GCGC

04/08/2025

Hi GCGCers and friends ....

We have 250 bare-root trees to distribute Saturday, April 12 from 10am-noon. If you want a large number of any of these, please let Melissa know ahead of time so she can bundle them.
The pickup address is New Life Church, 441 S. Yearling Rd., Whitehall 43213.

Thanks to Green Columbus, we should have these to distribute:
Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea)
Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Hazelnut (Corylus americana)
American plum (Prunus americana)

Please tell your friends about these trees ... you do not have to be a GCGC member to participate in the tree distribution. They just all need to find homes this weekend! Dig your planting hole before you arrive to pick up your bare-root babies. They need to get in the ground by Sunday night. Bring your bucket or big baggie to carry your trees home.

It is probable that the GCGC potatoes will be ready for distribution at the same time (onions later, likely) .... and for that you WILL NEED your current 2025 GCGC member card.

Melissa Fannon
​GCGC Tree Lady

04/03/2025

From the GCGC secretary:

Don't forget we have our April GCGC members meeting tonight (Thursday) April 3rd at 7:00 pm at:

CMN Memorial Garden
1200 Brentnell Ave
Columbus, Ohio 43219

And we will not be distributing Potatoes and Onions tonight.
Hope to see you all there!!

03/27/2025

Hello GCGCers ... here is a meeting notice from our Secretary:

We will be having our April GCGC members meeting on (Thursday) April 3rd at 7:00 pm at:

CMN Memorial Garden
1200 Brentnell Ave
Columbus, Ohio 43219

At this meeting we will be distributing potatoes and onions (to members only).

We will have the new 2025 Membership Applications
available for all to sign up. To be eligible for membership, and receive your membership card, all members need to attend at least one membership meeting per year.

Membership cards for forms that were mailed to the GCGC treasurer can be picked up at the monthly meetings. If you have attended a meeting, and are mailing in your form, please note the meeting attended on the form. Membership sign ups and cards will not be available at plant drops.

Hope to see you all there.

Claudia Ruffini
GCGC Secretary

02/07/2025

Hello,
The make up meeting will be this Saturday (February 8th) at 3:00pm at the Garden by Grace church 1226 Shady Lane, Columbus, Ohio

Our GCGC Treasurer Jennie Hayes will be at Saturday's meeting to take membership forms, and she has the membership cards. Attached is a 2025 GCGC Membership Form and the Rules.

Note that the top of the membership form is for Individual Gardeners, and the bottom half is for Community Garden Managers.

02/04/2025

Hi all .... our next meeting is Thursday, Feb. 6th at Grace United Church of Christ at 1226 Shady Lane Rd. 43227. See the mostly-full schedule below. The general membership meeting starts at 7pm, the board meets at 6pm.

12/27/2024

Hello fellow GCGCers .... Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thursday, January 2nd is our first 2025 meeting, and will be held at New Life Church. The address is 441 S. Yearling Rd. 43213. The board will meet at 6pm, the general meeting starts at 7pm. Melissa will give a demonstration of Winter Sowing and maybe seed sprouting. Bring your one gallon clean plastic milk jug, some perennial flower seeds (we will likely have some available) and a wax pencil if you have one. Membership forms for 2025 will be available at the meeting. See you soon!

11/05/2024

Hello fellow gardeners! The season is rapidly closing for my flowers at home (yes, I watered this morning!). This warm weather is fooling my lilacs! The Peace & Plenty Community Garden is pretty much to bed, except for the sprouting bok choi, spinach, carrots and lettuces under cover.

The next GCGC meeting is Thursday, Nov. 7th at the The CMN Memorial Garden at 1200 Brentnell Ave 43219. 7pm. Note the location change .... it is NOT at Waterman Farm.

10/31/2024

Our dear friend, mentor, gardener supreme Bill Dawson passed away yesterday, October 30. Please keep Jodi and family in your thoughts and prayers as they navigate this difficult time. Bill was a tremendous blessing and fun-loving, intelligent presence. His visits to our gardens just made your day! Here is a photo of Bill and GCGC founder Peggy Murphy at the Wells Barn, probably six years ago.

10/31/2024

10/23/2024

2024 marks the 10th anniversary of The CMN Memorial Garden and we've been celebrating all year but this was a pleasant surprise! I met Dr. Yang and her team at Integra Acupuncture last year. After a nasty bout of shingles, I had post-herpetic neuralgia. The pain was debilitating and prescription meds didn't help. I tried acupuncture out of desperation, and the results were so astounding that when I woke up, (yeah, I fell asleep almost immediately!) Psalm 139:14 came to mind "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:..."

Of course, any discussion I have about holistic health includes a spiritual perspective, and we were delighted to find out how much our Christian faith aligned! I continue to use acupuncture for alignment and holistic good health without drugs. No surprise there. What was surprising was her generosity in offering to come to the garden and provide information, demonstrations, and mini treatments for FREE!!!

So yes, it's Wednesday and this is not a lot of notice, but this is when Dr. Yang is available...and it's FREE.

10/18/2024

I am super late posting this but YAY, Yippee! and Praise God! on
Thursday, September 26th, 2024, The CMN Memorial Garden was honored at Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens' Growing to Green Harvest Awards Ceremony. We proudly received The Boyd W. Bowden Garden Impact Award for Education and Leadership. Presented by Ellen Bowden, Dr. Bowden's widow, celebrates his love of gardening and community. As 2024 is the 10th anniversary of the garden created in celebration of Charles Madison Nabrit's love of gardening and community, the timing of this award could not have been more perfect.

