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Saturday, June 4: Garden Anniversary Party!

19 May

The one year anniversary celebration of our garden will be on Saturday, June 4th, 10:00am-1:00pm.

We want to celebrate being the first community garden established on Austin Parks and Recreation Department land through partnership with the Sustainable Food Center and a grant from the Austin Parks Foundation.

The anniversary event is free and will include samples of food and drinks from our local sponsors, activities for children, garden tours, information tables about gardening and sustainable living, music, and lots of laughter.  We will thank our community “partners” with a short ceremony from 11:00-11:30.

We invite gardeners, volunteers, and all Austinites to come help us celebrate our first year of gardening and partnerships.

Note:  Volunteers are needed for one-hour shifts at information, food, and children’s activity booths or to help with set-up or clean-up, so please contact Kaela Champlin at kaela.champlin <at> gmail.com or (512) 567-0740 to let her know what you can do.

Multicultural Refugee Center and FBCG Featured in Statesman Article

1 May

Multicultural refugees growing food for the soul as well as the table

By Renee Studebaker | Saturday, April 9, 2011, 09:47 AM

On a recent Saturday morning at the Festival Beach Community Garden, the first thing I notice about the small group of refugee gardeners I’ve come to meet is that they really know their way around a hoe. Especially Sylvia Niyiera, a 60-something refugee from Burundi.

aam edie garden 21.jpg

>> Read the full article at Statesman.com

UT Student Volunteers Whip the Garden into Shape!

17 Apr

Saturday, April 9, on one of the prettiest days of the year so far, the garden welcomed student volunteers from UT’s Project Reach Out. Students, gardeners and garden volunteers joined forces to tackle several projects around the garden. We spread mulch and compost around several trees, including the giant Cottonwood in the center of the garden. We worked on the bioswale (formerly called the rain garden). We planted in our perennial beds. We worked our community garden plots and raised beds. We created a new path in section B, complete with weed cloth and gravel. We relocated bag upon bag of Bermuda grass away from the garden. And we did planning for the Habitat garden! Then we ate pizza!

It was an unbelievably productive day, and we are extremely grateful to our volunteers and new friends for the many improvements to our community garden. THANK YOU!

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Special thanks to the following folks who made a big impact on the day!

  • Mary Lynn and the Compost committee for pre-event planning and coordination
  • Keep Austin Beautiful for lending us tools and Kathy S. for transporting them to and from the garden
  • Patricia for arranging for a Bob Cat and driver to dig out the bioswale
  • Jose, Mark and David for repairing two broken water pipes!
  • Polly for getting everyone signed in
  • Alec for leading a group of volunteers who worked on the bioswale
  • Jean, James, Nick and Marcela for leading groups of volunteers who worked on the perennial beds
  • John for leading a group who worked on the community garden plots
  • Jack and Joy for leading groups who spread the compost and mulch
  • Crystal for leading a group who filled raised beds with compost
  • Daniel for digging out a weedy row in section B and turning it into a beautiful new pathway
  • Dan, Susan, Richard, Glenn, Katrina, Jane, Libby, Dawn and so many others for their hard work
  • Beverly and Joy for donating and filling bags with Bermuda grass, and relocating away from the garden
  • Kathy Mc. who was everywhere helping everyone as always!
  • Farah and Kathy S. for taking the photos (mostly Farah!)
  • Festival Beach Gardeners for chipping in on the pizza!
  • Joy and Kathy Mc. who provided the summary of the day’s accomplishments and the kudos to the team

Saturday, April 16: United Way Capital Area Spring DAYS of Caring at FBCG

13 Apr

This Saturday, we are excited to welcome volunteers from the United Way Capital Area Spring DAYS of Caring, sponsored by Freescale Semiconductor.

In celebration of National Volunteer week, which honors individuals who dedicate themselves to taking action and solving problems in their communities, UWCA and Hands On Central Texas is sponsoring a work day at Festival Beach Community Garden!

We welcome volunteers to join us from 9:00-12:00. We will be planting perennials, creating our rain gardens, mulching and working on the fence.   You can register for our project on the Hands On Central Texas website.  Please bring: Gloves, water, sunscreen,  hand tools (marked). Shovels and wheelbarrows  are also in great need.

For gardeners, participation in this event will count toward your work hours. See you Saturday!

Saturday, April 9: Workday

2 Apr

9:00 – noon.  We are thrilled to welcome volunteers from UT’s Project Reach Out! The compost committee will be leading the workday with 42 volunteers spreading granite, mulch and compost over the grass to control stickers and around the tool shed area. Thank you!

We need garden members to help coordinate the activity and pitch in and help.

Please bring shovels and other tools! We will be using tools from the kind folks at Keep Austin Beautiful,  but they are limited on tools due to a special project they have that day. If you have any shovels or other tools that may be helpful please bring them to the workday.

Background options for new website

20 Feb

Background options for the website.

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