With the approaching Daylight Saving Time (2:00 a.m. March 13), what a great time time to start thinking about your garden! And why not start early by planting your seeds indoors with an easy-to-use Jiffy Professional Greenhouse seed-starter kit. Stop by our produce department and pick-up a kit or two. Then check out our colorful display of  High Mowing Organic Seeds. It won’t be long before Spring arrives (official date is 12:00 a.m. March 20)!

No space for a garden? Come garden with us by leasing a plot right here at Valley Natural Foods. If you are interested in community gardening, please visit: Want to Get Healthy? Get Dirty!

Discover the benefits of gardening in a safe, educational and community setting!

As a cooperative, member-owners of Valley Natural Foods expressed interest in the co-op developing community gardens as part of our expansion.

We now have 24 key hole garden beds and 24 field crop areas available for lease!

Lease rates for members:
Key-hole $18.00
Field crop area $5.00
Lease rates for non-members:
Key-hole $22.00
Field Crop area $7.00

The Co-op Community Gardens are to:
*Be an open growing space for our community
*Provide home-grown produce for healthier eating
*Mentor and develop tomorrow’s gardeners
*Connect children, youth, adults and seniors
*Share gained gardening knowledge through classes
*Provide education and outreach to Dakota County schools
*Promote and demonstrate environmental stewardship
*Encourage gardening as a fun and enjoyable activity

Registration information:
Forms available online (print out and bring in with your payment)
Forms available by e-mail (contact the coordinator, Gary Johnson at: community@valleynaturalfoods.com)
Forms available at customer service

Take a look at our Co-op Community Gardens brochure!

As announced at the annual meeting last month, Valley Natural Foods has been planning to establish community gardens on the property. The planning and approvals are now complete, and the installation date has been set.

We are asking for your assistance on Saturday, November 20.  Our planned start time is 9:00 a.m. and the goal hour for completion is 5:00 p.m. Coffee and scones in the morning to get you going and a lunch at mid day will be served.

Digging holes for posts, tamping them in, cutting and hanging fences, moving wood chips, compost, soil and straw (all in a safe and efficient manner) are on the agenda for each garden space. It sounds so simple, but many hands make for lighter work for all.

It should be quite an exciting day filled with conversation and learning as we raise the gardens.

Please RSVP to vnfgarden@gmail.com or at customer service in the store.

Check out where your friends and neighbors are growing fresh food at the 5th Annual Parade of Community Gardens Gardens on August 21st, 10am-2pm. 65 community gardens from all over the Metro Area, including 8 gardens from Dakota County, invite you in to celebrate and discover these community treasures. Each garden’s celebration will be as unique as the garden itself: featured activities include food samples, art activities, a beehive demo, youth-led yoga, and much more!

The Parade of Community Gardens is sponsored by Gardening Matters, a Twin Cities-based non-profit that supports sustainable community gardens by connecting gardens with each other and to their communities. Learn more about the Parade and download a map on the Gardening Matters Website or call Gardening Matters at 612-492-8964. Parade events are free and open to the public.

What happens to a garden that contains rich soil, gets full sun from dawn to dusk  and receives tender-loving-care from a couple of member-owners? It produces an overwhelming abundance of veggies, that’s what!

Yes, our south-facing Valley Natural Foods Garden Classroom is in full swing now producing squash, cucumbers and hot peppers by the dozens, massive-sized zucchini, large heads of broccoli, kholrabi and cabbage, genereous bunches of bok choi, mustard greens, chard and lettuces, and basil plants that are almost hedges (in 4 varieties)!  Not to mention those 5 foot tall bushy tomato plants!

So you may be wondering what we do with all those fresh, nourishing veggies. Dakota Woodlands, the only short-term housing facility for homeless women and children in Dakota County, receives our fresh harvests. Dakota Woodlands is already a recipient of our usable perishable items, so we thought they would enjoy garden fresh produce too.

If you have an abundant garden yourself and end up with extra produce, consider donating to Dakota Woodlands too! Visit their current needs page for details.

The next time you enjoy a lunch or snack out on our patio, feel free to take a walk over to our Garden Classroom and enjoy the sights and sounds of birds, butterflys  and even our gardener darting about the beautiful veggie plants and flowers.

If you have any spare garden materials that need a place to go, why not donate them where they will be put to good use! Here’s a ”wish list” of items to help International Outreach Church Community Garden implement a permaculture garden on site.

Materials Needed:
Woodchips
Compost
Top Soil
Straw

Hardware Needed:
2×3 Welded Wire, 250 feet
Cages for Perennial Plants
Chicken Wire Fencing For Spider Crop Field
Flags
Twine
Ribbon
Wood Stakes and Poles
Hoses and big sprinkler stand
Seeder for new hill crop (www.earthway-outlet.com/1001b.htm)
A High Wheel Cultivator for weeding (www.earthway-outlet.com/65001.htm)

Please visit IOC Community Garden’s contact page,
send an email to info@ioccommunitygarden.org,
or call 952-882-7729 if you have items you would like to donate. 

There’s another way you can support our community garden partner! Simply save your green stamps. All proceeds generated by our Valley Natural Foods Green Stamp Program for the months of July through Septemeber 2010 will go to IOC Community Garden. Click here for details.

Every quarter, the Valley Natural Foods Donation Committee selects a Green Stamp Program recipient based on the organization’s sustainable impact on the environment. All proceeds generated from our Green Stamp Program collected during July 1 - September 30, 2010 will go to:

International Outreach Church Community Garden

Pleae support IOC Community Garden by simply packing up your groceries in your reusable bags, and then donating the top-portion of your stamped receipt into the Green Stamp Box (located next to the store exit door).

Each stamp is worth $.05, which encourages shoppers to bring in their own reusable bags. Shoppers also have the option to save up their Green Stamps and redeem them for $1.00 savings off their next grocery purchase for every 20 stamps collected.

Do you know of or belong to an organization that could benefit from the Valley Natural Foods Green Stamp Program?  Stop by customer service and ask for a Community Donations Request Form or click here for an online version.  Make sure to indicate on the form “Green Stamp Program” along with your information.