BELL Garden is collecting 2-Liter soda bottles and 1/2 Gallon milk or juice jugs for things such as seed germination. Please save them for us!

Did you know BELL donates THOUSANDS of pounds of produce to the community?

by Shirleen Tarangle, Key Volunteer

BELL Garden DONATES produce weekly and everything comes fresh directly from our field rows and raised beds. To date in 2022, we’ve donated 2,728 lbs to various programs and agencies, including Bellevue Community Food Bank, Edgehill Neighborhood Partnership (ENP), Meals 4 Health and Healing (the Heimerdinger Foundation), and The View Community Resource Coalition (CRC). We’ve also gifted boxes of produce to One Gen Away, and Bellevue Fire Department across the way from us. You can watch the numbers grow on our Home page!

Especially in a time when the cost of food for families is rising globally, we want to continue to make sure our community has access to healthy, whole foods. Our goal is to help eliminate local food insecurity, and we’ll maintain collaborations with other like-minded organizations in order to do so. If you or someone you know is experiencing a lack of consistent access to enough food, we encourage you to reach out to one of the listed agencies.

In the upcoming months, you will be able to see what more we have to offer, and what more you can do to support this nonprofit.

Cool Weather Crops

Missy Hamilton, Board President & Garden Manager

It is not too late to plant your cool weather crops such as beets, bok choy, kale, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, peas, radishes, and bush-variety green beans. Try planting your seeds deeper in the fall than in the spring. The ground is warm in Zone 7a, having just come off the hot summer months. By planting seeds a little deeper we get them down to where the soil is cool and moist.

Our on-going Growing Together classes are fun AND informative. If you want to learn something new, or even socialize and meet like-minded people, then check out our upcoming sessions. Also, don’t forget to mark your calendars with the future event dates.

• Growing Together class — Seed Saving — September 10th from 10-11:30 a.m.
  Join Stuart Englert & Deborah Stillwell to learn how to save seeds, and discover techniques for selecting the most productive seeds to harvest and plant.
• Growing Together class — Reduce, Reuse, Recycle in the Garden! — September 17th from 10-11 a.m.
  Join Julie Berbiglia, Metro Water Services, as she teaches you ways to reuse items to make a variety of things, such as compost bins, garden beds, bird feeders, trellises, tools, labels & containers.

SAVE THE FUTURE DATES!

• Fall Plant Sale: October 15, 22 & 29 from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
  Fall is a great time to plant! We’ll be selling Lamb’s Ear, Creeping Jenny, Bee Balm and more – full list to come.
• BELL Garden Annual Virtual Auction: December 1-11
  Donated items and services will be auctioned off during this time, and the proceeds will be used for BELL’s needs and on-going projects, as well as furthering our ability to help the community. If you’d like to donate, or know someone who would, please contact Deborah with the info.

VIEW ALL GROWING TOGETHER CLASSES.

 

Classes you may have missed in August

Filipino Cooking with Anne Marie

by Anne Marie Rhodes Davies, Key Volunteer

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1/2 lb pork belly, cut into strips (vegetarian & other substitution options available)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-3 tablespoons of shrimp paste (non shellfish options available, such as fish sauce, soy sauce, etc.)
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 small squash, peeled & cut into cubes
• 1 cup water
• 5-7 young okras, any variety, ends trimmed & halved diagonally
• 1/2 bunch Yard-long beans (sitaw), ends trimmed & cut into 3-inch lengths
• 1 medium bitter gourd, seeded, halved & then cut into slices
• 1 large eggplant, ends trimmed & cut into cubes
• salt

*Note: ingredients can be swapped or changed to your liking. The above-listed ingredients and cooking instructions below are what were used in the Filipino Cooking class. Also, bolded items have been grown and sold at BELL Garden.*

Instructions:

1. In a wok or pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add pork until browned and fat rendered.
2. Lower heat to medium and add onion and garlic, and cook until tender and aromatic. Add tomatoes and cook 3-5 minutes, or until they become soft and the skins peel off the flesh.
3. Add shrimp paste and continue to cook for about 1 minute.
4. Add squash and water. Cover the pan and let simmer for about 2 minutes.
5. Add yard-long beans, bitter gourd and eggplant. Season with salt if needed. Cook for about 2 minutes. Add okra and cook for about another 2 minutes, until vegetables are tender yet still a bit crisp.
6. Transfer to a serving plate over rice, and add your favorite friend meat.

BELL Garden is 100% volunteer-run! Our volunteer spotlight this month is on:

Key Volunteer

Jennifer was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest but has lived and traveled extensively throughout the continental United States as well as internationally. After graduating with her MBA, she spent many years in the corporate world while simultaneously homeschooling her two kids and traveling as much as schedules would allow.

In 2020, the family moved to Tennessee from Seattle, WA, and Jennifer chose to leave her job and pursue a career change into the field of nursing. With the move to Tennessee in the height of the pandemic, when opportunities to become part of the community were sparse, she found BELL gardens. With her love of being outdoors, healthy food, and learning, as well as the community that was found at the Gardens, a one-time volunteer opportunity turned into a regular Saturday morning outing. Most Saturdays you will find Jennifer at the gardens getting her hands dirty and helping complete any manner of project that has been dreamed up.

In her free time you will find Jennifer taking a trip to the mountains for hiking, biking, drawing, reading, cooking, or going on a long run.  

Key & Returning Volunteers

Your continued help is appreciated! Every single one of you have contributed to BELL Garden’s progress, and we look forward to seeing all of you throughout the month. Please don’t forget to sign up as usual through SignUpGenius.

Farm Stand Workers

If you’ve already been vetted and approved by Deborah, you can use this specific link to sign up for the Farm Stand shifts.

New Volunteers

Looking for a rewarding way to spend a few hours outdoors each week? BELL Garden is always looking for new people to help out. To become a Key Volunteer, please complete our Volunteer Application and plan to attend one of the next New Volunteer Orientations. Email Nat and Deborah at volunteer@bellgardentn.org with your questions.

ORIENTATION RESERVATIONS