The cooler temperatures of Fall means it’s time to celebrate Brownwood Area Community Garden’s fourth annual Harvest Festival Saturday, October 19th.
A special feature of this year’s Festival will be creative activities for kids. Artists from the Brownwood Art Association will be on hand in the Garden’s shade arbor to help kids paint gourds of all sizes and shapes. Young festival goers can also enjoy face painting and balloon animal art.
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 1,000 pounds of fresh, organic produce to the Salvation Army Loaves and Fishes soup kitchen.
A special highlight of this year’s Harvest Festival will be a presentation at 11:00 a.m. by Connie and Stuart Veldhuizen, of Veldhuizen Family Farm near Stephenville, who will speak on the importance local and sustainable food, and of the importance of organic foods. The Veldhuizen Family Farm produces organic, whole raw milk and dairy products like artisan cheeses, butter and yogurt. Their presentation will be in the Central Texas Opportunities building, and is free of charge. A selection of their products will also be for sale.
Festival goers will have the chance to win an assortment of raffle prizes and door prizes, including a hand-painted 55-gallon rain barrel, an artisan food basket, and gift certificates to area businesses.
Festival events this year include a farmers market, featuring fresh-picked produce and flowers from the Garden, baked goods and homemade jams and relishes. Area artisans and merchants will offer their wares at a craft fair.
Brown County Master Gardener Leslie Courington will present a program at 10:00 a.m. on rainwater catchment and water conservation. This has been a popular program with festival goers in past years and is offered free of charge.
Art will be a big part of the day’s festivities as artists from Brownwood Art Association will set up in the vine-covered shade arbor to paint gourds with children. Artist Kathy Jones is transforming a 55-gallon rain barrel into a work of art, and will ask young festival goers to add their special touch. The finished barrel will be awarded as a raffle prize at the end of the event.
Food and refreshments will be available throughout the event, and live music by Sun Duo and other area musicians will entertain festival goers. Chili with all the fixings, plus a variety of drinks and desserts will be served for a nominal cost.
Visitors are invited to tour the Community Garden while at the Harvest Festival and learn about the Garden’s 6,000-gallon rainwater harvesting system, state-of-the-art drip irrigation, composting and vermiculture.
The fourth annual Harvest Festival will be held Saturday, Oct. 19, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., at the Brownwood Area Community Garden which is located 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 Ave. The Garden is a short walk from the Salvation Army parking lot.
For more information, contact Mary Green Engle at 325-784-8453, or Daniel Graham at 325-641-9029.
Pictured above: Tommy Munster of the Brownwood Art Association puts the finishing touches on a gourd in the shade arbor of the Brownwood Area Community Garden.
