you there!

It was a chilly morning to begin our All Gardener Work Day but it warmed up nicely.  We had 12 Hebron High National Honor Society students volunteering for four hours and they got so many things cleaned up in the garden — the shed, the blackberry patch, dead plants from the freeze, etc.  It was also great to have some of our new gardeners participate — Jill, Karen, Will and Andrea — welcome to The Giving Garden.

The end of year holiday party on December 12th was a great success!  Kerry donated a beautiful basket that was raffled off.  Stephanie won it but gifted it to Morena who is a new gardener with us.  There was bountiful food, hot cider and a fun cake walk game.

Saturday, November 9th we harvested 20 lbs. to donate to CCA in Lewisville — Most were greens but a few black beauty eggplant and cucumbers and okra added to the harvest.  Trenching and post setting has begun for the new rabbit fence and we will post some pictures of the finished fence soon.  Be aware of some early season frosts that can really nip at your Fall plantings.

The Giving Garden is still producing bountiful harvests in November.  Today we harvested 36 pounds of gorgeous greens, eggplant, cucumber, okra, green beans, butternut squash and peppers.  Gardeners should be picking greens throughout the winter, especially if the beds are covered with a frost protection cloth.

The garden is looking forward to the start of our fence project in early November.  The three foot fence will be buried to a depth of six inches and surround the entire garden.  Gardeners will enjoy spring gardening without the nibbling of our pesky rabbit neighbors.

Information will be posted soon about our annual Christmas party.  Enjoy the beautiful fall weather!

Fall is always a good time to garden in Texas.  At the Giving Garden, many of our gardeners have already planted their beds in fall vegetables.  Because of our mild weather, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, all types of greens and garlic produce most of the winter.

There are a few open beds available to new gardeners at this time.  Please contact one of the Board members on the link on this page to request an interview.  Applications can be downloaded from the links on this page (Application for Plot and Garden Application).

Come join the fun of gardening with like-minded folks, doing good for our community and harvesting the fruits of your labor.

The Giving Garden is experiencing an explosion of the rabbit population that is beyond our past experience.  As the above picture shows, fence barricades are not stopping the rabbits from finding ways to eat tender crops.  The “sticks” are what is left of the green bean plants that I started at home and transplanted in my bed.  They lasted one day.  This year the rabbits are eating crops they’ve never bothered before.  They are eating young okra, pepper plants, sweet potato vines, beans…nothing seems to be safe.

The Board will meet this Thursday evening at 7 p.m. to discuss the problem and potential solutions.  Meetings are held at the Indian Creek Clubhouse, located at 1689 Bandera Dr, Carrollton, TX 75010.   The meeting is open to any gardener.