Sprouts News
MAY is planting month!
Our DGC Sprouts Learning Garden Planting Day & Pizza Party was very productive. We planted together with our families and our new friends. Zinnia seed heads from the 2022 Sprouts gardens were cleaned by the children and went back into the beds for 2023! They added sunflowers to help spread cheer and feed wildlife in support of the DuPage Sunflower Project.
At our May Meeting we continued to PLANT the Learning Garden. We added more seed for nasturtium, herbs, peas, beans and even popcorn seeds! We placed the tomato cages carefully, added plant markers and did other maintenance. The children signed their names on a sign that will be placed in the garden to proudly show that they were a part of this project. We hope that the maintenance, watering and harvesting will be a part of each family's summer.
Stop by to see what's growing!
At our April 2023 Meeting the DGC Sprouts group enjoyed hearing Delaine from DuPage Sunflower Project talk about her vision to plant a sunflower in each yard as she walked to school. Her family listened to her ideas and helped start the Du Page Sunflower Project, quickly its mission was being shared in many states and even globally.
She is an amazing young lady and inspired all of us in attendance. The DGC Sprouts' smiling children each took home many sunflower seeds to share and spread the sunshine, hope and "save the planet" message to all. Thank you, Delanie, for visiting us and we'll be sure to keep your message moving along.
Darien Garden Club will be sharing sunflower seed at all of their meetings, events and with our sunflower seed packaging crew at Kingswood Academy soon.
We look forward to seeing in every neighborhood in Darien!
At our February 22nd, 2023 Meeting we got to see all the pictures that were submitted for the Winter Photo Contest and got to discuss them as well. It was a lot of fun to see what all the Sprouts Members have been up to this Winter. We had 3 (randomly selected) Winners with Prizes of a Book, Garden Tools, or Journal to pick from.
Check Out The Photos Here:
We then discussed Winter Sowing and planted 3 containers we will be keeping in the St. Johns Learning Garden. This is a YouTube video from a DGC Member, Pat Miller, which inspired the lesson on how to do this.
Check it out here… Winter Sowing with Pat Miller YouTube Link
More Sprouts News!
DGC Sprouts January 2023 Meeting: SCARCE presentation on the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
DGC Sprouts would like to thank the Rotary Club of Darien who generously sponsored this program for the group.
We learned that we should think of the 3 Rs in the following order of priority.
#1 REDUCE – Purchase products with LESS materials that need to be recycled
#2 REUSE – Repurpose as much as possible. Explore ways to turn “trash to treasure”!
#3 RECYCLE – Follow the guidance of your local waste hauler and go the extra mile by recycling things not accepted curbside.
We turned over 2 lbs. 5oz. of bread tags for a special project supported by SCARCE. The project uses the $ from the recycled plastic bread tags and pays for children’s wheel chairs. It was a great way for the children to learn that we can make a difference.
Become a Sprout! See below for membership information.
Our Inaugural DGC Sprouts Year at St. John Learning Garden Produced 340 pounds of produce!
Harvested vegetables from the St John Learning Garden were shared with People’s Resource Center and Flowers were shared with local seniors and many others.
We are excited to have shared over 340 pounds of produce this season.
The Sprouts families really enjoy their time in the garden.
We would like to thank our host:
Donors:
Indian Prairie Public Library (grow bags)
City of Darien (inexpensive mulch delivery)
Tamelings Landscape Supply (container soil mix)
College of DuPage Horticulture Department (various vegetable and flower starts)