Southside Place Community Garden

After a long reprieve, we are back with our fancy sit-down dinner in the garden! This is the most beautiful event of the year, with white table cloths on one, long communal table in the garden open lot. You will be greeted with a garden cocktail and appetizers in front of the pergola. AWI (A Wild Idea) Wines will be tasting several wines which can be ordered for later delivery. Meanwhile, Chef Soren Pedersen and his crew will be preparing a meal outside in their portable kitchen. Around 5:10pm we will be seated for our first courses, paired with an AWI wine. Next, fish, chicken, AND filet mignon will be served family-style, paired with a carefully chosen AWI red and white wine. Finally, we will have two desserts paired with an AWI Burgundy.

Arnav Adhikari, a 17 year-old Carnegie Vanguard high school student and garden volunteer, has tested and deployed an intelligent watering system to save water in the raised bed #6. He, with the help of his family and and garden board member/engineer, Adrian Francis, installed a SmartSprout irrigation system prototype, which assesses the soil moisture to determine if a bed’s water supply should turn on or not. The system prevents water loss from the bed and saves water by turning off the supply automatically based on the soil moisture readings. This helps grow a healthier and productive crop while being cost efficient. In the coming months, the Arnav hopes to expand SmartSprout to the other 8 beds.

From a young age, Arnav has been passionate about engineering and finding ways to apply technological solutions in real life projects. On witnessing the social and environmental impacts of food deserts in India, Houston, and a few other US cities, he developed an interest in addressing this problem through technology by ensuring that fresh produce was accessible to everyone and grown in the most resourceful way, conserving water as well as time and money. He leveraged his technical skills to invent and develop a simple prototype called SmartSprout that promotes effective crop growth. Arnav is grateful for the opportunity to implement SmartSprout at the City of Southside Place Community Garden and continues to work on, improve, and share his solution. He cherishes the helpful feedback from the garden members and city council, valuable guidance and support from his parents, and his sister’s, Kashika Adhikari’s, motivation and outreach. In the future, Arnav wants to continue to apply his technical and entrepreneurial skills to create an even larger impact on addressing food desert issues in communities.

Here’s what’s growing on before the heat of the summer:

https://www.growveg.com/garden-plans/873972

Southside Place Firetruck Park is a fellow 501(c)3 organization in our small city. Here is our article in the Park News listing some our plans for the near future.

Urban Harvest and Cultivators are hosting a margarita class in the Southside Place Community Garden, an Urban Harvest affiliate. Tickets are for Urban Harvest Cultivar members only.

Become a member here: https://give.urbanharvest.org/checkout_membership/24657?membership_id=5299%2C5300

Memberships are $125 per person per year.

Join us for another free picnic in the garden with live music! This is a BYOB, picnic or chow down of Foreign Policy food truck donut burgers, Mexican pita, or Greek salad. Some chairs will be, available but we encourage you to bring baseball chairs or blankets. Rain out date is the following Sunday, April 2.

Not sure what to bring for your picnic? Don’t worry about it and buy dinner from the food truck:

Don’t forget: It’s BYOB and parking is tight. Walking is encouraged. Well-behaved dogs are welcome.

Sunday April 30 4:30-7:30pm in the garden 6309 Edloe

On Saturday Nov. 6, 2021 9am – 3pm our friends at the Herb Society of American, South Texas Unit, is hosting the Herb Fair.

See:
www.herbsociety-stu.org
www.facebook.com/HerbSociety.SouthTexasUnit/

We mean the music, not the invasive grass! Join us for a picnic in the garden Sunday November 7 2021 3-5pm. BYO chairs and concessions. It’s a free and socially distanced, outdoor event.