What a kick-off we had last month to begin our gardening year! Shout out to Southwest (and its honorary visiting residents), way to represent! If the kick-off is a sign of things to come, we’re about to have our best year yet!

More than 50 people stopped by to contribute their talents, time, energy, green thumbs, sweat, and coolness. Even Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen made an appearance with his daughter, during which they contributed some garden artwork. We planted the first seeds of the year, cleaned up, weeded, and created a new SW love garden! A special shout-out to Sweetgreen (Navy Yard location) for donating delicious salads to fuel our work. All in all, it was great to see so many people work with one another and nature. A valuable reminder of how transformative community work can be!

Now that the kick-off is behind us, our regular work days have begun. Work days will be every Wednesday from 6-7 p.m. and Sundays 4-6 p.m.. You can consult our garden calendar on our website (swgardens.org/calendar) for the schedule if you ever forget. As a head’s up, work days will be canceled when there’s inclement weather.

Over the next couple weeks, we’ll be planting and maintaining our new SW garden, as well as weeding, watering, creating artwork, and composting!

Speaking of composting, our new 365/24/7 compost system is officially operational. You’re welcome to drop off your food scraps during work days, but if those times are inconvenient, you can leave them in our new compost bin that is located outside the garden. To learn the proper protocol, please reach out to us via email: swgardensdc@gmail.com. We’re going to start by prohibiting meat and “compostable” utensils. The meat may attract some unwanted visitors, and the limited size of our compost pile will prevent us from generating enough heat to break down the compostable materials. If you’re interested in learning how the magic of composting happens, just drop by during any of our work days.

Hope to see you in the garden!

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