April 20, 2009, 10:40 p.m. - Just a short note to say "Thank you" to everyone who came to the Garden Fest at the South Carolina Botanical Garden last Saturday (April 18).  We had a fantastic turnout - lots of interest in local food, gardening, and farming.  Many thanks to Lisa Wagner, of the South Carolina Botanical Garden, who organized the event.  We are already planning for next year! What was most inspiring for me (Catherine) was the number of people who are not only interested in gardening for themselves and their families, but are also interested in helping others in the community.  A number of people expressed an interest in our Earth Box project (see our home page for more information).  More than 50 people signed up to be on our mailing list.  Please do send us an e-mail if you're interested in being on our mailing list.  We do not share your names with anyone else; now do we send out lots of e-mails.  We mainly send  announcements of our events.

               We look forward to seeing you at our Spring Potluck on Thursday May 21.  Please bring a dish to share and your ideas for expanding our movement in the Upstate!  What a great way to build community - from the ground up!

             One more thing - did you know it is now strawberry season??  Plan an outing to one of the u-pick (or they-pick) strawberry farms.  Nothing like sweet strawberries, locally grown of course! Please check out this information from the Happy Berry Farm (this information is from their newsletter....you can also visit their website at www.TheHappyBerry.com).  Happy picking!