Southside Place Community Garden

Come join us for another mellow music event outside on the garden lawn (weather permitting). This time it is a local group, The Remnants. Bring your own picnic and drinks. We’ll have the chairs and the entertainment!

Green Thumbs Unite! Community Gardens to Grow Your Own Food in Houston

Here’s how to get involved with small farms across the city.

By Uvie Bikomo  July 31, 2024

https://www.houstoniamag.com/news-and-city-life/2024/07/community-gardens-houston

Mark your calendars for another fabulous garden party! This is the family-friendly party with a silent auction, enchiladas from Molina’s, cake from Moeller’s and lots of wine and beer from Total Wine. This year we have the talented and gorgeous singer Katie Katy performing. Entry is $20 per adult and kids are free. The silent auction is our main fundraiser that keeps the garden blooming year round. Here’s a sampling of things up for auction:

• Southside Season Pass
• Southside Pool Party
• Southside Place Basket of Goodies
• Astro’s Tickets
• Tiny’s/Milk & Cookies Gift Card
• Wine class/tasting for 20
• Vinglace
• Three Dogs Bakery Gift Certificate
• Glow Medispa “Glow All Out” Package
• Maximo’s, the neighborhood’s newest restaurant, Gift Cards
• iCryo Gift Card
• Fencing Lessons
• Music Lessons

Got stuff to donate? Send us an email at sspcgarden@gmail.com.

Singer/guitarist Katie Katy to perform April 21, 2024.

Tiana Hall was fantastic! See her perform in the garden here:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/

Join us for a casual music event Sunday March 24, 2024 with singer Tianna Hall and her jazz guitar bandmate. Bring your friends and family! See her perform here: https://tiannahall.com/videos

April 21 will be the Southside Place Community Garden’s 10^th annual family-friendly garden party. Every year, we try to offer new and interesting items to be auctioned during our silent auction. This year, we have added a “Staycation” section, which will include fun local activities. Do you have an activity, like golf or baseball tickets, you would want to donate? Or can you sponsor an item from our wish list? (donate the funds so that we can acquire the item for auction).  Sponsorship opportunities:

• Four tickets for the 45 minute pontoon boat nature tour cruise on Buffalo Bayou
  $90 donation for:
• Two tickets to Texas Tree Ventures

• Puttery
• Pttshack
• iFly
• Top Golf
• Rooftop Cinema Club $120
• Four tickets for the 90 minute pontoon boat bat tour cruise on Buffalo Bayou $160
• Four tickets for the 90 minute pontoon boat history tour cruise on Buffalo Bayou
  $180 donation for:
• Four tickets to Texas Tree Ventures $250
• A one night stay at the Geo Dome at Cameron Ranch Glamping $350
• A one night stay in the Mirror House at Cameron Ranch Glamping
• Four tickets for the history tour of the Buffalo Bayou Cistern

What a wonderful evening! Weather was perfect for the 50 guests who attended our fancy dinner catered by Soren Pedersen with wine pairings from AWI wines. The evening started with a hibiscus whiskey sour, made with the Roselle hibiscus grown in the garden. AWI owner Conrad Johnson sampled wines and servers passed hors d’oeuvres. Then we moved to the long table where Chef Pedersen cooked in his pop-up kitchen under the white tent. The sunset was particularly glorious, just for us.

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.