Stephanie at the Oakhurst Community Garden sends along this reminder…

Save the date! Decatur Farm to School Dine Out will be held Tuesday, January 31, 2012 from 5-9 p.m. Dine out at a select area restaurant that evening and a percentage of the proceeds will be donated to Decatur Farm to School (DF2S) to sustain its mission of integrating fresh, locally produced foods into the City of Decatur school community’s classrooms and cafeterias.  Participating restaurants include Brick Store Pub, Iberian Pig, Cakes & Ale, The Yogurt Tap, Leon’s Full Service, The Square Pub, Universal Joint, Steinbeck’s, Farm Burger, McGowan’s Oakhurst Pub, Sapori di Napoli, and Mac McGee. 

New this year is a raffle with great prizes from Riverview Farms and more.  Tickets will be sold during the Dine Out and winners will be contacted after the event.  Funds raised will go toward supporting teacher workshops, kitchen trainings for our cafeteria partners, classroom and garden projects, and student taste tests.   Please spread the word and be sure to take family, neighbors, and friends out for a nice evening to celebrate a great cause, support our local businesses, and enjoy delicious food.  DF2S is a branch of the Wylde Center, formerly the Oakhurst Garden Community Project. Visit us at www.decaturfarmtoschool.org.

From Be Active Decatur…

Join us for the 41st anniversary of Earth Day and a great chance for members of the community to come together and participate at the city’s OFFICIAL Earth Day Party!

The event is absolutely FREE!

Location: Oakhurst Garden, 435 Oakview Road, Decatur, GA 30030

Time: 1-4 p.m.

Parade: Come as you are. Dress up your bike. No cars please. Or watch from the sides. Line up starts at noon in downtown Oakhurst. If you are walking in the parade, join the group from noon-12:30 p.m. to claim your spot. Parade begins at 12:30 p.m. in Harmony Park (East Lake Drive/Oakview Road) and walks down Oakview Road to the Oakhurst Community Garden Project.

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Pic above from David. (Click to enlarge and enjoy the full panoramic view!)  Info courtesy of Stephanie…

Oakhurst Community Garden Project Plans its Largest Spring Plant Sale Yet!

50 varieties of tomatoes! 30 varieties of pepper! 20 varieties of eggplant! 5 varieties of basil! Plus over 200 varieties of herbs, fruit trees, perennials, annuals, natives, and succulents!

Open to the Public: Saturday, April 9 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday, April 10 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Lettuce and other spring greens are available for purchase at the Oakhurst Community Garden Project starting April 1. Check out the website for more details. www.oakhurstgarden.org.

Summer vegetable transplants will be available for puchase until June 15, 2011.

Allison writes in with additional details about the Sally Wylde Memorial Service planned for September 11th at Oakhurst Baptist Church.

Flowers for Sally: From your Garden to the Celebration

Guests attending the celebration of the life of Sally Wylde planned for this Saturday, Sept. 11, at Oakhurst Baptist Church at 5:00 p.m. are invited to bring flowers from their own gardens along for the service. Volunteers from the church will be on hand to arrange the flowers in the church as folks bring them in. Please bring what you can from your home garden and help us decorate the church in a way that honors Sally’s unique spirit!

From Decatur City Commissioner Patti Garrett…

Memorial service planned for Oakhurst Garden co-founder Sally Wylde on September 11
A celebration of Sally’s life will take place on September 11, 2010, at 5 p.m. at the Oakhurst Baptist Church (222 East Lake Drive). If you live in the Oakhurst neighborhood, we encourage you to walk to the Church. The service will be followed by a Sally-inspired puppet parade. If you made a puppet with Sally for Earth Day a few years ago, please bring it out — or create a new one (you may store your puppet at the church during the service). The parade will process from the Oakhurst Baptist Church to the Oakhurst Community Garden Project along the East Lake Drive and Oakview Road route. You may join the parade anywhere along the route. A reception, to be held at the Oakhurst Community Garden Project (435 Oakview Road), will be a covered dish meal, Sally style! If you can bring a dish to share, dishes may be dropped off at the Oakhurst Garden between 3:30-4:30 p.m. In case of rain, the reception will take place at the Solarium (321 West Hill Street).

Gifts may be made in memory of Sally to the following organizations:
The Oakhurst Community Garden
The Community of Hospitality
The Global Village School

The Decatur Minute’s Catherine Lee writes…

[Thursday] evening Sally Wylde, a Decatur resident, founder of the Oakhurst Community Garden Project and an inspiring community leader, passed away. She was an amazing woman and had a huge influence on the Decatur community. Sally moved to Oakhurst in 1993 where she and her neighbor, Louise Jackson, invited school children to become caretakers of a garden they had formerly cut through every day after school. Shortly after, Sally and her husband, Britt Dean, acquired a nearby undeveloped half-acre lot and established the Oakhurst Community Garden Project.

You can read Catherine’s full tribute to Sally HERE.

In a recent newsletter, the Oakhurst Community Garden spelled out a specific example of how the organization is bringing local vegetables into Decatur’s schools.  Love it!

The end of the school year is often filled with celebrations of student learning, field games, and farewells to friends and teachers alike. At Oakhurst Elementary, the community came together to add one more ingredient – fresh greens.

The Beginning

In April, the Oakhurst Community Garden Project’s Youth Program Manager, Myriam Van Dorp showed these elementary student how to plant and grow Red Russian, Lacinato, and Siberian Kale as well as Swiss Chard in their 6 vegetable beds. As it turned out, the vegetables did so well that there was more than anyone expected! The students harvested 2 ½ beds of the greens a few days before the final bell.

The Harvest

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