Updates: Hello Spring and All She Brings
How is it May already?
Let us catch you up with some updates!
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George explains the health benefits of various fruits, veggies and other organic produce.
Schools enBloom
In our growing zone 7, Mother’s Day is the perfect time to get many spring-lovin’ seedlings and seeds in the soil for a bountiful summer harvest! Littany of enSprout designed a beautiful and functional spring garden plan using the square foot method for maximum yield at Georgetown East Elementary. Strawberries, chives, tomatoes, and maybe some bee balm are aching to take root in the soil beds that we prepped and amended in the fall and winter. Collard, radish, bush beans, and dill seeds are also ready to sow directly into the ground. Starting May 20 we need help get these plant babies in the ground!
Please sign up for a Saturday shift from May 20 through the growing season!
These nutrient-rich plants will be used for yummy cooking demos throughout the summer.
Summer Internship (with Compensation!)
In partnership with the Eta Eta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., a stipend is available for an Anne Arundel County Community College (AACC) student to help manage groups of volunteer gardeners throughout the summer in Annapolis.
If you know someone that might be a good fit, please ask them to email us at be@enbloom.life.
GrowFood4RX
With plans for growing at school sites underway, we are excited to share an opportunity for those that want to grow at home. On May 3rd, we announced GrowFood4RX for backyard growers of any experience level.
enBloom’s resident master gardener, Reci started seeds for kale, collards, cucumbers, bell peppers (and more!) and nurtured them into seedlings over the cold months. The plant babies are ready to be transplanted in a raised bed and need a plant parent (or family!) to care for them. enBloom will provide the Vego bed, soil, plants, and everything else you need to grow over the season - including the “how to” – at no cost.
Logs, Cardboard, and Twigg Needed
In the GrowFood4Rx program, we will use the hugelkultur method to fill the raised 32” inch tall beds. This method gives unused firewood, wood chips, twigs, and uncolored cardboard new life, literally by reducing the amount of soil needed to fill the beds (which means money saved) and also promotes sustainable agriculture by adding organic matter to beds that will turn into rich soil over the years.
If you have piles of firewood, bundles of twigs, mounds of untreated mulch, or stacks of mostly colorless brown cardboard boxes to donate to this project, we will gladly take them.
Please email us to arrange a local pickup or drop-off in and around Annapolis.
Communities enBloom
Reci’s, veggie babies in their nursery. These seedlings are ready to be adopted into the care of our new GrowFood4Rx gardeners! Now accepting applications.
April saw a flurry of healthy activity.
We had a delicious Juice Joint on Saturday, April 22, at Crofton Park. George, our juicer, will lead us in a 3-Day Juice Cleanse in May.
If you are interested in doing a Cleanse with a small group, click here.
When Anne Arundel County schools were closed we held a Community Service Day on April 21, in collaboration with Sisters of the Soil, Love Bug Farm, Social Farming for Global Interaction and OurSpace World at the Urban Incubator Farm in Upper Marlboro. Kids and parents helped the farmers mulch between crop rows, lay tarps, and add compost.
“I needed that so much,” said an April 19th participant of Yoga, Sound & Ground with Chevon, The Mystic Yogini. Chevon grounded us with yoga and sound bowls to a funky and eclectic soundtrack.
At Commuity Service Day at UFI in Upper Marlboro, Farmer Maya showing here beautiful, tunnel-raised spring veggies that are ready for planting.
Upcoming
The next session Yoga, Sound & Ground with Chevon is coming up Wednesday, May 17 at 6:30 PM and I forgot to tell y’all about it! Eight (8) folks that want a moment for peace and grounding are needed to join the next session.
We currently don’t charge for attend this session but please sign up to join us and add it to you calendar.
Regularly programming will be on Tuesday evenings at the studio space at Hair & Health in Crofton beginning in June! We continue our awareness and fundraising efforts to collectively steward land and space in Anne Arundel County to host our wellness programming and grow nutrient-dense foods. To address our immediate space needs, we are contracting with Hair & Health to use their community space for our indoor programs. Schedule to come for community circles, reiki, acupuncture, and yoga sessions!
If you offer a wellness service or are a health professional or practitioner that would like to share your expertise, especially that address specific health disparities of Black individuals, let’s connect!
Please email Joi about sponsoring a wellness session.
Crofton Black Women’s Circle, a small group for women to come as they are for conversation and community, is back in June! The next date will be announced on our Instagram.
Be the First to Know! Join Us on IG
enBloom first shares news on our IG page, so please follow us there. As we grow the infrastructure of our organization, we have to make strategic decisions on how we manage our resources. One of our first part-time hires will be a content manager to ensure the community has access to these offerings that center community-curated healing, wellness, and nutrients. I continue to meet folks weekly that “hear about enBloom from …” - Thank you. Please continue to spread the word about enBloom with those you know are into this work.
In Community,
Joi