<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div><div>Its been too long since we've found our way into your inbox, a product of us being way too busy using and expanding our garden. Bounties of tomatoes, okra, eggplant, basil, beans, and cucumbers are always pouring out of the garden, and its sometimes hard to slow down and do simple things like write emails to our supporters. <div><br></div><div><b>Some Key Points:</b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">- Save October 18th for our fall festival, and October 19th as a rain date. We've planted more than a hundred pumpkin plants back in July for this, and its looking like it will be a pick-your-own pumpkin festival. This is also to commemorate the work that was paid for by the Rodale Institute's grant (see below for more information)</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">- Keep coming to the Riverdale Park Farmers Market! While we're always proud of what we've harvested, the produce that's available there from other farmers is wonderful. Every Thursday from 3 until 7pm next to the MARC train station in Riverdale Park, on Queensbury Road, two blocks from Rt. 1.</span></b></div><div>- Keep volunteering! We rely on volunteers, come over every and any Saturday from 9 until 2, and we'll put you to work and send you home with produce. </div><div>- Keep visiting! The garden is always open, there is no lock on our gates. Come by if your in the area, and bring a picnic.</div><div><br></div><div><div><b>Since we've last updated you on our work:</b><div>- We've had our second Free Minds Collective summer program. Building on last year, we've taught 12 middle school students Monday through Friday in July about nutrition, gardening, and cooking. They learned a lot about "seed to plate horticulture", and the politics of food advertising, and had a lot of fun too!</div><div>- From the help of the Rodale Institute's WaterWorks program, we've had a 1200 gallon rain cistern installed in the garden. Check out the photograph, its huge. Now we're just waiting for rain! This grant is also paying for our fence to be expanded, wonderful art to decorate the fence and cistern, and lots of other great beautification projects. We'll have more photos on all this in a few weeks.</div><div>- We have built a 17' x 48' high tunnel that we'll be using to extend our seasons in the spring and fall (see photo). This was paid for by a grant from the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Eduction program of the USDA, and built by the help of some amazing volunteers, both within Maryland Cooperative Extension and from the neighborhood.</div><div>- We've hired Christian Melendez using money from sales at the Riverdale Park Farmers Market. Christian has been a huge help this year, being responsible for almost all aspects of keeping us productive. He started interning for us back in February, and is being paid for throughout the summer. He's a great personality to have, he's wonderful with kids, and organizes family potlucks in the garden for our community gardeners. He's also very active in student organizations on campus and helpful in our outreach to new volunteers. None of this work could have been possible without him.</div><div>- We continued to sell much more produce this year than last year. This is not only possible from the great help back in the garden, but also from the help of student volunteer Kristen Mui, a senior undergraduate Urban Planning major. She is studying urban agriculture from a planning standpoint, and helps sell our produce every week. Another person that enables all this to happen.</div><div><div><img height="480" width="644" src="cid:B9F017E6-0A60-4F60-A241-3DA6CE7E3657"><img height="480" width="644" src="cid:982B8FEF-40AB-4B6D-AB52-2106C5FD1451"></div><div><br></div><div><b>Simple ways that you can help:</b></div><div>- Come by and volunteer.</div><div>- Tell a friend or neighbor about what we're doing, and tell them to volunteer.</div><div>- Purchase some vegetables from us at the market.</div><div><br></div><div>See you soon in the garden!</div><div><br></div><div>-Vinnie Bevivino and the staff of the Master Peace Community Garden</div><div>6200 Sheridan Street </div><div>Riverdale, MD 20737</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.engagedu.umd.edu/">www.engagedu.umd.edu</a></div><div>301-405-0656</div><div><br></div><div>The Master Peace Community Garden is a project of the the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension's Engaged University and Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program. We work to increase access to healthy food and the knowledge and skills needed to grow healthy food. </div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>