Celebration, Appreciation, Participation, and Dedication

(Apologies from the author to those who receive this posting again because I needed to make a correction:  I misspelled Mickey's name.  It's spellcheck for me from now on!)

Our club had Christmas luncheon at the Blackstone Grille.  Nobody can say we don't know how to celebrate a great year!  We're officially members of the clean plate club.  A few of the ladies shared desserts - now THAT'S friendship!  Mickey shared some recycling tips (which will be in the next posting).  Dianne spoke about an upcoming public hearing on a new PUD (planned unit of development) on Roberts Road, and Sarah and Phyllis provided background information on the area.  Mickey sponsored a doorprize giveaway which Linda won.  She got to choose one of Dianne's painted hyptertufa garden decorations.

Since the last postings, we participated in a wonderful GardenFest, got our butterfly garden, now an Official Monarch Waystation (with a Certificate of Appreciation to prove it), weeded, seeded, and generally cleaned up, and reflected on the importance of Stetson Kennedy's life at the dedication of his homestead as a national literary landmark.  Members of the club donated toys, money, and raffle items to Pie-in-the-Sky, Hastings, and helped out at their Holly Jolly Hastings Christmas Party.

The author is maintaining her tradition of posting the inspirational that is read at the club's Christmas luncheon, and this year we were happy to have two wonderful ones.  Please continue reading.  We hope the words will inspire you to share the message of the season with all you meet.

How Do You Spell Organic? K-Y-V

The speaker for our November meeting was Francisco Arroyo from KYV Farm 1670 Borrow Pit Rd., Switzerland.  KYV is a CSA with a USDA organic certification.  Sound like alphabet soup?  Well, this is how Francisco explained it (supplemented with some information from the University of Florida).

KYV is one of only two farms in our county that are certified organic farms.  The University of Florida has a publication on Organic Production.  Francisco's explanation was a little less technical but just as accurate.  KYV farms uses no chemical pesticides or fertilizers.  Francisco farms like he did when he lived in Puerto Rico.  At that time he had no idea that his practices were "organic".    It was the only way Francisco knew how to farm.  He hadn't even heard of the term, "organic" until he and his wife Vivian started KYV Farms here in 2006.  Traditional methods of farming:  crop rotation, cover crops (green manure), overplanting (to compensate for loss through disease and insect destruction), cured farm animal compost, are combined with modern efficient irrigation and cold frame use at KYV to produce the highest yield of healthy and organic produce.

Find out about CSA's and what the name, "KYV" means; check out the rest of this article (click the Read More >> link below).   And this month our website features articles on junior gardening by Arlene Hendrickson,  Growing our Future Gardeners, and the Old Settler's Reunion at Alpine Groves Park by Carolyn Mullinax, Oh, the Fun We Had.