Category Archives: news

Mike Onofrio

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The CGC is sad to hear of the death of community gardener Mike Onofrio. Mike and his wife Barb have gardened for several years at the N. Ninth St. garden. In addition to raising an impressive crop of peppers, eggplants, greens, peas, beans and more, Mike and Barb have been stalwart volunteers helping to keep the garden maintained and organized. Mike’s cheerful nature and inquisitive good humor will be sorely missed at the garden. Our hearts go out to Mike’s family and friends.

A visitation will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, at Memorial Funeral Home with a memorial service immediately following at 7 p.m.

Barb has asked that memorial contributions be made to the CGC. We thank her for that and will do our best to honor Mike’s memory by helping existing and future gardens to flourish and providing more people with access to fresh, homegrown food. You can make a donation here. (There is a place to leave a note on the confirmation page of your PayPal transaction to designate your donation in honor of Mike.)

(Mike’s obituary)

Big Belated Thanks

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We just wanted to say a slightly belated, but very heartfelt “Thank You” to everybody who came out to our fundraising night at Chipotle at the end of August! We made a very tidy sum and the nice folks at Chipotle made it all so easy for us.

And, you know, maybe it’s a good time to mention that if your community or school garden is looking to make any improvements or replace any equipment, fall is a great time to do that. CGC would like to help member gardens pay for improvements, just have your garden leader put in a request and we’ll see what we can do.

Straw Mulch for Community Gardeners

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straw mulch with potatoesStraw mulch is now available for Community Garden Coalition gardeners at the Ash Street Garden.  Stop by the garden at 201 West Ash Street and pick up a bale of straw mulch for your plot.  Straw mulch has many benefits for your garden, including weed suppression, moisture retention, and shading the soil from the hot summer sun.  It is also reusable! Spread it over your garden in the fall to keep the soil covered through the winter, then use it again next year.

Take a Cruise Through Community Gardens

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Garden Cruise posterThe Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture and the Community Garden Coalition present the 2012 Garden Cruise! Hop on your bikes and cruise around central Columbia checking out some of Columbia’s community gardens. Walkers and drivers are also welcome.

The tour is on Saturday, June 30 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. It will start with a light breakfast at the Circus Lyon Garden, 603 Lyon Street, and end at the CCUA Urban Farm, at Smith and Fay streets.

Email outreach@columbiaurbanag.org if you’re interested! Registration is not required, but we’d like to get an idea of how many people to expect.

Transplants Available This Weekend

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This weekend, May 5 & 6, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday and Noon-4 p.m. on Sunday, the CGC will have some warm season plants available for those gardening at our member gardens. Plants will be distributed at the Claudell Garden, 711 Claudell Lane.

We’ll have tomatoes, peppers, a few eggplants starts and sweet potato slips.

We are requesting a donation of 25-50¢ per plant to offset our costs of buying and transporting them. We ask that you give what you can, but you will not be refused for lack of funds. We hope many gardeners can take advantage of this opportunity.

Please note: we can only offer this service to those gardening in our member gardens, not the public at large.