Sweet Grass Food - Big Timber, Montana

.:. home .:. gardening tips .:. garden photos .:. garden courtesy guidelines (.pdf) .:. farmers market .:.

Growing Contest Winners

Adults
Longest Cucumber - Grayce Sivigny and Barb Teachout
Yummiest-Looking Ear of Corn - Steven and Debbie Haugan
Best Jack-O -Lantern Pumpkin - Tom Biglen
Quirkiest Pepper - Mary Jane Layne
Most Outstanding Sunflower - Tom Biglen
Heaviest Squash - Steven and Debbie Haugan
Heaviest Tomato - Yasmeena Ahmed
Heaviest Zucchini - Grayce Sivigny and Barb Teachout

Children
Largest Pumpkin - John Rennie
Largest Sunflower - Dillon Chapel

General
Largest Cantaloupe - Mary Rosewood
Largest Watermelon - Wagner Family

Honorable Mention
Largest cabbage - Pat Rogers
Ugliest squash - Annie LaBrie
Heaviest zucchini (close runner-up, coming in 1/2 pound lighter than the winner) - Pat Rogers

Special thanks to Blake Nursery and Sandi, Francis, Amory, and Alex Blake for judging and providing prizes.

Award-winning ugly squash

Find more winning photos here

~ Announcements ~

Wondering if chewed leaves are OK? Read the new Gardening Tips page by Master Gardener Suzanne.

Gardeners!
Be sure you have a copy of the garden courtesy guidelines (.pdf).

Note: While we're waiting for the gates to be put in, please close the openings even during the day. Everything is secured each night but has been left open during the day. We forgot about cats and dogs who accidentally step on new plants. Do not wire the person gate tightly–just get it hooked so it stays closed. Some of our gardeners are not able to twist heavy wire.

Watering: Good, good news. Rod Tochihara has installed the black tubing and hose bibbs for easier watering. What a great gift!

Please be sure to shut off the pump as well as the spigot when you are finished watering so the black pipe doesn't stay pressurized. Also, be careful not to trip over the black pipe. It is okay to step on the pipe and take a wheelbarrow over it. Please leave the sprinkler in the corn field as it is situated just right for watering that area.

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Some things we still need
Do you have garden hoses, tools, or a garden shed that you are not using anymore? If you have a small metal shed that can be moved, we'll be happy to come and get it. Any donation worth over $50 is tax deductible.

For a monetary contribution, make your check payable to "Sweet Grass Health and Wellness Foundation"; write "Sweet Grass Food/Community Garden" in memo line.

Sweet Grass Food Statement of Purpose

Create a self-sustaining food system in Big Timber and Sweet Grass County, whereby basic, essential, and nutritious food products are grown, raised, processed, bought, sold, traded, and consumed locally.

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First step: Creating a Community Garden

A core planning group formed in September 2007.
Pictured L to R: Nell Lindorff, Lawson Drinkard, Janice Ross,
Shirley Layne, Steve Ross, Diana Taylor, Dave Christensen

The vision is to create a self-sustaining
food system in the community.

The Big Timber city council leased land
to us for 5 years.

The property is located in Big Timber
on Walnut Street at 6th Avenue.

Come join us to help us make this project a success.

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Next steps

The community garden is now in place. This is the first step to reaching our goal of becoming a self-sustaining community.

And then...

We need producers and processors to come together to help make a plan.

This will include:

Producing our own food
Processing our own food
Marketing and distributing our own food
Establishing a co-op

Your help is greatly appreciated for this county-wide effort.

~ ~ ~

Top 10 reasons a community garden is important to you

Fresh, nutritious, locally grown food
More flavorful food
Share seeds and plants
Share over-abundance with neighbors
Sell at farmers market
Attend or teach workshops on gardening, cooking, canning, and more
Joy in growing things
Sense of independence
Near-zero carbon footprint
Know where your food comes from

Other community gardens

Helena

Missoula

Cheyenne, Wyoming
North garden
South garden

American Community Garden Association

To obtain a garden plot, help with garden preparation, work on the next steps of our vision, or make a tax-deductible contribution (check payable to "Sweet Grass Health and Wellness Foundation"; write "Sweet Grass Food/Community Garden" in memo line), contact us at:

Sweet Grass Food
P.O. Box 71
Big Timber, Montana 59011
info@sweetgrassfood.org

Ace Hardware, Big Timber
Dale Arlian
Big Timber Women's Club
Tom Biglen
Rile Birchell
Dave Bjorndal
Blake Nursery
Dalton Bryan
Gary Burmeister
Erika Chavez
Dave Christensen
Michael Chulyak, Big Timber Ace Hardware
City of Big Timber
Crystal Coffey-Avey
Lawson and Suzanne Drinkard
Alan Gilbert
Reese Halvorson
Steve Harvey
Jack Hines and Jessica Zemsky
Hoe and Hope Garden Club
Horizons Program
Grant Lair
Larson Agnew Construction
Shirley Layne
Nell Lindorff
Kathie LoPiccolo
Mike Martinz
Montana Broker Properties
Nan Newton
Seth Norton
John, Kyle, and Zach Rennie
Mike Rennie
Roe Construction
Steve and Janice Ross
April Sissler
Lyle Stenberg
Tyrell Stensaas
Diana Taylor
Barb Teachout
Rod and Christine Tochihara
Ullman Lumber
Bob and Julie Zaideman