If you’re looking for a chance to celebrate our recent rains and the cooler temperatures of Fall, plan to attend the Brownwood Area Community Garden’s third annual Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 13th.
Visitors who stroll through the Garden will find plenty to celebrate. Everywhere you look, the Garden’s raised beds are overflowing with peppers, cherry tomatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, herbs and flowers. Thick green vines cover the central arbor, and butterflies swarm blossoms of all colors. You can even catch a glimpse of fruit on the trees in the orchard which was planted last year.
Established in 2009, the Brownwood Area Community Garden is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing area food pantries with fresh, naturally grown produce year-round, as well as providing gardening space for area gardeners. So far this year, the Garden has donated more than 1,400 pounds of fresh produce to area food pantries and the Salvation Army Loaves and Fishes soup kitchen.
Festival events this year include a Farmers Market featuring fresh-picked vegetables, herbs, and flowers from the Garden. Area artisans and merchants will offer their wares at a Craft Fair.
Food and refreshments will be available throughout the event, and live music by Sun Duo will entertain festival goers.
Brown County Master Gardener Association will sponsor a rain barrel demonstration and workshop at 11 a.m. Leslie Courington and Thom Nairns will demonstrate how to construct a simple rainwater catchment vessel from a plastic barrel. Barrels will be available for sale on a first-come, first-served basis.
For younger festival goers, face painting and pumpkin painting will be offered, and Oscar the Grouch will be on hand with his Trashcan Veggie Roaster, serving up fresh ears of corn on the cob.
Visitors to the Harvest Festival are invited to tour the Community Garden while there and learn about the Garden’s 6,000-gallon rainwater harvesting system, state-of-the-art drip irrigation, composting and vermiculture.
Festival organizers have tried to keep costs to a minimum to accommodate families on a budget.
The third annual Harvest Festival will be held Saturday, October 13th, from 10am to 4pm, at the Brownwood Area Community Garden, behind Central Texas Opportunities offices at 1500 Dublin Street in Brownwood. Parking is available at the Salvation Army building on Lakeway, which runs between Belle Plain and West Commerce Avenue. The Garden is a short walk from the Salvation Army parking lot.
For further information, contact Mary Green Engle at 325-784-8453, or Daniel Graham at 325-641-9029.
Pictured above: Garden Coordinator Daniel Graham and volunteer James Carr prepare a garden plot for fall planting at the Brownwood Area Community Garden. Photos contributed.
Garden worker Ralph Surber checks a tromboncino squash at the Brownwood Area Community Garden. The Garden celebrates its third annual Harvest Festival Saturday, October 13th, 1514 Dublin Street.
Lauren Kirk thins bean plants in her garden plot at the Brownwood Area Community Garden. The Community Garden leases about half of its 64 plots to area residents on an annual basis. Plots are 3 1/2 x 20 feet in size, and most are 18 inches high.
