~~YOGA IN THE GARDEN~~

CORRECT BREATHING IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF ANY YOGA PRACTICE.
THE KIDS PRACTICED DEEP BREATHING BEFORE WE BEGAN OUR INSTRUCTION.

REACH, REACH, REACH TO THE SKY

CHILD'S POSE
THIS IS A GREAT RELAXATION POSE THAT REALLY STRETCHES THE BACK.


DEEP YOGIC BREATHING WITH CLOSED EYES IN MOUNTAIN POSE


AFTER ALL THAT YOGA WORK, WE HAD A LITTLE SNACK. ELIZABETH BROUGHT SOME BROCCOFLOWER, A CROSS BETWEEN BROCCOLI AND CAULIFLOWER.
WE ALL THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY YUMMY!
WONDER WHY IT'S ORANGE THOUGH?


JAILENE WAS EXCITED TO SHARE SOME WITH HER DAD!


MARIO IS A ROCKSTAR WATERER! HE'S GOES STRAIGHT FOR THE HOSE EVERY WEEK WHEN HE ARRIVES AT THE GARDEN.

CHECK OUT OUR BABY EGGPLANT!
ISN'T IT CUTE?


WE HAVE TONS OF BASIL!
MEET US AT THE GARDEN ON TUESDAYS OR WEDNESDAYS TO GET YOURS AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE MINDFUL LIVING GARDEN!

HAPPY GROWING!

All in a hard day's work...

Putting on her gloves so she can GET TO WORK!



Because this is a kid-friendly, health-oriented space, our garden is completely ORGANIC. We use only natural fertilizers and weed killers to protect ourselves and the kids from anything that might be harmful.

Since this used to be a vacant lot, we have LOTS OF WEEDS!

We had to find a natural way to kill all those pesky things. Instead of Round-Up, Miracle-Gro, or some other toxin, we used..... VINEGAR!
Believe it or not, vinegar is a natural weed AND grass killer - be careful only to use it where you DO NOT want weeds OR grass!

Paige got the kids started by mixing water and vinegar through the hose. They all took turns spraying and Paige told them to KILL THOSE WEEDS!

Some worked in teams.

Once we sprayed the entire lot, we had to cover it with fresh mulch.
This is HARD work!

Check out these sweet shades!


OK, back to work...


Cherish was a SUPER hard-worker! What a great example she set for all the neighbors.


We even had some visitors...
The Block Club came by to see what we were up to and how the season was coming along. Thanks for coming to see us guys!


Check out the rest of our pics on SHUTTERFLY!

=

Lots of kids and volunteers met us at the garden to take part in...
SUNFLOWER NIGHT
At this event, we planted sunflowers, measured plants, and recorded what we've harvested from each plant.

A great view of the garden from the back. Here you can see all 5 raised, organic beds and the trusty hose we couldn't live without.


The kids were so excited to count, plant, and water their seeds.
We hope they all come up!


These two were a great team! They loooove flowers...


Jalene is becoming quite the little gardener. She's at every class and maintenance day with friends and family in tow. Such an inspiration!


There's Vanessa...quite the gardener herself. She's also got a great food blog the ML team reads faithfully, check it out.


Jennifer was a great help in getting accurate measurements of all the plants. We're tracking everything that happens in our garden so we can plant for maximum growth in the coming years.
Afterall, gardening is science...

Moe and Rick helped get those morning glories started on their climb up the fence. We can't wait until they flower!



Here are a few pics of what we've grown so far...

BROCCOLI


CAULIFLOWER


GREEN PEPPER


Mindful Living has been blessed to have so many great volunteers, neighbors, and supporters. We hope you're enjoying the ML garden as much as we are.
MANY THANKS TO YOU ALL!

On July 21, 2009 ML staff, volunteers, and neighbors kicked off our Learning in the Garden classes.
Our first class was...

Art in the Garden

We all painted our own pots, then planted herbs and flowers to enjoy at home.

Getting started!
There were so many great colors and seeds to choose from.


Art in the making...


Paige was such a great teacher, what would have done without her artisitic talent?


Best friends and fellow painters


A MASTERPIECE...


Elizabeth, Paige, and all the artists - great job everyone!

We're very excited to share some of our lastest developments with you.

We've recently added a FACEBOOK page and we'd love for you to become a fan. We'll be posting events, photos, and more!

We're also on SHUTTERFLY. Check out all our great pics!
A big thanks to Moe for getting us setup.


We're meeting in the garden tonight at
6:30 pm
for a little
YOGA
we'll be stretching, breathing, and learning some basic yoga poses you can practice on your own.

We'll also be selling produce and herbs that are ripe and ready to eat. Arrive early to get your fresh, organic, local produce.

Happy growing!

Just a few things....

Who's Will Allen?

Mindful Living has been fortunate enough to learn from some of the best in the urban ag biz. In a recent email, we were sent a link to an amazing article about a guy who is changing the face of food in America. Please check it out and see why folks like Will Allen and Mindful Living are so passionate about agriculture in an urban context.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/magazine/05allen-t.html?hpw*

Will Allen also has a blog that looks pretty great. http://www.growingpower.org/blog/

We've also added it to our "ML Blog Friends" (at the bottom of the page.) Check out this and all the other great blogs we're fans of.

As for the garden

It's been absolutley fantastic since our last workday. The neighborhood has essentially taken over watering and we're looking forward to all the great fruits, veggies, and herbs we have growing.

If you're in the area

We'll be hosting a SUNFLOWER PLANTING NIGHT on July 14 from 6:30-7:30. We'd love for everyone to plant sunflower seeds and take them home for a little TLC until they're ready to be planted in the garden. All materials will be provided free of charge so join us for a night of planting, fellowship, and friends. Hope to see you there!

PHASE 1: COMPLETE

WOW!

Mindful Living hosted it's innaugural workday over the last weekend of May!

With an amazing group of volunteers and community members, we were able to complete phase 1 of the transformation of this vacant lot into and educational, urban garden.

Check it out.................

Before Mindful Living, this lot was being used as a parking lot and driveway.

We knew we had a lot of work ahead so we brought in the big guns!

That's right.....a BOBCAT

John (the master raised bed builder) and Pat (the Bobcat man)! What would we have done without them??? We found that the foundation of the house that once stood here, was simply buried after demolition. There were huge chunks of cement to be moved; and boy was it exhausting! The volunteer team also cleared trash, pulled weeds, and tilled the remaining soil to prepare for the NEW GARDEN!

Once the lot was cleared, and the beds were in place. We loaded them with rock (for drainage), landscape fabric (to keep out contaminants), and tons of soil and compost. Following Paige's (co-director) garden design, we layed out the plants and starting putting them in the soil.

The kids were soooo excited to start planting! Along with their excitement, came tons and tons of questions about gardening, plants, watering, and science in general. It was a great day of learning and sharing while working together to create a beautiful space. There was even a little socializing - haha (see background)

Elizabeth (co-director/founder) worked with a group to educate them about spacing, labeling, and watering plants for optimum growth. They were so excited to finally DIG IN!!! This bed has peppers and tomatoes - we can't wait to see the harvest.

The workdays at the Drake Ave Garden were absolutely amazing! It was so inspiring to see everyone working together for something that will serve the community for years to come. We're looking forward to PHASE 2 of development for this garden which should put us near completion on our first site!

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL WHO VOLUNTEERED OR OTHERWISE SUPPORTED THIS ENDEAVOR, WE COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU!

Want to be part of something amazing?

Join us for Phase 2 of development at the Drake Ave Garden

JUNE 27, 2009

10am - 4pm

3323 N DRAKE AVE

CHICAGO, IL 60618