Garden Season 2020: We Did It!

Dear Solstice Gardeners,

Our 2020 gardening season has come to a close! To say that this was a challenging year is an understatement. And yet, our garden season continued, our gardeners persisted, and we were fruitful. A few highlights to celebrate from this year include:

• Our Giving Garden produced 999 pounds and our gardeners donated another 255 pounds of goodies for a total Solstice contribution of 1,254 pounds of produce to the West Seattle Food Bank.

• We held our very first virtual P-Patch Plant Sale in September, raising a little over $200! If it becomes necessary to do this again, we have this pilot experience to draw from.

• Our P-Patch recorded 541 volunteer hours this season, more than the 248 hours minimum required! Thank you so much to our dedicated volunteers—we know that many of you donated more than the minimum eight hours required for each plot.

• Last weekend we celebrated the close of the gardening season with our Autumn P-Patch Gala, with an invitation to our members to come together to winterize our individual garden plots. Robin made delightful treats – pumpkin cookies, ginger cookies, and cupcakes, and we had coffee and hot apple cider! Kara pulled together Halloween goodies bags for the kids. It was great to see everyone and celebrate the P-Patch! It was a reminder of one of the best things about our garden—the people who help it flourish.

We achieved a lot during a difficult year—we contributed food to our local community, volunteers stepped up, and we learned some new things. Though we’d never wish for the circumstances this year brought upon us, it’s remarkable to see how we can pull together to adapt. Even when times are tough, we can still find things to celebrate.

Though posts to the P-Patch website will be going dormant until early spring, we are looking forward to the next gardening season! Remember, there are still opportunities to volunteer over the autumn and winter months. If you have questions of things you can do to help care for our community garden, please contact our P-Patch Coordinator, Tim Peterson at: plant.tender.tim.2012@gmail.com.

Wishing you and yours health and rest, and see you in the new year!

Best,

The Solstice P-Patch Coordinating Team