So much rain, so few rain barrels

As I ran through the rain to go feed the chickens at my house this morning, I couldn't help but think of Quilombo's next big project: installing a rainwater collection system for the church that will host our mini-orchard and community garden.

If any of you lovely readers would like to support our efforts to increase the supply of locally-produced, organic produce in East Austin, please consider helping out with our rainwater collection project.

Ways you can help:

*By donating materials such as:
-Vinyl gutter (10 ft sections)
-Accessories for vinyl gutter: joiners, hooks, end caps, downspouts
-55-gallon food-grade barrels

*By donating funds towards the purchase of materials. We estimate the cost of installing a rainwater system to be about $2.50 per foot. So your $5 donation would get us 2 feet closer to our goal!

*By allowing us to harvest rainwater from your pre-existing gutter system. We'll hook up a barrel at your house and when it gets full we'll come pick it up. What do you have to do? Nothing at all! East Austin residents only please.

.If you are interested in giving in any of these ways, please email quilombogardens@gmail.com.

Sustainable Food Center Workshop

A handful of us attended Sustainable Food Center's Community Garden LeadershipTraining today. If you have any interest in starting a community garden in your neighborhood, we highly recommend you attending the next workshop like this that they offer!

It only cost $5 and we each walked away with a binder that completely lines out the process: from organizing your neighbors, to picking a site, to finding funding. And not only did we get to learn a ton from Jess and Sari, the SFC Grow Local goddesses, but we also got to share ideas and resources among each other and we got to tour Windsor Park Community Garden. Check out some pictures of their awesome fence.


We are TOTALLY doing something like this at our site!

Speaking of our site, here's a brief update. The site that we have now is lying pretty much in a dormant state as we take some time to prepare for the exciting plans we have for the spring season. Those plans include planting a mini-orchard of fruit-producing trees, working to create a vibrant and green community space for meetings/classes/etc., and designating a community garden space alongside the cooperative mini-farm space. We are an ambitious lot who certainly have their work cut out for them. We can always use more hands, so if you're interested in joining us please don't be shy! Leave a comment here or email us at quilombogardens@gmail.com.

Urban Farm Bicycle Tour

We were a stop on the Urban Farm Bicycle Tour again this year. It was a cold but beautiful day and we enjoyed meeting some neighbors and drinking some hot cider.







The baby chicks from Melissa's house came along for the ride. They didn't get to meet any neighbor kids but they still seemed pretty pleased with their field trip.