Hey garden family!

We had scorcher at the South Warren Community Garden last Sunday! I showed up just after the crew had gotten started, dropped off a cooler with ice for everyone, and managed to grab some photos of the fantastic materials the Macomb County Health Department brought us before I had to take off to update the website.

Big News: Partnerships That Actually Matter!

First things first – we’ve got to give a massive shoutout to Tameria Baker from the Macomb County Health Department for stepping up in a huge way! After months of working together, she helped to secured funding to get us some essential tools that are going to make our garden work so much easier:

• New shovels and a wheelbarrow (because let’s be honest, good tools make all the difference)
• Whiskey barrel planters for berries
• Two 100′ metal hoses with reels
• Plus other odds and ends that every growing garden needs

It’s incredible when local health departments recognize that community gardens aren’t just about pretty plants – they’re about public health, food access, and building stronger communities. Having that kind of institutional support behind what we’re building? That’s the real deal right there.

And here’s another win-win moment: My company, Fusion Marketing, donated $100 to the garden as part of closing a new contract. I love it when business success can directly support community growth!

What Our Amazing Volunteers Accomplished (In the Heat!)

Even with temperatures that would make anyone want to stay inside with the AC cranked up, 10 incredible volunteers showed up ready to get their hands dirty. Here’s what happened while I was running around with that cooler:

Garden Infrastructure & Growth:

• Stef, Kat, Cola, and Zach planted tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini in the beds we filled last week
• Nick worked his magic in the pollinator garden – weeding, planting new natives, and using that county mulch to fill the weed barrier around the garden
• More grass cutting to keep our space looking sharp (I see you Will ✊)
• Nick also spotted some Bee Balm and New York Aster that are going to give us gorgeous fall blooms!
• And here’s a game-changer: They set up our brand new scale for the garden! No more borrowing the scale from our Eastpointe crew – South Warren is officially self-sufficient in the veggie-weighing department. This makes tracking our harvests so much easier and more accurate.

Community Connections & Fresh Harvest

Our produce stand was absolutely buzzing! Jocelyn created an amazing sign for the stand (seriously, the creativity in this group never stops), and Lauren managed it like a pro. She gave away full-size tomatoes, a handful of grape tomatoes, and extra seedlings to community members who stopped by.

We had 4 people visit the stand, and here’s the best part – one person committed to volunteering with us next weekend! That’s how this community grows, one conversation at a time.

The harvest was beautiful – primarily Swiss chard and tomatoes. According to our public impact dashboard calculator (which is pretty cool because anyone can check it out), we harvested produce worth $17.43 for the community. That might sound like a small number, but it represents real food security and nutrition reaching our neighbors!

From Garden to Table

Lauren took home all the extra Swiss chard and immediately turned it into soup – there’s nothing quite like that garden-to-table satisfaction! Jocelyn also harvested two of the larger tomatoes, and you know those are going to taste like summer itself.

Behind the Scenes: Making Data Work for Community Impact

While our amazing crew was battling the heat and getting their hands dirty, I was at home tackling some of the less glamorous but equally important work – our harvest tracking system!

I spent the afternoon making some cool modifications to our harvest tracker. Now it starts with a calendar review that highlights all the produce logs from both our gardens. This gives us an awesome bird’s-eye view of what days we’re harvesting and lets us spot historic trends over time.

It might sound nerdy (okay, it definitely IS nerdy), but this kind of data tracking is what helps us show the real impact of what we’re doing. When we can demonstrate consistent harvests, growing volunteer engagement, and increasing food donations, it makes conversations with partners like the Macomb County Health Department so much more powerful.

Plus, there’s something pretty satisfying about seeing all those harvest entries building up on the calendar – each one represents real food reaching real people in our community!

Looking Ahead

Our next Sunday Garden Party is this weekend from 10am-2pm at 13690 Toepfer Rd in Warren. Come join us – no experience needed, and now we’ve got even better tools to share! The soil doesn’t judge, and neither do we.

Whether you want to plant, weed, harvest, or just hang out under the shade and chat, there’s a place for you in our garden family.