June Garden Journal
It’s hard to believe that June is already winding down, and the summer solstice has already come and gone. On June 20th, we celebrated the longest day and shortest night of the year. The solstice marks the official beginning of the astronomical summer, though from here on out, the days will slowly begin to shorten and the nights will grow longer. It’s a beautiful moment to honor the light: both the sun that sustains our gardens and the light within each of us.
With the rising heat this month, our rhythm has shifted to getting out early to beat the sun and wrapping up before the real scorch sets in. A top priority in the garden has been setting up our drip irrigation systems on timers to make sure our crops stay hydrated without constant oversight.
On June 24th, we welcomed our high school DIG interns back to the garden for the summer. Despite the heat reaching 98 degrees on their first day, they showed up eager to get back to work. We’re excited to have 7 returning interns from last summer and 3 new faces joining the crew. In the coming months, you’ll be hearing more from them directly, as they begin to share their own voices and reflections here in the newsletter.
The next six weeks will be filled with harvesting produce for donation, maintaining the garden space, tackling new projects, cooking with fresh ingredients from the garden, sharing meals together, and engaging in workshops led by an inspiring assortment of local small business owners and creatives.
Last summer, our DIG interns set a goal for themselves to donate 750lbs of produce from the garden and far surpassed that number, donating over 1,000lbs! This year, with more experience and improved farming practices, we decided to really push ourselves. Our 2025 goal is to donate 3,000lbs! We’ll share updates on our progress in our monthly newsletter (scroll down to subscribe).
The garden is open this summer, Tuesday through Friday from 9 AM to 2 PM. Come by and experience the abundance of flowers in bloom and the incredible variety of pollinators they’re drawing in. It’s a beautiful season to slow down, soak it in, and connect with the space. Wishing you all a joyful and restful summer.
The light in me honors the light in you.
