Manna Meal

Friday afternoon produced a volunteer crew in the Manna Meal kitchen. Sixteen volunteers helped prepare and freeze 32 lb Collard Greens & Kale, 17 lb Green beans, 58 lb Sweet corn,  23lb Green peppers for the winter. We met many first time volunteers who encouraged us on with renewed excitement.

Today Manna Meal received a donation of about 50 half-gallon canning jars in which to can the garden tomatoes that have begun to ripen. Here in mid-summer, we stop to give thanks to all the loyal and tireless friends who have helped us exceed our greatest expectations. Thank you!

The scope of the Manna Meal Community Garden project includes supplying the Manna Meal soup kitchen, now entering its 31^st year of service, with health promoting locally-grown fresh vegetables, planted and cared for by its own volunteer community.

Excess fresh produce will be available to all mealtime guests to take home and prepare on their own; and just like the two hot meals Manna Meal provides seven days a week—it will be offered with no questions asked.

During harvest time an instructor will provide free demonstrations in the Manna Meal kitchen on food storage and preservation methods. Manna Meal will prepare and store a portion of its fresh produce for the winter months.

The garden project will be open to students of all ages as an outdoor classroom. By enlisting teachers who voluntarily share their gardening skills, those without gardening experience can receive hands-on training in cultivating, planting, harvesting and food storage.

As Manna Meal encourages the community to render volunteer service in its garden project, it is hoped that members of the community who are able will learn how to grow vegetables in a garden of their own, donate a row to Manna Meal to help feed the hungry, and in this way assist in carrying out the mission of Manna Meal.

You are invited to attend the Manna Meal Community Garden project FREE canning demonstration with a session and “how-to” handouts.

Produce canned during this demonstration will be donated to the Manna Meal soup kitchen! Join us at:

St. John’s Episcopal Church

1105 Quarrier St.

Charleston, WV 25301

Saturday July 18, 2009

6:00 PM

RSVP is a must if you want to attend, space is limited.

Contact: Myra at drmusicmom@suddenlink.net or phone 304-205-4657

Dear Volunteer Gardening Team!

Early morning bean pickers

Have I told you how great you are lately? You ARE great! Great to carve time from your busy schedules to help the less fortunate with no thought of reward other than the personal satisfaction it brings and maybe the opportunity to learn about gardening–and of course, seeing all your friends and making new ones! Thank you for caring so much about this project and helping make it a reality! Thank you ~ thank you! Thank you to all our “bean pickers” from last Saturday. We joked about hitting the mother lode of all bean plants. Actually the harvest also included kale, collards, cabbage, herbs, a few cherry tomatoes, peppers, broccoli and cauliflower! This garden has been blessed with abundance! After all that work was accomplished, we planted MORE pepper plants where space was freed up, weeded, applied paper mulch and created some cardboard walkways. It was a very productive morning.

Make us true servants to all those in need,
Filled with compassion in thought word and deed;
Loving our neighbor whatever the cost,
Feeding the hungry and finding the lost

In the garden

also in the garden

still in the garden

Lovely!