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Mar
Saturday, March 10th
10:00-12:00 pm
Come and learn how to build a rain barrel! You will be able to collect rainwater from your gutters that can be used to water your spring garden.
The cost is free for members, only $10 for non-members.
To sign-up, or for more information, contact Andrea Jaeger: (423) 493-9155, x13 or ajaeger@crabtreefarms.org
The workshop is limited to 10 people and filling up fast, so sign up today!
April
Start thinking about your Spring Garden Wishlist! The Spring Plant Sale & Festival is almost here.
Mark your calendar for this two-day event, happening on Saturday, April 21st from 8am until 3pm , and Sunday, April 22nd from 11am to 3pm.
Crabtree Farms will be selling a wide variety of vegetables, herbs and flowering plants for your edible spring garden. You can find many special varieties of heirloom tomato plants, as well as blackberry and blueberry bushes! Local artisans will also be selling plants, food, arts, and hand-crafted goods.
We will once again be offering free workshops during both days of the plant sale. The full schedule of workshops will be available in March.
Click here for more details
Roots, Stems, Leaves, and Seeds…and Pea Shoots!
I pulled the little plastic bag of pea shoots out of my box, unsure of exactly what I was getting. It is always a challenge to prepare and eat everything the CSA provides in a given week, so it is easy to dismiss something foreign, but I knew that anything that green and squirrelly-looking must be good for me, so I took a bite
As I pondered what I ought to do with this new food, I was reminded of a time almost fifteen years ago when I introduced some folks to foods and concepts new to them.
I met the throng of excited young children as they got of the bus and led them from the parking lot to a grassy area beside the pond where they sat down in a semicircle. As I began talking about gardens, I could see the curious eyes before darting from the garden patch behind me to the giant basket by my side, and back to me.
The “garden” was fake, but these children were young enough to keep disbelief suspended and enjoy the lesson. Just an hour before their arrival I had dug up a little ground, poked a few holes and inserted a few carrots I purchased at Whole Foods the night before, and next to them set a few heads of lettuce and several stalks of celery.
If you are picturing this as you read, yes it was as lame it sounds, but wait… allow me to redeem myself…
As I discussed the parts of a plant with the class, I opened the basket.
“Roots…”
I pulled a pair of floppy brown cotton roots from the basket and velcroed them to my calves, so that they splayed out around my feet and as each was attached, with great drama I lifted that foot and stomped hard on the ground.
“…keep plants firmly attached to the ground, and soak up water and nutrients from the soil!”
Now that I was “firmly attached” I had to make a big show of getting to the basket with a little help from a student so I could remove the next part–the stem.
You can see where this going. Eventually I was decked out in roots, a giant stem, huge leaf-gloves, and of course an enormous flower hat with petals spanning over three feet.
After an invitation for the children to stand, I began to sing at the top of my lungs:
Roots, stems, leaves and seeds, leaves and seeds…
Roots, stems, leaves and seeds, leaves and seeds…
Roots and stems and leaves and seeds…
Roots, stems, leaves and seeds, leaves and seeds!
The children were of course familiar with the classroom song “Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, and immediately jumped into action with me. When the song was over, for a grand finale, I tipped my flower-hat to allow three golfball-size seeds to fall out illustrating how the circle of life continues.
With the flower suit back in the basket, we moved to the garden plot to harvest some of the roots, stems and leaves before us. There were children who did not know what celery was and others that were shocked to see carrots come out of the ground, but we had so much fun that whatever resistance there might have been to lettuce and celery showing up on their plates, they were excited to eat stems and leaves.
Mar & April
Ready to Garden, Part 1
March 24, 10-12
Topics include:
- Soil preparation
- Planning
- Soil testing
- Fertilization
- Site selection
- Weed and pest control
- Season planning
Ready to Garden, Part 2
April 7, 10-12
Topics include:
- Selecting plants
- Planting and care instructions
Cost for each workshop is $10 for non-members, free for members. Cash, credit card, or checks made to Crabtree Farms are accepted.
Call Andrea at 423-493-9155, x13 or email ajaeger@crabtreefarms.org to register.
Come learn how to start and maintain a successful community garden! 
Saturday, March 10th
Start thinking about your Spring Garden Wishlist! The Spring Plant Sale & Festival is almost here.