09/18/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/NPqrJndiepc2W1mD/

FYI: Today is Mommy's 94th Birthday so we are hanging out, so, Cheryl Penn, and Courtney Penn Blevins, and I are hanging out with her ALL DAY! The Farmer's Market will be SATURDAY!!!

We hope to see you at the CMNMG Farmers Market on Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. All produce is just $1/lb! www.cmnmg.org

09/10/2024

Hello fellow GCGCers.... though we are well into September, the weather later this week is HOT! Keep watering your veggies if they are producing. I have re-planted some OSU Extension seed trials of green beans, carrots, and spinach. We will see how it goes!
This Saturday marks the last of our National Garden Week summer tours, this time at the very large International Harvest Garden. Come out west and see the different vegetables grown by some of our immigrant and refugee friends. Saturday, Sept. 14th starting at 9am.

09/06/2024

I'm late posting pictures as part of our incredible THANK YOU! Thanks to the efforts of our garden grant team, spear-headed by Dr. David Delaine, Associate Professor in the School of Universal Computing, Construction & Engineering Education (SUCCEED) and the STEM Transformation Institute at Florida International University (FIU), formerly at The Ohio State University College of Engineering, and Damon Princeton Penn Nabrit, doctoral student at The Methodist Theological School in Ohio (MTSO), Garden Co-Manager, & V.P. Tech Support @ PN&A, Inc., we were awarded an FY24 Central Ohio STEM Grant from the Battelle Foundation Fund to support Strengthening a Garden Ecosystem for Informal STEM Education at The Charles Madison Nabrit Memorial Garden! YAY!

The Battelle Foundation Fund grant allowed us to host another year of "STEM2STEAM: It's All in the Garden", August 5th-9th, our FREE, week-long, all-day summer day camp for students, ages 5-15.

The funding made it possible for us to pay each of our 20 Camp Counselors $15.00 an hour, hire local Black caterers to prepare the lunches, hire buses for our field trip to The Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument, pay Farmer Brown to come talk about agribusiness, including Beyonce and her bee hives; AND, most importantly we were able to pay our partner, The Church of Christ of the Apostolic Faith, $3,500 to use multiple classrooms, the Fellowship Hall, and of course bathrooms so the heat wave that week didn't deter us.

I have to give a special THANK YOU to Damon who also served as Camp Director, interviewed and hired our counselors, selected and purchased all the materials and supplies, and took a week off from work and school to make the magic happen. Most significantly, during the 10 years of its existence, neither Damon nor Charles M. P. Nabrit as Co-Managers has EVER been paid for any of their work in the garden, including camp!

But check out the swag, including the tee shirts with our cool logo on the front, designed by Evan Nabrit, graphic design genius and 3rd son. (I don't pay him either;)

09/04/2024

Delighted for another Farmer's Market, today, from 4:00-6:30 at
The CMN Memorial Garden, situated near the rear parking lot of The Church of Christ of the Apostolic Faith, 1200 Brentnell Ave, Columbus, OH 43219. We're partnering with Richland Gro-op (as always!) so you know all the produce, ours & theirs, is fresh and clean!

Basil
Beets
Cantaloupe
Carrots
Celery
Chives
Eggplant
Elderberries
Green Beans
Kale (Curly)
Lavender
Lemon Balm
Mint
Okra
Onions
Parsley
Peppers (Banana, Bells, Hungarian Hot Wax & Thai)
Sage
Swiss Chard
Tomatoes (Cherry, Heirloom & Roma)
Tarragon

We'll also have some of my books, in case you want a signed copy of any of them, including:

*As For Me and My House @1995

*Sankofa: Look to Your Past Forgotten Heritage @1995

*Exploring a New Synthesis: Business Ethics & Diversity @1999

*Morning by Morning: How We Home-Schooled Our African American Sons to the Ivy League @2003

*The Power of a Virtuous Woman @2012

08/21/2024

Our weekly Farmer's Market is happening again, TODAY, 4:00-6:00. Join us at The CMN Memorial Garden.
Here's some of the organic produce our partner, Richland Gro-Op is bringing:
Basil—Ruby, Sweet, Lettuce leaf
Beets
Cabbage
Carrots
Cucumbers—specialty​
Curly kale
Eggplant
Onions
Peppers—bell, semi-hot
Purple potatoes
Tomatoes—cherry, heirloom, slicing
Cantaloupe
Elderberries
Cranberries

We also have goodies to harvest for you on-site:
Green Beans
Lavender
Lemon Balm
Mint
Mustard Greens
Sage
Swiss Chard

And speaking of goodies, we also have Paula's Spicy Garlic Dill Pickles!

08/14/2024

Farmer's Market TODAY! 4:30-6:30 )at The CMN Memorial Garden in the rear The Church of Christ of the Apostolic Faith, 1200 Brentnell Ave, Columbus, OH.

We have Basil, Garlic, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Mint, Peppers (Bell and Thai), Mustard Greens, Sage, and Swiss Chard to harvest. Our partner, Richland Gro-Op, is sending some of their freshly harvested produce as well, including:

Basil
Cabbage
Cilantro
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Kale (Curly, Lacinato)
Okra
Onions
Peppers ( Bell, Hungarian Hot Wax, Jalapeno)
Purple Potatoes
Tomatoes (Cherry, Heirloom, Roma & Slicing)

We also have jars of "Paula's Spicy Garlic Dill Pickles" Spears or Slices, your choice + autographed copies of:

"Morning by Morning: How We Home-Schooled Our African-American Sons to the Ivy League";

"As For Me and My House"; and

"The Power of a Virtuous Woman".