Baha'i Seeds of Hope Garden
Community building starts here: Plot 29E, 16' x 20' plot at the Rice Street Gardens, Rice & McCarrons, Roseville
Drawing of the future plan for the Rice Street Gardens.
This flower looks like a gerbera daisy, but is actually a Mexican sunflower that monarch butterflies love.
Gardeners united for a pot luck lunch on Saturday September 17.
Stories and laughter rang through the potluck party.
Our photographer captured the special moments at our end of the season potluck lunch.
Just south of McCarron's Pub, and highways 36 and Rice Street.
Children's garden design drawing by Roo
Onions and beans. Photo by Cora Hays.
Blooming sunflower: unity with Ukraine photo by Cora Hays
Reflections on our first year at the Rice Street Gardens.
All of the children and parents want to garden here again next year. The kids' favorite achievements were pulling up a giant sunflower root ball, getting to do all of the different jobs available, and digging in the dirt to unearth potatoes.
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We began with a spiral design. We tried interplanting our seeds so we didn't get so many weeds. During our first Children's Class meeting at the garden, every kid got into the compost, pairing up to heft the buckets of compost to the garden.
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Each time we met, something new was blooming ot producing fruit; we had beans, tomatoes, carrots, kale, basil, marigolds, and giant sunflowers. The children, ages 1 to 11, chose which job they wanted to do each week, and most ended up doing every job by the end of summer. Squishing potato bugs was a joy for some and a gross experience for others.
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The birds loved our giant sunflowers, and the bees and monarchs were crazy for the Mexican sunflowers. Each visit to the garden left me relaxed and peaceful, even on days when there was way too much to do. When the kids showed up for class, a lot of good work got done.
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Our final class of the summer took place on October 9. Every kid got a chance to find a potato, and the kis filled a laundry basket with scavenged food to be divvied up and donated. Four new children showed up and we prayed and sang together before sharing a snack of hot cocoa and donuts.
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Every child and every parent wants to continue gardening next season, so our first year at Rice Street Gardens was a success!