Okay, y’all – I’m gonna be real with you. I was running late today (life happens, right?), but walking into the garden at noon was like stepping into the most beautiful organized chaos I’ve ever seen.

The Pancake Situation That Started It All

Picture this: Tim rolls up with a flat top grill, decides to DONATE it to the garden, and starts flipping pancakes for everyone. Not just any pancakes – we’re talking chocolate chip AND berry pancakes made with strawberries Katie and the crew had just picked from our own beds.

Katie summed it up perfectly in our group chat: “Thanks for the pancakes, Tim, they were fantastic!”

But here’s the thing that gets me every single time about our misfit family – Jeff was worried around 10:40 because there were only 2-3 people on location. He thought we might break our month-long streak of 20+ volunteers. Then boom – people just started showing up like magic. By noon, we had our usual Saturday buzz going strong.

When Dirt Piles Become Social Hubs

Can we talk about Nico for a hot sec? This absolute legend spent the day keeping everyone engaged and on a mission to finish the big dirt pile. He also talked up the tomato plants Jen brought to anyone who would listen.

And those tomato plants? Our own Jen works at MI Gardener now (shoutout to one of our long-time fav seed companies!), and they donated heirloom tomato plants for our produce stand. Not just any tomatoes – these are the good stuff that visitors can take home and grow their own gardens with.

Katie said that folks at the stand were so excited about them!

That’s what I’m talking about – we’re not just feeding people today, we’re helping them feed themselves tomorrow.

The Numbers That Make My Heart Happy

Let’s get into the good stuff because these numbers are absolutely wild:

Today alone:

• 17 families helped at our produce stand
• Nearly 16 pounds harvested from our Giving Garden
• 21+ pounds of bonus food from a neighbor who thought of us after her food bank visit
• Almost 40 pounds of food donated this month (and it’s only June 7th!)

Since May 12th (less than a month ago):

• Over 700 volunteer hours logged
• 49+ volunteers just this week
• 37 families helped with free, fresh vegetables

We donated 42 pounds total last month, and we’re already almost there in one week of June. Holy moly! Here’s a link to the interactive dashboard so you can see the numbers for yourself.

The Friends of the Garden Unveiling

Jeff had quite the adventure today – started at 8:30 AM finishing our new sponsor signs, had to switch from CNC to laser engraving when the text wasn’t quite right, even made a True Value (support local, right?) run for more hardware. But when those signs went up? Pure magic.

All right, so here’s the whole idea behind the Friends of the Garden signs. We only have so much room for businesses to sponsor beds without the garden turning into a terrible rendition of NASCAR. So over the winter we brainstormed and decided that we wanted to build out a specific area where we could highlight all of the businesses that support us. Something where they were front and center for everybody to see. And that’s how the Friends of the Garden was born.

Businesses pledge $150 per month, allowing us to do more for the community. We promote them anyway we possibly can and then at our end of season harvest potluck dinner we award them the CNC signs so they can hang them up as trophies.

The Great Planter Transformation

Meanwhile, Jen and her “kickassest accomplice” (that’s our Mohawk Bill for anyone on the outs) were working on a completely different kind of makeover – transforming what she dubbed the “kidnapping of the ECG tipsy planter.” The painted it with gorgeous rainbow colors to match our ECG logo. As she put it, “One of the pots ended up being green and yellow to perfectly represent Urban Seed’s branding as well… Even had left over flowers for some hair for our new friends.”

Talk about taking a tired old planter and giving it new life with some serious rainbow pride! 🏳️‍🌈🌱🏴‍☠️

Dancing Through the To-Do List

We switched up how we track volunteers – no more formal sign-ins! Now folks just add tally marks to a dry erase board, and right below that, we list the day’s goals. At the bottom of today’s list? “Dance a bit.”

I caught multiple people doing a little jig after reading it and it made me smile every damn time! These people are so unapologetically awesome!

Everyone Found Their Groove

Katie and Caleb were productivity machines: “Today Caleb and I planted a bed of sweet corn, I planted beans and weeded, Sarah and I harvested and manned the produce stand with Nico, where we gave away most of the radishes, 5 lbs of lentils, all the celery seedlings, and most of the tomato seedlings.”

Bill captured the whole vibe perfectly in our group chat: “What an incredibly amazing day. I was very lost in what I wanted to get done today. So as wandering and dreaming I came up with a few things. We kicked so much ass. The pancakes topped off the day for me. The fact that we used berries from the yard was super amazing.”

He even took a 15-minute power nap by the fire pit before tackling the new raspberry bins. Life goals anyone??

Lauren brought her friend Chloe who was “super impressed with the garden and all of our cool volunteers!” (pretty sure she was talking about me) They leveled dirt near the U-Pick beds with Nico, moved logs, and stacked sticks – it was like one of those oversized Jenga games -but better!

Lisa tended our blueberry bushes and planted two more in the back because, let’s be honest, you can never have too many blueberries.

Jeff’s marathon day included everything from those sponsor signs to helping Pat install the birdhouse in our water garden (Pat’s back after being away since 2020 – welcome home!), plus he got to enjoy what he called a “kickass mini strawberry rhubarb pie” that Kat and Cola got him.

Jen weeded giving garden beds (we’re always looking for more hands to help), planned out cut water barrels for our future raspberry patch, and had her favorite moment – you guessed it – those pancakes! I was joking around earlier saying that every year we do something really amazing and this year we built a damn kitchen 🤣

The Produce Stand Is WORKING

Our first Facebook video about the produce stand went live today (Thank you Katie), and neighbors are already finding us! Helping 17 families in one day proves this little community resource is exactly what people needed.

Plus, when a neighbor had extra food from a food bank visit, where did she think to bring it? Right here to the garden so we could weigh it and share it with others. That’s the kind of community ripple that makes everything worth it.

What This Really Means

As Bill put it: “Thank you all for being my super heroes through out the years and today. Your all are super duper awesome sauce.”

Over 100 hours in less than a month. 37 families helped. Pancakes made with our own strawberries. Tomato plants from MI Gardener going home with neighbors to start their own gardens. Pat returning after multiple years. New friends like Chloe getting inspired.

We’re not just growing food – we’re growing the kind of community where people show up with grills and make pancakes, where dancing is literally on the to-do list, and where everyone finds exactly what they need, whether that’s fresh vegetables, a power nap by the fire pit, or just some time with their hands in the dirt.

Quick Construction Heads Up

The 9 Mile construction shifted so it’s right in front of our driveway. If it gets blocked, just park on the side streets or in the church lot – there’s an entrance on the side street to the East.

Come Be Part of the Magic

Every Saturday, 10 AM to 2 PM, we’re out here proving that community isn’t just a buzzword – it’s pancakes and dirt piles and dancing and neighbors thinking of each other and tomato plants going home to start new gardens. Oh, and gay garden pirate flags that piss off all the right people 🤣

Everyone is welcome. No experience needed, the soil doesn’t judge, and neither do we. Plus, you never know when someone might show up with a grill and fresh berries!

See you next Saturday? I’ll save you a spot on that tally board.
-John

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