Hello Growing to Give Community,

Spring has finally arrived, and we’re so grateful for the warmth. We planted lots of new tulips and daffodils in the fall and with their green leaves pushing out of the soil, we’re full of anticipation to see them in bloom. As always, early spring was very cold, so we want to extend a huge thank you to all of our eager volunteers who’ve braved the snow, sleet, and rain to help us get the farm up and running this season! The Fix-It crew patched up the electric fence to get it running, started taking out our old irrigation system, and did a much needed purge and re-organizing session in our main storage shed. We’re really feeling ready for the season!

After years of thinking about adding an afternoon volunteer session to our weekly schedule, we’ve officially opened up Thursday afternoons. So far, we’ve had 3-5 participants each session and have loved meeting a whole new group of volunteers. They’ve helped us prep two tunnels for lettuce, divided 10 year old rhubarb plants, and pruned both hedgerows!
Kayla raking compost and Chloe carrying compost!
After dividing just one bed of rhubarb, we had so much extra that we were able to donate a huge crate, along with cuttings from our elderberry pruning workshops, to Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness (WPHW) for distribution to their community gardens and food pantries.
Divided rhubarb for WPHW and rooted elderberry cuttings for WPHW
The lettuce we planted into tunnels is thriving despite an unusually cold spring with almost nightly dips into the low twenties, and the peas we’ve interplanted are sprouting.

 
Farmer Carol planting lettuce and lettuce and peas steaming in the afternoon!

In addition to all the farm work, we’ve started our annual Farm Skills Training Program. We have a lovely cohort of five students who will be doing on-farm training weekly. During our first session, we learned all about seeds, seed germination, selecting seeds, various seed starting set ups, and methods of sowing seeds. Then we did some hands-on training in the soil blocking method we use here on the farm and sowed several varieties of early annual flowers.

Making soil blocks to seed lettuce

If you happen to be a gardener of dahlias or perennial cut flowers and have some tubers or cuttings to donate, we’re looking to add more dahlias to our flower garden and more perennial cut flowers to our new pollinator strips. Please reach out if you have any for us!

Mark your calendars for our Open Farm Day on Saturday, May 16! Join us for a guided farm tour to learn more about Growing to Give’s mission and volunteer opportunities. If you’re curious about how you can get involved with Growing to Give, this is the perfect opportunity to chat with current volunteers, meet board members and staff, and simply experience the beauty of the farm! Apple cider will be provided as a refreshment.

This is a rain or shine event, so weather-appropriate clothing is recommended.

When: Saturday, May 16, 2025, from 1:00 – 3:00 PM
Where: Growing to Give, 30 East Coxon Rd, Brunswick, ME
Register Here: https://forms.gle/oUCFdhM9inPUCLBB8

Warmly,
Lindsay