The Plant City Commons Community Garden is reclaiming weekends with a full calendar of events from now until the end of the year.
Plant Fest drew a continuous stream of visitors to the Plant City Commons Community Garden last weekend.
Those who wished to spruce up their yards with some unique plants and heirloom seeds to their home gardens, swung by to pick out their foliage. Members of the PCCCG stood by as volunteers to offer advice, talk about the garden and chat about the intricate calendar for the rest of the year at the hidden gem in Plant City.
“It’s been a real benefit to us, while not too many people have taken advantage of our space so we have a low volume of traffic here, it’s very easy to come and wander and walk and sit and there’s ample space for physical distancing,” Community Gardens President Karen Elizabeth said. “That has been a real bonus. Particularly for our members who have been comfortable being at the garden and taking care of their plants. And even in the greenhouse it’s really easy to move around and converse and stay in touch while still being safe.”
Because of the sheer size of the outdoor space the PCCCG hasn’t skipped a beat throughout the pandemic. Now that things are starting to reopen the garden is filling its calendar with physical distanced events.
Last weekend was the Plant Fest and the raised earth box workshop. Every second Saturday at 9 a.m. is the volunteer day at the gardens. The second and fourth Saturday the Seed Library opens to the public at 9 a.m. You can choose to donate or take heirloom seeds home with you to “help keep diversity in our local food system.”
The second Saturday of each month also has Yoga for a Cause with Rebecca at 8:30 a.m. where attendees can bring their own yoga mat and do some yoga outside with a guide. Donations will help rebuild the garden pond area at the garden. If you want to add another yoga day to your schedule come back on the fourth Saturday of every month at 8:30 a.m. with your own mat for Yoga Loves Gardens Fresh Air Flow. Plant City Yoga hosts this morning yoga session to help attendees learn and expand their yoga practice. This event has a $10 suggested donation.
The theme for the PCCCG truly is that Saturdays are for gardening. On Saturday, Oct. 17 at 8:30 a.m. the community can participate in a Refrigerator Pickle Workshop. The suggested donation is $20 and a RSVP is required. RSVP to Karen at 813-435-8111 or at 12circle8@gmail.com. During this workshop you will have a discussion, instruction and then will be provided the container and ingredients to create your take home Bread and Butter pickles.
By November the hope is that fall will finally be in the air in Florida. PCCCG will host a Fire Cider Workshop at 9 a.m. on Nov. 7 that will teach attendees how to make and store their cider. Fire Cider “is said to restore and invigorate one’s system and additionally many claim it has benefits that include boosting energy, warding off colds.” There is a $20 suggested donation and RSVP is required.
“We kind of wanted to get into things that people can do at home and have a little hands on with preparing some nutritious things that people can easily do either as adults or even with their kids,” Elizabeth said. “We want to reintroduce people to gardening and the benefits of this town having a community garden. And for those avid gardeners we want to offer a place for them to be surrounded by their fellow gardeners where they can bounce ideas off one another and get involved in this space.”
There are several other events scheduled through the end of the year. To stay up-to-date on what PCCG is hosting follow the group on Facebook or visit plantcitycommunitygarden.com.
